“Godspell” in concert will be presented Saturday and Sunday in Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church.

Northern Chautauqua Catholic School and Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church will be presenting Stephen Schwartz’s acclaimed musical “Godspell” in concert on Saturday and Sunday in Holy Trinity in Dunkirk to benefit Northern Chautauqua Catholic School.

NCCS was founded in 1989 as an attempt to combine all the local parochial schools. Since then, the school has fostered the education of thousands of students and has become the local leader in elementary Catholic education.

During the COVID shutdown, NCCS was one of the only schools in the area that kept its doors open and students thriving.

Unfortunately, like many private and parochial schools, all of the funding for the school is done through tuition, fundraising, and private donations. Almost 50% of the students who currently attend Northern Chautauqua Catholic School are able to attend through the school’s Bison Scholarship program where the children’s tuition is reduced to help struggling families.

In an attempt to help keep this institution open and thriving, the school along with Holy Trinity will be producing an in-concert version of “Godspell” the musical.

The performance is being directed by the formidable, Janie Villella-Sharon. Villella-Sharon has been the music teacher and director at NCCS for the past three years and is a passionate advocate for its survival. “I truly believe that NCCS is the most wonderful, family-centered, institution, and I believe it is crucial to do everything we can to keep the doors open for many years to come.”

After being persuaded by Father Dan Walsh to produce the musical, Villella-Sharon agrees that “Godspell” is the perfect choice to showcase community talent and the school. “It’s just a wonderful story, that we all know, the story of Jesus and his disciples, but the music in itself is inspiring and passionate. It has a way of teaching the lessons of kindness and morality, but by making it fun and forces you to tap your feet and want to sing along.”

“Godspell” was written by John Michael Tebelak with music written by the incomparable, Stephen Schwartz. (Wicked/ Pippin) It was originally produced in 1971 and has many revivals and film adaptations, including the 2011 Broadway revival which this production is based upon.

The NCCS production of Godspell will star Father Bob Owczarczak and feature many community members including Villella-Sharon, Ted Sharon, Jennifer Davis, and Pete Howard. The production will also include a youth chorus comprised of several children from the Fredonia-Dunkirk community.

“I wanted to take this opportunity to really showcase the immense talent that we have here in Northern Chautauqua County and all of our amazing performers are donating their time and talents to help our little school,” Villella-Sharon said. “I couldn’t be more grateful to all of them along with the most supportive principal and staff at NCCS.”

Godspell will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available at Northern Chautauqua Catholic School and the Holy Trinity office. Adult tickets will be $20 and children under 8 are free. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to Northern Chautauqua Catholic School.