A fascinating experiment in updating classic Greek tragedy with a contemporary, cultural sensibility, The Gospel at Colonus was shot in 1985 from Philadephia as part of PBS' Great Performances series. Avant garde theatre director Lee Breuer and composer Bob Telson originated the show in New York, where they took Sophocles' "Oedipus at Colonus" and--working with a Pentecostal preacher and his choir--adapted it into a gospel musical. The result was the story of Oedipus' agonies and redemption as a modern parable--not a Christian one in a substantive sense, but one with the forms and textures of a Pentescostal experience. Breuer and Telson took an even more unusual step of casting all five Blind Boys of Alabama to play Oedipus, which lends itself to some extraordinary drama. Morgan Freeman plays the role of the Messenger, who narrates the story. A wholly unexpected experience, The Gospel at Colonus is a remarkable, cultural fusion that blends the ancient with the ecstatic. A total of 13 songs seem to both underscore and reinvent the very possibilities of the gospel music form. --Tom Keogh