Editing Godspell (section)

==Musical numbers==
=== Off-Broadway production ===
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'''Act I'''
*Tower of Babble – Company
*Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord – David and Company
*Save the People – Stephen and Company
*[[Day by Day (Godspell song)|Day by Day]] – Robin and Company
*Learn Your Lessons Well – Gilmer
*Bless the Lord – Joanne and Company
*All for the Best – Stephen and David
*All Good Gifts – Lamar and Company
*Light of the World – Herb and Company
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'''Act II'''
*Learn Your Lessons Well (Reprise) – Lamar and Company
*Turn Back, O Man – Sonia and Company
*Alas for You – Stephen
*By My Side – Peggy and Company
*We Beseech Thee – Jeffrey and Company
*On the Willows – Band
*Finale – Company
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=== 2011 Broadway revival ===
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'''Act I'''
*Tower of Babble – cast
*Prepare Ye – John the Baptist and cast
*Save the People – Jesus and cast
*Day by Day – Anna Maria and cast
*Learn Your Lessons Well – Celisse and cast
*Bless the Lord – Lindsay and cast
*All for the Best – Jesus, Judas and cast
*All Good Gifts – Telly and cast
*Light of the World – George and cast
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'''Act II'''
*Turn Back, O Man – Morgan, Jesus, and cast
*Alas for You – Jesus
*By My Side – Uzo and cast
*We Beseech Thee – Nick and cast
*Beautiful City – Jesus
*On the Willows – Judas and the Band (or ensemble)
*Finale – Jesus and cast
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===Tower of Babble===
"Tower of Babble," the show's opening number, has often been omitted in productions. The song consists of the eight disciples (or soloists) acting out as philosophers, each singing about their various philosophies. They grow increasingly more irritated with each other, sing in contradiction, and eventually run out of words. "Prepare Ye" follows this prologue.

In the original productions, the philosophers were [[Socrates]] ([[Jeffrey Mylett]]), [[Thomas Aquinas]] (Peggy Gordon), [[Martin Luther]] (Lamar Alford), [[Leonardo da Vinci]] ([[Gilmer McCormick]]), [[Edward Gibbon]] ([[Sonia Manzano]]), [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] (Joanne Jonas), [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] (Robin Lamont), and [[Buckminster Fuller]] (Herb Braha). In the 2001 revival, Luther, Gibbon, Nietzsche, and Fuller were replaced by [[Galileo Galilei]], [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], [[L. Ron Hubbard]], and [[Marianne Williamson]], respectively. The 2011 revival retains Galilei, Hubbard, and Williamson, but restores Gibbon and replaces da Vinci with [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Georg Hegel]].

On many early cast recordings, including the original off-Broadway recording and the original London recording, the prologue was omitted in order to produce an album that could sell as a pop album. This omission was for marketing purposes and was not meant to diminish the importance of the number, as Stephen Schwartz has repeatedly stated. As a consequence, some audiences have gotten the impression that this number was added into the score later.

===Beautiful City===
"Beautiful City" was written in 1972 as part of the film and re-written in 1993 after the [[1992 Los Angeles riots|Rodney King riots in Los Angeles]]. In the film, it follows "Alas for You" and "By My Side", omitting the parable typically found in between these two numbers.

In the decades following the film's release, many directors have chosen to use the lyrics from the original film version, sometimes to replace the "Day by Day" reprise, "Tower of Babble", like the prologue, or adding it the end of the musical as an additional scene depicting the Resurrection.

The 2011 Broadway revival places "Beautiful City" after "We Beseech Thee" and just before the Last Supper, sung by Jesus as a slow ballad. This production used the revised 1993 lyrics and is included on its cast recording, along with a cover by [[John Ondrasik]] of [[Five For Fighting]] as a bonus track.

Some productions use both the original upbeat film version as a prologue as well as the ballad version, either in its original place just before the Last Supper whereupon the "Day by Day" reprise is used as the Resurrection, or as an epilogue depicting the resurrection itself.

In [[Music Theatre International]]'s Broadway Junior series, which edits popular musicals to one act appropriate for a middle school cast, "Beautiful City" is included in the show. ''Godspell Junior'' contains most of the first act and almost none of the second act. "By My Side" is omitted entirely. "Beautiful City" is placed at the beginning of the second act and is immediately followed by the Last Supper, the Betrayal, and the Crucifixion.