Easter Feature: Robin Lamont of ‘Godspell’ on Dancing at the Top of the World Trade Center

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CHICAGO – One of the better film treats of Easter weekend is “Godspell” (1973), the hippie musical based on the Bible gospels in the book of Matthew. Featuring Victor Garber as Jesus, the film is set in New York City of the early 1970s, at the same time the World Trade Center was nearly complete. The producers had a great idea … why not film a dance number on the top of the North Tower? So the ironic song “All For the Best” ends up there, and cast member Robin Lamont remembered her reaction in an interview with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

“Godspell” began in Pittsburgh in 1970 as a staged thesis for a Masters Degree by John-Michael Tebelak. It had a whole different set of songs and was structurally different than the show that opened Off-Off Broadway in 1971. After rejecting the original songs, the producers hired composer Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked”) to create the now classic soundtrack. The musical opened Off-Broadway on May 17th, 1971, five months before the similarly themed “Jesus Christ Superstar” had their Broadway debut. The film version, directed by British filmmaker David Greene, and the production utilized New York City as a stage for the antics of Jesus and his crew to great effectiveness.

Cast of ‘Godspell’ Dance on the World Trade Center (Robin Lamont Second from Right)
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Robin Lamont was a student at Carnegie Mellon when a normal class assignment would connect her to the musical for six years. She also was the “performer disciple” who would sing “Day by Day,” the most recognizable song from the show. Her version would go to number 13 on the charts in 1972, listed as performed by “Godspell.” She was the only cast member to play “Robin” in the original student version, the Off Broadway play, the film version AND the Broadway Play. She left acting in the late 1970s to pursue private investigation and law, and is the author of “The Kinship Series,” about an investigator who is also an animal rights preservationist.

The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11th, 2001.

In an excerpt from an interview with Robin Lamont in 2021, she remembers the precariousness of climbing to the top of the WTC …

Access the full Robin Lamont interview by clicking DAY BY DAY. The Kinship Series, written by Robin Lamont, is available through Amazon and her website, CLICK HERE.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor, Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com