There's a common adage in the entertainment industry that tragedy plus time equal comedy. In 1972, roughly 1,940 years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Bible stories became the funniest show in town. Stephen Schwartz's Godspell, a cruci-fiction musical comedy, swept into Toronto with a then-unknown cast...who would become some of the most influential comedic actors of their generation. It was also the production where Martin Short met his wife, Nancy Dolman.

A new documentary exploring the legendary production, You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way), will make its premiere at New York's Film Forum September 18 before opening nationwide September 25. It also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Godspell on Broadway.

In celebration, we're looking back on the production which proved that, oftentimes, the best theatre can be found on the outskirts of the industry.

Conceived and directed by the late John-Michael Tebelak with music and new lyrics by Oscar and Grammy winner Stephen Schwartz, Godspell—a hip musical re-telling of the New Testament's Gospel of Matthew—made its New York City premiere May 17, 1971, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, moving to the Promenade later that year. The show was an Off-Broadway smash, spawning the hit song "Day by Day" and eventually transferring to Broadway in 1976, where it opened at the Broadhurst Theatre June 22, 1976. Godspell, which received a Tony nomination for Best Original Score, would eventually play both the Plymouth and Ambassador theatres before closing September 4, 1977, after 527 regular performances.

Prior to that Broadway production, there was Toronto. That production opened June 1, 1972 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The engagement, which was initially intended to run for a few dozen performances for a subscription audience, is now the stuff of theatrical legend. With a cast drawn entirely from local performers, many of whom were totally green to the world of musical theatre, the production was much closer to a regional theatre staging than an international sit down production.

As Emmy winner Eugene Levy recollected in a previous interview with Playbill, "eighty hopefuls were trying out in a church auditorium and watching each other audition on the tiny church stage. It was the musical portion of the audition where Stephen Schwartz and Steve Reinhardt would determine who had the musical chops to be in the show. A voice echoed out in the hall: 'Victor Garber!' Victor took to the stage carrying his acoustic guitar and sang his version of 'Save the People.' Oh. My. God. It was insanely beautiful, and he finished his version with a modulation on the last line 'God save the people' that hit a final note that could only be described as ethereal. Eighty auditionees, including me, jumped to their feet and gave him a 10-minute standing ovation. And then, a voice echoed out in the hall with a sound that, to this day, has been the most frightening sound to hit my ear—'Eugene Levy!'"

Garber, of course, booked the role of Jesus in the production. Levy was pegged to perform the "Light of the World" disciple track. Alongside them was Gerry Salsberg as John the Baptist/Judas, Andrea Martin as "Day By Day," Gilda Radner as "Learn Your Lessons Well," Avril Marie Chown as "Bless The Lord," Rudy Webb as "All Good Gifts," Jayne Eastwood as "Turn Back, O Man," Valda Aviks as "By My Side," and Martin Short as "We Beseech Thee."

"In 1971 I moved from New York to Toronto," recalled Martin. "When word of auditions for the Toronto company of Godspell came out, I had already seen the New York and London productions multiple times. I had memorized all the songs, and I believed I was the perfect person to play any part in the show. I auditioned with a totally inappropriate song for an 'innocent disciple of Christ,' 'Somebody' from the Off-Broadway musical Celebration. 'At 20, man you've had it, if you know what I mean, and you start aging very fast, the day you reach 13.'

"I got to sing two measures, and heard the dreaded, Thank you. Then, this adorable girl with pigtails bounced up on stage and sang 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah' in its entirety and brought the house down. It was Gilda Radner. She was called back; I was instructed to pick up my coat and leave. Two weeks later, when the young girl cast as the 'Day By Day' clown dropped out for personal reasons, my good friend Eugene Levy (who had been cast along with Gilda, Marty Short, Victor Garber, and Dave Thomas) called and asked me to a party he was having for the director and the cast that night. He instructed me to be my 'zany, funny, uninhibited' self at the party. I did what he told me. The next day I was cast as Robin, in the original Toronto company of Godspell. It was the beginning of all of our careers and friendships that have lasted a lifetime."

