How Godspell captured the birth of Canadian comedic icons: TIFF Review

The Snapshot: ‘You Had to Be There’ captures lightning in a bottle as it recounts how one musical performance became the unlikely launchpad for some of Canada and Hollywood’s biggest comedic talents.

You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…

9 out of 10

PG, 1hr 38mins. Musical Comedy History Documentary.

Directed by Nick Davis.

Starring Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy, Jayne Eastwood, Martin Short, Paul Shaffer, Stephen Schwartz and Victor Garber.

Plays TIFF again Friday, Sept 12, with tickets available here. Releases on CBC in early 2026.

Many documentary films tell stories with the hope of being a voice for the voiceless. But that’s not the case for a new film about the history of comedy in Canada and Hollywood now playing at TIFF 2025.

And no, it’s not the opening night film about John Candy – it’s about the 1972 Toronto production of the musical Godspell, and the dozen legendary comedy careers it launched.

Director Nick Davis has taken exceptional care to get interview from as many members of the cast and crew as he possibly could, and the footage was exciting enough for the unlikely producing duo of the CBC and Judd Apatow to come on board to help frame the confusing and divergent history.

The film’s full title, in fact, is a 31-word mouthy marathon; it’s complete title is You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way).

It’s hard to encapsulate the magnitude of this moment in entertainment history, but it tells the story of stars like Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber and Gilda Radner all getting their big breaks.

What’s crazier is that those big breaks all happened on the same stage: the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. 53 years later, TIFF brilliantly premiered the movie on that exact same stage.

Like John Candy: I Like Me (also at the festival), the documentary leverages its tools of comedy and bravery as main themes in recounting the work of these artists. But Godspell is also very much about its music and spontaneity, and that carries over into the film’s structure too.

Read more here: John Candy shines at new TIFF documentary

One of the film’s few weaknesses is that most of the second half is spent on what came after Godspell for these actors, which is equally interesting and unoriginal. It’s the early days and time in the musical itself that makes this story unique.

Another disappointment is that there is no video footage of the show itself or rehearsals, meaning most of the film is present-day interviews and animated recreations of past events. These are both still greatly watchable, it does feel like an impossible piece is missing.

Until, that is, a spectacular finale which I won’t give away, when one clip from 1972 is found and shown to the cast with electrifying results. All I’ll say is how exciting it is seeing people who have entertained the world for over 50 years be the ones, for once, being entertained.

Maybe the most extraordinary part of this whole history is that the cast members still alive are actually still genuine friends more than a half century later, and they’re all still regularly in touch. If it wasn’t apparent in the film, it certainly was when they re-united on stage after the premiere.

You Had to Be There is an explosively joyful story about what great art both can be and become. The film is a literally divine work in the collection of Canadian documentary works.