REVIEW: A Fresh, Fun, Exuberant “Godspell” Kicks Off 65th Season at Timber Lake Playhouse
If you, like me before May 30, have never been to Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, Ill., then you’re truly missing out on a treasure in northwest Illinois, for its beautiful, bucolic setting alone.
The professional summer theater (62 miles northeast of Moline) is worth the drive, especially given the absolute banger that’s opening its 65th season – the youthful, exuberant, tremendously tuneful and inspiring “Godspell,” by Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Children of Eden,” “Prince of Egypt”) running through this Sunday, June 7th.
I have played for Zion Lutheran Church in Davenport for longer than I think most of the immensely talented TLP cast members have been alive, and have loved “Godspell” for far longer (it premiered in 1971, when composer Schwartz was just 23!). We have often performed from its bountiful, gorgeous score in church, and while it’s been done at QC churches, I had never seen a full production and I don’t remember one of the QC theaters producing it in the 31 years I’ve lived here.
Gabe Salazaar sings “We Beseech Thee” in Timber Lake’s new production of “Godspell.”
Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, the groundbreaking musical conceived and originally directed by John Micheal Trebleck, featuring the global hit “Day by Day” among many others, “Godspell” was the first major musical from three-time Grammy and Academy Award winner, Stephen Schwartz, and the Timber Lake production is the more modern, updated 2012 version – many re-orchestrated songs and inclusion of “Beautiful City,” which was added for the 1973 film.
“Godspell” features a stunning panoply of beloved songs, including “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,” “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “All for the Best,” “All Good Gifts,” “Turn Back, O Man” and “By My Side.” With a cast of 10, this group of people helps Jesus Christ tell different parables by using a wide variety of games, storytelling techniques and hefty doses of comic timing.
A scene from “Godspell,” running through June 7 at Timber Lake Playhouse.
An eclectic blend of songs, ranging in style from pop to vaudeville, is employed as the story of Jesus’ life dances across the stage with boundless energy and enthusiasm and some of the strongest voices I’ve ever heard. With very cool lighting effects, dissolving hauntingly into the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, Jesus’ messages of kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life, leaving you spellbound and profoundly moved.
With a cast and crew made up of TLP alumni, “Godspell” presents an ensemble of idealistic, sunny performers celebrating human connection, compassion, and heart.
Director Sawyer Coffin leads an acclaimed creative team, joined by music director Matt Surico (who leads a five-man pit on keyboard at the back left of the stage) and his associate music director Lucas Finley, choreographer Marquez, costume designer Thomas Gluodenis, lighting Designer Cameron Strandin, and scenic designer Ben Lipinski.
A scene from “Godspell,” running through June 7 at Timber Lake Playhouse.
The cast of TLP alumni (filled with big gestures and big emotions) is comprised of Errol Service Jr. (‘22) as Jesus, Grant Alexander Brown (‘15 & ‘17) as Judas/John the Baptist, Gabriel Argate (‘22), Carly Censi (‘25), Gabby Hernandez (‘24), Conor Jordan (‘19), Morgan Milone (‘24), Gabe Salazar (‘25), Tori Tiernan (‘24 & ‘25), and Malaika Wanjiku (‘24).
Befitting TLP’s setting as “Your Theatre in the Woods,” the new “Godspell” is set like a camping trip, with each of the cast outfitted for a hike (one is a Scout with a sash full of merit badges and another looks like a park ranger), and telling stories by a campfire, in a set with log-like benches, wooden-beam columns, and a backdrop featuring silhouetted pine trees and shifting colors of a sky that has magically floating clouds made up of groups of white balloons.
A scene from “Godspell,” running through June 7 at Timber Lake Playhouse.
Coffin’s production includes the arresting opener, “Tower of Babble” (often omitted), which starts in darkness with performers only lit by small flashlights they each hold under their chins and the number is chaotic and challenging (all without accompaniment), and immediately introducing us to their strong singing voices.
While the bearded Grant Alexander Brown leads “Prepare Ye,” I mistakenly first thought he was Jesus, but as John the Baptist, he eagerly spreads water from a sponge among the first few rows of the audience.
The terrifically athletic, magnetic African-American actor Errol Service is Jesus, a bandana atop his head, and wearing denim shorts. His “Save the People,” with a powerful sound from the smiling, friendly ensemble, is one of a consistent string of highlights. The whole show has a feeling of a “Greatest Hits” package.
Tori Ternan projects sweet innocence, and a luminous voice and presence in “Day by Day,” which projects infectious exuberance from the whole cast – a running theme in many of the uptempo numbers. Malaika Wanjiku leads “Learn Your Lessons Well,” which begins with a great stride-style from Surico on keys, and morphs into a hard rock, and then heavenly gospel style at the end, with stratospheric high notes unleashed by Wanjiku.
Errol Service, Jr. plays Jesus in Timber Lake Playhouse’s “Godspell.”
“All for the Best” – with Jesus and Judas both dazzling in tap shoes – is one of my top favorites, as the verses gradually get faster, until the full cast is blazingly frenetic in the breathtaking, spectacular last section, which loses none of the perfect precision in the jaw-dropping burst of speed.
While I’ve known these songs for so long, it’s such a treat to hear them in different, beguiling arrangements – including “All Good Gifts,” “Light of the World,” “Turn Back, O Man,” “By My Side” and “We Beseech Thee.” It’s like glimpsing best friends in a whole new outfit and hairstyle.
A scene from “Godspell,” running through June 7 at Timber Lake Playhouse.
