The Gospel According To Harry Chapin

It's incredible that a bluegrass musical with such a countrified phrase as "cotton patch" in its title could be scandalous, but for some, Cotton Patch Gospel is a threatening retelling of the Greatest Story Ever Told even 28 years after its Off-Broadway debut. Not everyone accepts the play's suggestion that...

By Jesse Hughey

June 11, 2009

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It's incredible that a bluegrass musical with such a countrified phrase as "cotton patch" in its title could be scandalous, but for some, Cotton Patch Gospel is a threatening retelling of the Greatest Story Ever Told even 28 years after its Off-Broadway debut. Not everyone accepts the play's suggestion that if Jesus had been a Southerner, he might not have been happy about racial injustice. The dramatic adaptation by Tom Key, Harry Chapin and Russell Treyz was inspired by the "Cotton Patch" translation of Matthew by Clarence Jordan, a Biblical scholar whose integrated Koinonia Farm community lived by those Christ-inspired ideals--fundamentalist-approved or not--decades before the Civil Rights movement. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Plaza Arts Center, 1115 4th Ave. in Carrollton. Tickets are $20. Call 972-512-3800, ext. 5020 or visit cottonpatchmusical.org.
May 28-31; June 11-14, 2009

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