Once in the rehearsal room, the cast became magic. The relative lack of pressure placed on the production made it possible for the group to unite, creating a version of the musical that was wholly their own, rather than their being beholden to the New York productions' interpretations. As many of the cast were close friends prior to booking the show, it quickly became an exercise in making each other laugh onstage, which only turned up the joy for the audiences watching them cavort around.

As Eastwood recalled, "[I remember] Valda Aviks had nodes, [and] she couldn’t sing 'By My Side' [one] night. Marty Short said he would take over. I remember sitting beside him cross-legged on stage. It was one of the most beautiful, moving songs in the show. The lights were low. He did very well for the first few bars—then he lost those lyrics. He was singing 'Humana Humana.' Well, I completely lost it. I was trying so hard to not laugh I wet my knickers. Then Marty started to laugh between his 'Humana Humanas.' Oh man. I don’t know how we got through that one. Hopefully, somebody who was professional took over. I don’t really remember because I was still laughing and worried about my rather wet costume."

What was intended to be a subscription-only production quickly became the hottest ticket in town, transferring from the Royal Alexandra Theatre to the Bayview Playhouse, where it was able to enjoy an open ended (and open ticketed) run). Reviews were rhapsodic, in particular for Garber, who would quickly be earmarked to play Jesus in the 1973 film version of the musical, leapfrogging over original Jesus, Stephen Nathan.

"It was a life-changing experience for me, not only because of the audience response to an extraordinary, original, musical but also because of the actors assembled, some of whom remain cherished friends to this day," recalled Garber. "I was aware of something magical happening in the rehearsal room. I think we all were. I will always treasure that time."

Off of the success of the production, many of the cast found agents, managers, and an audience hungry for more of their particular brand of zany comedy, which ushered many of them into now legendary comedy careers. For those involved offstage, the Toronto production was equally transformative.

"Godspell changed my life forever," shared Paul Shaffer, now legendary band leader who was the music director for the Toronto production. "I had just graduated from the University of Toronto and was setting out into the music business, playing the piano wherever I could, including accompanying friends at their singing auditions. Two women friends were going up for roles in what would be the Toronto company of the aforementioned hit Off-Broadway musical, and brought me along to play for them. Both made it through the preliminaries and Stephen Schwartz, Godspell‘s wunderkind composer, came to town to do the final casting. After I accompanied both my friends who sang for him, Schwartz asked to speak to me. 'Can you play piano for the rest of the auditions?' he asked. 'I like your ‘feel.’' I was happy to do so, and that day played for the now-legendary auditions of Victor Garber, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Gilda Radner, all of whom Stephen cast in the show, to which Andrea Martin was soon added. At the end of the day, he spoke to me again. 'Can you get a band together and conduct this show?' 'Surely,' I replied. I was in show business!"

It wasn't only professional relationships that were kickstarted by the production, however. The cast of hot-blooded young performers mixed heavily on a personal level. While Short and Radner dated on-and-off during the run of the production, it was Radner's understudy, Nancy Dolman, who would prove to be the love of Short's life, with the pair enjoying one of the most mythologized marriages in show business history until her death in 2010.

To this day, Short says the Toronto production was the most influential experience of his life. "On March 25, 1972 (on the eve of my 22nd birthday), perhaps the greatest good fortune of my 49-year career occurred. Now down to the last two guys up for the role of Jeffrey the imp (what a stretch) in the greatest new musical around. Stephen Schwartz stood on the stage of the Masonic Temple in Toronto and went silent for moment before uttering the words, 'I think we’re going to go with….Martin.' As my heart skipped many beats, I looked over to my friend Eugene Levy, who had already been selected, as his face broke out into a massive smile of, 'Is this not the greatest day of our life?'

"I no longer had to be a social work student at McMaster University in Hamilton. I was now going to be a professional actor; paid for what I would do happily for free. In the intervening years, I’ve had many remarkable show business moments, but nothing has ever rivaled the utter joy and excitement I felt that day. Thank you, Stephen, for launching my career into the dream I’d always dreamed."

By Margaret Hall and Andrew Gans for playbill.com.

Photo: Victor Garber as Jesus with ensemble. © 1972 Steve Russell.