Cotton Patch Gospel
1994 · Jacksonville, Illinois
Cotton Patch Gospel is Harry Chapin's exuberant bluegrass musical — "The Greatest Story Ever Retold" — that transplants the Gospels of Matthew and John out of ancient Palestine and into the modern-day American South. The book by Tom Key and Russell Treyz draws on the late Clarence Jordan's Cotton Patch translation of the New Testament, in which Jesus is born in Gainesville, Georgia, baptized in a back-country river, and walks the red-clay roads of the rural South. It was the last music Chapin completed before his death in 1981. The piece is rarely staged because it asks its cast to double as a live bluegrass band, picking and singing their own accompaniment from the stage.
Ken Bradbury directed this 1994 production for the Jacksonville Theatre Guild and performed in it himself — appearing as Herod and Governor Pilate, doubling as one of the show's Satans and a member of the Gospel Quartet, and anchoring the band on claw banjo, autoharp, and accordion. The onstage string band, billed as The Cotton Patch Pickers, made all of the show's music live, with Ken's cast picking, fiddling, and harmonizing through the score.
Cast
- Herod / Governor Pilate; Satan One / Gospel Quartet — Ken Bradbury
- Herod's Henchmen / Disciple — Carl Bradford
- Matthew / Narrator / Dr. Troy; John the Baptizer / Dr. Caiaphas — Charles Douglass
- Cattle Farmer / Simon / Jud — Richard Dunseth
- Jesus — Jerry Hooker
- Mary / Tanya / Crippled Woman; Tourist / Disciple / Angel / Old Woman; Satan 3 / Gospel Quartet — Teresa McCartney
- Matthew / Narrator / Henchmen / Disciple — Richard McCoy
- Senator's Daughter — Jenna Post
- Gospel Quartet / TV Preacher / Rock; Narrator / Reverend Boyd Bissell / Satan 2; Tad / Herod's Henchmen — Mike Post
- Mr. Tedum / Senator / Politician / Andy — Chuck West
- Joe / Rock / Businessman / Jack; Gospel Quartet / Timmy — David Zink
- Young Jesus — David Bradbury, Jordan Post & Joshua Post
The Cotton Patch Pickers
- Ken Bradbury — claw banjo, autoharp, accordion
- Richard Dunseth — guitar, harmonica, dobro
- Chuck West — guitar, mandolin, fiddle
- Carl Bradford — 5-string banjo
- Jerry Hooker — guitar
- Mike Post — bass
- David Zink — accordion
Production Staff
- Director — Ken Bradbury
- Production Coordinator — Linda Van Aiken
- Technical Director & Set Designer — Chuck West
- Painters — Ken Bradbury & Sylvia Burke
- Set Construction — Chuck West, Greg Floyd & David Zink
- Props Coordinator — Stephanie Hobrock
- Lighting — Jeff Westerfield
- Outhouse Pilfering — Rick Barger
- Lumbar Pilfering — Elmer Bradbury
- General Pilfering — Anonymous
- Program — Ken Bradbury, Linda Van Aken & Roger Deem
- House Manager — Liz Aldridge
- Publicity — Linda Van Aken & Lynn Whalen
- Marquee — Triopia Creative Arts Class
- Lobby Board — Triopia Speech Class & Linda Van Aken
- Poster Colorization — Triopia Quest & Creative Arts Classes
- Tickets — Kathy Petitte
- Deaf Interpreter — Nancy Scott
Program courtesy of the Ken Bradbury Foundation.
See the full production record at JTG Memories.