Part of the brilliance of “Godspell” is the democratic nature of the show – every cast member seemingly gets a chance to absolutely shine, and the result at TLP is blinding – including Morgan in the flirty “Turn Back” (with Errol in a hypnotic, mesmerizing middle); Carly and Malaika in the dreamy duet of “By My Side,” and Gabe in the ecstatic “We Beseech Thee,” which again builds into a high-energy, happy group number.
Errol shows phenomenal range throughout, from the hard-rocking, intense, angry “Alas for You,” to the soulful, hopeful “Beautiful City,” and the dramatic, starkly lit Finale with Grant as Judas, who brings out a long wooden plank, that Jesus fashions into a cross with the big column on stage. Grant also is affecting in the melancholy, contemplative “On the Willows” before the last scene. The final musical number is a brilliant mash-up of “Prepare Ye,” Long Live God” and “Beautiful City.”
I’m not sure what year this “Godspell” is supposed to be set (the ‘90s?), with use of a camcorder filming on stage toward the end, but it takes the hippie, playful original (now 55 years old), with its ancient stories, and makes it feel thrillingly fresh, invigorating and alive. It’s magical and unforgettable.
A scene from “Godspell,” running through June 7 at Timber Lake Playhouse.
A summer musical theater camp in the woods
At TLP, which definitely has a summer camp vibe, the Resident Company (which primarily lives on site) consists of 35-40 performers, technicians and musicians selected by interviews and auditions in cities across the country. Numerous guest performers, directors and choreographers supplement the resident company each season.
The current theatre building (erected after a fire destroyed the original wooden-frame structure in 1974) houses a 45-foot-wide semi-thrust revolving stage and 371 fixed seats. The property is also home to 14 other buildings used for costumes, scenic and paint shops, food service and housing for the company. The unique layout of facilities allows the playhouse to present work on a much larger scale than many summer theatre companies. In 2017, TLP purchased an additional five acres of wooded land surrounding the property including the barn structure to the south of the theatre. This gives TLP just under 10 acres that make up the TLP Campus.
The professional summer theater Timber Lake Playhouse is celebrating its 65th season this year, 62 miles northeast of Moline. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
Some of the big energy of the cast must come from the super enthused artistic director, 30-year-old Tommy Ranieri, now in his third season in the job, after first directing there in July 2023 for “9 to 5.” He’s excited about having Timber Lake in the second year of a new show commission program named for TLP founder Andy Bro, “who was doing new works in the ‘60s, which was unheard of on a regional stage,” Ranieri said before Saturday night’s show.
“And so we do shows that are centered around a Midwest experience and also give young people the opportunity to originate roles, because that’s how everything’s going on Broadway nowadays,” he said. “It’s called ‘The Mermaids,’ which is gonna be super fun. But we got a great season. I mean, this is great. This (‘Godspell’) is all alumni, which sets the tone for everything. We’re so pumped.”
Part of the grounds at Timber Lake Playhouse, Mt. Carroll, Ill. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
With “The Mermaids,” the Andy Bro New Works Commission debuts a brand-new comedy by award-winning writer Billy Recce (Fowl Play, A Musical About Star Wars, Singfeld). TLP summarizes the new show as “Bold, hilarious, and heartfelt, a world premiere you’ll only see first at Timber Lake Playhouse.”
With “Godspell,” this is the first time TLP has done an all-alumni show.
The building housing Timber Lake Playhouse’s offices. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
“Because what happened was that we were doing the first show and everybody would come late because they’d have their graduations, they were seniors,” Ranieri said of college-age performers. “So I was like, let’s do a show, a smaller show with alumni. Set the tone, set the pace. And then we shorten our resident company time. They get less tired. And then we essentially, we’re doing shows two through six have a mixture of all 14 (performers) across it, which is super cool. And each of them get to play a lead, they get to be in an ensemble role, they get to swing something, they get to understudy something. So they get a big experience.”
The next show – the classic “Les Miserables” (the only licensed production in the state of Illinois this year) — will feature a big cast of 27, with a 14-piece live pit, Ranieri said. Playing lead Valjean is John Michael Finley, who has played the role on Broadway, he said, and the cast will be filled with many guest actors. Each show rehearses just about two and a half weeks, daylong rehearsals, with performances at night, and two days of the week there are 2 p.m. matinees.
Part of the TLP Beer Garden, which serves food and drink and hosts pre-show cabarets. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
“It’s like 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. It’s nuts,” Ranieri said. “But it’s exciting — like people say all the time, they have these pressure cooker processes, but if you could do five of them in a row, it’s essentially like catapulting your career towards where you want to go.”
He went to hold auditions at 12 colleges and universities this year, and also got 5,000 video submissions for the 14 resident players this summer. Ranieri is personally directing “Les Miz” and “The Mermaids” this season.
A view of Timber Lake across from the theater in the woods, May 30, 2026. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
The schedule for the rest of the summer is:
- “Les Miserables” – June 12-28
- “Cabaret” – July 3-12
- “Shrek the Musical” – July 17-August 2
- “Hands on a Hardbody” – August 7-16
- “The Mermaids” – August 21-30
Audiences can extend their time at Timber Lake Playhouse by enjoying a meal in the Beer Garden before the show and joining other patrons for an outdoor pre-show cabaret or by visiting the theatre’s gift shop for exclusive branded merchandise. Ranieri also recommended checking out Molly’s Kitchen & Bar in Mount Carroll for a pre-show dinner. Molly’s will cater an Aug. 1 TLP 65th-anniversary dinner.
“Godspell” performances continue on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the Timber Lake Playhouse Box Office, open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and through intermission on performance days, by calling (815) 244-2035, or online at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org.
A view of Timber Lake across from the theater in the woods, May 30, 2026. (photo by Jonathan Turner)
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