the comedy revolution comes home
Greenwich Entertainment
Presents
YOU HAD TO BE THERE
Directed by Nick Davis
Sept 25 – Creemore Film Club
Sept 28 – Sylvan Lake, AB – Landmark Cinemas
Sept 28 + Oct 1 – Calgary International Film Festival
Oct 2-8 – Toronto, TIFF Lightbox
Oct 2-8 – Kingston, Screening Room
Oct 3-6 – Ottawa, ByTowne Cinema
Oct 8, 9, 24 – Toronto – Hot Docs Cinema
Oct 9 – Waterloo, Princess Cinema
Oct 9 – Hamilton, Playhouse Cinema
Oct 9-15 – Toronto, FOX Theatre
Oct 9,10,15 – Saskatoon, Roxy Theatre
Oct 14 – Portage, Prairie City Cinema
Oct 16 – Vancouver, Vancity Theatre
Oct 16 – Halton Hills, John Elliott Theatre
Oct 26 – For Erie, Meridian Centre for the Arts
Oct 26 – Fort Erie, Film Circuit
Oct 26 – Peterborough, Museum and Archives
Oct 29-Nov 8 – Windsor International Film Festival
Nov 4 – St. John’s, Film Circuit Group (Cineplex)
Nov 16 – Mission, SilverCity Mission Cinemas
More cinemas to follow
PRESS RELEASE
Before SCTV, before Saturday Night Live, before any of them were famous, there was a rock musical about Jesus and his disciples – most of whom wore overalls.
More than 50 years later, the story behind Toronto’s legendary 1972 production of Godspell is coming home with YOU HAD TO BE THERE, directed by Nick Davis, rolls out in Canadian theatres beginning September 25.
The film had its world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre during TIFF 2025, the same theatre where Toronto’s legendary production of Godspell opened in 1972. It was named second runner-up for the TIFF People’s Choice Documentary Award. And now the film opens theatrically in Toronto at TIFF Lightbox on October 2 for a one-week engagement.
The film looks back at the remarkable gathering of young performers who would go on to change comedy forever. The Toronto production of Godspell brought together Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber and Jayne Eastwood, with Paul Shaffer serving as musical director.
The friendships formed during the production helped shape a distinctly Canadian comic voice that would soon emerge in Second City Toronto and SCTV, before spreading to Saturday Night Live, and decades of film and television.
No filmed record of the original performances survives. However, Martin Short once slipped a tape recorder into the theatre and captured the show. He also recorded late-night cast parties at the apartment he shared with Eugene Levy. These never-before-heard recordings are used in the film, along with personal archives and 1970s-inspired animation, to bring the production back to life.
“Bringing this film back to Toronto feels like completing the circle,” said Director Nick Davis. “Godspell brought this remarkable group together here, and the friendships and comedy that grew from it went on to shape generations of entertainment around the world. At its heart, the film is a celebration of what can happen when talented young people find one another at exactly the right moment.”
The film includes interviews with all surviving members of the original cast, as well as Stephen Schwartz, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Janeane Garofalo.
Executive Produced by Judd Apatow, YOU HAD TO BE THERE is directed and produced by Nick Davis and written by Davis and Jane Mendelsohn. The film is produced by Sue Turley, Tom Powers, Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane. Executive producers are Apatow, Sally Klingenstein Martell, Teresa Tsai, Glenn Kaino, Stephanie Hannon, Stephanie Holder Kotton and Dr. Ryan Kotton.
The film is edited by Doug Abel, with cinematography by Phil Cooper and Wolfgang Held. Original music is by Timo Elliston and Brian Jones, with animation by Ace & Son Moving Picture Co.