{"id":624266,"date":"2026-04-23T22:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624266\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T22:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:44:17","slug":"toronto-godspell-doc-you-had-to-be-there-acquired-by-greenwich-ent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624266\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto ‘Godspell’ Doc ‘You Had To Be There’ Acquired By Greenwich Ent."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: It\u2019s been a spell since Godspell<\/a> debuted its Toronto production in 1972 with a cast of then-unknowns. In the interim, virtually every performer in that now legendary production went on to a huge career in entertainment: Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, Dave Thomas and others. Even the show\u2019s musical director became a fixture of popular culture \u2013 Paul Shaffer.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new documentary You Had To Be There<\/a>: How The Toronto Godspell Ignited The Comedy Revolution\u2026, directed by Nick Davis<\/a>, examines how the Toronto production came together and \u2013 as the subtitle suggests \u2013 seeded modern comedy through Saturday Night Live, SCTV and more. Today, Greenwich Entertainment announced it has acquired North American distribution rights to the film and will release it in theaters nationwide in September.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Series of Dreams production is executive produced by comedy maestro Judd Apatow. Along with interviews with most of the Toronto musical\u2019s original cast, including Jayne Eastwood and Valda Aviks, it features Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Catherine O\u2019Hara, John Candy, Janeane Garofalo, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Judd Apatow, Victor Garber, Valda Aviks, Paul Shaffer and Eugene Levy attend the premiere of \u2018You Had to be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution\u2026\u2019 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatt Winkelmeyer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou Had To Be There traces how a cast of virtual unknowns in a rock musical based on the life of Jesus lit the spark of a cultural explosion whose effects are still being felt today,\u201d notes a release. \u201cLong a well-known cultural landmark among comedy and theater aficionados, the Toronto Godspell has never before been the subject of a feature-length documentary film. The production of the Stephen Schwartz-written musical was the first-ever professional job for college friends Martin Short and Eugene Levy and marked early professional highlights in the careers of Gilda Radner, Victor Garber (who played Jesus), Don Scardino, musical director Paul Shaffer, Jayne Eastwood, and future SCTV stars Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to directing You Had To Be There, Davis (One Upon a Time in Queens, This Ordinary Thing) also co-wrote the documentary with Jane Mendelsohn.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always thought of the 1972 Toronto Godspell as the big bang of modern comedy Davis said, \u201cthis wild, joyful moment when all these future legends were just kids hanging out. Since all we have are traces \u2013 there\u2019s no footage of the actual production \u2014 the legend has only grown over time. It was genuinely thrilling to talk to the people who were there and try to capture that sense of exhilaration \u2013 and even more of privilege to be welcomed into this wonderful, brilliant lifelong circle of friends. We can\u2019t wait to share this joyful, funny, and moving story with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tREAD: Deadline\u2019s review of You Had To Be There: \u201cDelightful Romp\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tApatow\u2019s comedy-themed documentaries include Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!, Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story<\/a>, George Carlin\u2019s American Dream<\/a>, and The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs a bona fide comedy nerd,\u201d Apatow said in a statement, \u201cI\u2019ve long wondered what exactly brought that amazing group of people together to produce not just a fantastic theatrical event, but what came after: Second City Toronto, SCTV, and of course Saturday Night Live \u2013 not to mention a host of movies and TV from Splash to The Three Amigos to Schitt\u2019s Creek and Only Murders in the Building. None of that would have happened in the way that it did without the Toronto Godspell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYou Had To Be There is produced by Series of Dreams in association with CBC, XRM Media and Open Door Co. Producers are Nick Davis, Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane, Tom Powers, and Sue Turley; executive producers include Judd Apatow, Sally Klingenstein Martell, Teresa Tsai and Glenn Kaino, Stephanie Hannon, Dr. Ryan Kotten and Stephanie Holder Kotten, and Jane Mendelsohn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe acquisition was negotiated by Greenwich\u2019s Andy Bohn with UTA Independent and CAA representing the filmmakers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"L-R<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tL-R Director Nick Davis, Paul Shaffer, Valda Aviks, and Victor Garber at the Deadline Studio during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival held at BISHA Hotel on September 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJosh Telles for Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the Toronto International Film Festival, where the documentary premiered last September, Deadline spoke with Davis<\/a> and multiple members of the original Toronto Godspell cast and production.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe film is about trying to capture that moment in time and bring it forward and make you feel like you are there,\u201d Davis told us. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible because when you think about it, it\u2019s like all these comic actors \u2014 on March 25th, 1972, it happens for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI do remember the feeling that I was surrounded by exceptionally talented people. I was amazed at, I knew it then, and it never wavered,\u201d Garber told us. He was the only Toronto Godspell cast member who got invited to appear in the movie version, where he once again played Jesus. Speaking of the new documentary, he added, \u201cThis moment in time, for all of us who are still living, is just an extraordinary affirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: It\u2019s been a spell since Godspell debuted its Toronto production in 1972 with a cast of then-unknowns.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,69164,337,234110,234111],"class_list":["post-624266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-godspell","tag-movies","tag-nick-davis","tag-you-had-to-be-there"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}