You probably only get one body so use it well...

Two years ago, Godspell was revived on Broadway and I found out through the Grapevine that one of my teammates sisters was in the play.  I never got the chance to see it on Broadway but last night I did have the chance to take my stepdaughters to the second act...

We had been having a great day the mall, the pool and 3:15PM had come and gone...M looks over at me and says, "So what time were we supposed to leave the pool?"

"3:15."

"It's 3:37."

"Oh boy, well we are just going to have to superwoman change and head over there as quick as possible."

Fast forward 15 minutes to in the car.

"16 minutes until we get there, so we should arrive 15-20 minutes late."

So for any of you who have attended a play you know that if you show up more than five minutes late to a small live production, you aren't getting to see the first act.  So we sat outside the theater and listened to the first act.  Compared to the version, I knew, they had some adjustments to the songs that showcased the vocal abilities of certain people way beyond the 1970s version and as we saw the characters in the second act, the costumes were updated as well.  Last, but not least, in true Godspell form, there were hardly any props and set and it was the characters, the songs and the parables that made the play worth it.

So here is my letter to Uzo with two degrees of Kevin Bacon (a Penn State teammates' sister):

Uzo,

I do not know you directly but I did compete as a Penn State Track and Field Athlete for four years and Godspell is my favorite play, therefore, I felt that I should write to you.

I just saw Godspell 2012 at the Manoa Valley Theater in Honolulu, HI.  It was fantastic and I know that you sang By My Side in the orig
inal Broadway version which is the first song I learned to harmonize to with my mom.  I saw Godspell in 1992 at a small outdoor theater in Portsmouth, NH called Prescott Park.  At five years old, I fell in love with the play and with Jesus and his story.  The fact that he was able to carry the burden of an entire generation and die so that his friends could keep living merits the same nature of a character like Angel in RENT.

For a while, I thought that believing in God and Jesus Christ was more about his death than his life so in everything I did, I put my heart out there and did it like I might die tomorrow.  While at Penn State, I was a part of the first Outdoor Big Ten Championship team as your sister's team that won the first indoor Big Ten title.  That heart of a lion that we all said we had led me to pursue the Olympic dream to the 2008 Olympic Trials and many of my teammates to compete in the 2012 Olympic games for their respective countries.

Anyway, thank you for your contribution to Broadway and the attainment of world peace.  If everyone could learn to treat each other like Jesus and choose not to throw the stone at the character you got the honor to play, the world would be a better place.

I hope that you get this and know the impact that you have indirectly made on me, but more importantly the statement that you have given to show that love is truly, all around.

Sincerely,
Heidi Goedecke
Penn State, 2008
Godspell superfan since age 5