They all starred in ?Godspell.? Then they became comedy legends.

They all still remember when Gilda Radner sang “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”It was the final callback auditions for a 1972 production of “Godspell,” and the Stephen Schwartz musical about ragtag, hippie disciples of Jesus was the most sought-after gig in Toronto, hot off its off-Broadway success the year before.Eugene Levy sat in the auditorium near his college buddy Martin Short, whom he introduced to his friend Andrea Martin. This is an oral history of that production, in interviews that have been condensed for concision and clarity.At an earlier audition, Levy showed up prepared to sing an a cappella song but was told he had to sing a song with the piano.Levy: While I was outside waiting, five or six people have gone in before me and virtually every one was singing “Aquarius” from the musical “Hair.” But I didn’t really know the lyrics — by the time of “harmony and understanding,” I couldn’t quite follow. So I went up, they said “what are you singing” and I said “Aquarius.” I sounded pretty good, I hit the high note, and then started the chorus and they said, “All right, thank you.” And I went, “Perfect!”Levy had gone to McMaster University in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, where he was theater friends with Short and future “SCTV” star Dave Thomas — who would join “Godspell” later.Levy suggested “Godspell” to Short, who was majoring in social work but had decided that after his imminent graduation he’d give himself a year to try acting. Levy and Short’s group got the Parable of the Sower, and Levy remembers shooing away the self-assigned “platoon leader” and stepping in.Levy: I said, “Okay, I’ll narrate the first half, and Marty, you narrate the second half and I’ll do my Ed Sullivan and Marty you can do your Richard Burton.” [Ed Sullivan voice] “Now, the Ed Sullivan Show,” I kind of did that, “and we have all these starving people and they’re on our stage.”Short: Eugene kind of took over. I think I got in because of Eugene.Levy: They called me over to the desk and they said, “Congratulations, you’re in the show.” And I was going crazy. I didn’t think I would have this dream job in three weeks.Levy had dated Andrea Martin a bit, and they co-starred in the erotic horror comedy “Cannibal Girls,” directed by a young McMaster alum, Ivan Reitman. She wanted it so much.So Martin went to the gym every day for two weeks, and one day she was in the sauna when she got called to the phone — it was Levy, who said one actress had dropped out.Martin: He said, come to this party that we’re having tomorrow night. “You are the light of the world.” We’re all connected and we all come from the same source because we’re human.Scardino: It was about Jesus in the way that it could have been about Buddha.Radner, who died of cancer in 1989, wrote in her memoir that while she was brought up Jewish, she was “always fascinated with Jesus” — studying him in art history, singing Christmas songs and living in a Catholic neighborhood of Detroit.Radner, from her memoir: For a whole year, eight times a week, Jesus died in “Godspell” and we all suffered with him. But for some reason, we just skated past that point and continued on.Short, however, says the near-do-over was on a different night.Short: We came out one night, we got in a circle, and Andrea said, “Stop doing that opening speech like an Italian.” And I didn’t know what she meant. I’m doing no waxing for this.” They said, “Well, it might bother children in the matinees.” So they said, “Would you wear this tank top?” And I said, “Okay, I’ll wear the tank top.”The cast would often gather at Levy and Short’s house at 1063 Avenue Rd.Short: People would get up and perform. I remember I said, “Oh my God, Gilda, I love that top.” And she took it off and gave it to me.Scardino recalls that one night after the show, he took Radner and others to see George Carlin perform.Scardino: We watch from the wings and they’re all so excited because they’re all comedy freaks. How did you get here so fast?” And Gilda said, “Oh, tonight we shot him.”Short dated Radner for much of the run.Short: She was four years older, so I was a little more naive. And that’s where I knew I was meant to be.Schwartz invited Shaffer to play on the movie soundtrack.Shaffer: I was saying, “There’s so many piano players in New York, what’s going on here?” But the theatrical type of piano player he was working with, he said, “They don’t hit the thing hard. My first time in a recording studio.Short: We asked him, “What are New York actors like?” He said, “I could be prejudiced but I think you guys are just as talented.” We went, “Aww, that’s so sweet and supportive.” We didn’t go, “All riiiight!”The “Godspell” bonds ran deep. But Eugene came over and said, “Oh, you’re coming with me.” And just checked me out of the hotel and checked me right into his guest room, and he and his wife, Deb, took care of me.Martin married Dolman’s brother, making Short her ever-supportive brother-in-law.Martin: He has a very pragmatic approach. … I think that group was just so happy to be not in school.Martin: This was Toronto in the ’70s — it wasn’t even New York in the ’70s — so nobody was really thinking, “Huh, how am I going to do this so this will get me that?” I think we were terribly delighted that we were making money.