Countdown to Children of Eden

Post by **Alatar** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:00 pm

Our latest musical will be opening on Sunday Night, so for those who might be interested, here's the first of my diary entries.

Children of Eden is a recent musical by Stephen Schwartz, the composer of Wicked, Godspell and several film musicals including Prince of Egypt and Hunchback of Notre Dame. The show works on several levels, primarily as a simple retelling of the Book of Genesis, but also as a commentary on Parenthood. Act 1 tells the story of Adam and Eve, up to and including the Death of Abel and finishing with the death of Eve. The difficulties with the Bible story are handled cleverly, with Cain discovering a tribe over the mountains and Adam's remonstrations that "What if these are people He never made?". These "tribes" allow us to get round the whole incestuous problems. We're told that the third child Seth, brought back a wife from over the mountains and from this marriage the Generations of Adam were sprung. There are some powerful moments, including the expulsion and Adam's heartrending song when Father asks him to choose between Eve and remaining in the Garden with Father, "I cannot live in a World without You".

ADAM

Oh my Father, Lord and Creator
You know that half my heart is yours
All that you gave me I can't repay you
If I betray you, I'll break in two
How could I live in a world without you

FATHER

You'll stay here Adam be my son forever..

ADAM

But oh my life's partner, my wife my lover
You know that half my heart is yours
Each I see you, you fill my spirit
Just knowing you're near, it makes the day new
How could I live in a world without you

Oh Father please don't choose
Either way it's more than I can bear to lose
Either way it's ripping out my heart
This choice is tearing me apart

FATHER

You see what have done
Pain has come into the garden
Where there is choice there is pain
Make this one choice my son
Choose not to eat this fruit
And you will never have to make a choice again

ADAM

Oh Eve what would you give
If this day you could relive
Would you let the apple go uneaten?

EVE

No, I cannot bear this pain
But I would not go back again

ADAM

Oh my garden, all peace and beauty
I know that all my heart is yours
I want to stay here, stay here forever
Father forever, I cannot leave
But Eve I don't know what else to do
How can I live...
I cannot live...
I will not live..
In a world without [long pause]
You

The final scene of act one has Father (God) finally breaking his silence to Eve and welcoming her home on her death as she sings the title song Children of Eden.

Act two begins with a song called Generations, detailing the lineage from Adam to Noah, finishing with my entrance as Noah. My character is very conflicted, from the first showing respect for Father, but little love or understanding on either side. Very early I ask if he is "Sure" about the flood. Father explains that only the Family of Noah has remained pure, free of the taint of the blood of Cain. Of course, as the act unfolds we find that the youngest son Japheth has fallen in love with Yonah, a daughter of the race of Cain. When he smuggles her aboard the Ark, Father falls silent and will no longer speak to Noah. Finally, when she is discovered, Noah must choose between sacrificing his Son (and Yonah) or letting them live and possibly earning Fathers wrath. Naturally he chooses instead to marry them and they prepare for the end. Just before this I have a song called "The Hardest Part of Love (is letting go)" which is performed as a sort of duet with Father, although I am unaware of him.

The message of the show is simple. If you love your children, let them go. Don't try to control them, give them their freedom to make their own mistakes. Its genuinely touching, even if it sounds a little schmaltzy.

Tonight is our last normal rehearsal before moving on to the stage tomorrow night for Technical rehearsals.

Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:25 pm

I wish I could be there.

It sounds really interesting.

Good luck, Al! I know it will be great.

Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:54 pm

Happy tech week! I hope all goes as well as can be expected. I take it you're playing Adam/Noah?

A World Without You is one of my favourite songs.

(Coincedentally, the opening night of my show is tonight.)

Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:41 pm

Good luck to you, too, Mossy!

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:53 pm

Break a leg, both of you! I can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Mossy, what show is it? And what are you doing?

Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:25 am

Thanks, Prim and Voronwë!
We had a really terrific opening night (with the exception of a stuck screw that really slowed down the set change).

I am the assisant stage manager on a one act by Doug Wright called The Stonewater Rapture. It's a very intense and disturbing (and sometimes darkly comedic) play about two teenagers in a very small, conservative town in Stonewater, Texas who have a sort of sexual awakening, although that's not really the best way to put it.

Sorry to hijack your thread, Alatar.

Post by **Alatar** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:31 am

No worries Mossy, I was about to ask the same question!

We've split the cast in CoE, so Adam and Noah are seperate actors. For those who don't know, as written the cast is doubled, so Noah plays Adam, Cain plays Japheth, etc. This has the advantage of allowing very strong parallels in the story to shine through, notably the Death of Abel scene, which is almost word for word and action for action reproduced in Act 2, with Noah replacing Adam, Japheth replacing Cain and Ham replacing Abel. The two have different outcomes however, since Yonah throws herself into the fray to protect Abel/Ham, thus breaking the cycle of violence.

However, being an amateur society, we try to give as many people as possible roles, so the cast was split in our production. I think the parallels are still clear and the story equally powerful.

Disaster rehearsal last night. Everyone is tired, concentration is failing. We need the energy that will come with the move to stage tonight.

Post by **Rowanberry** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:42 pm

Good luck to both of you, Alatar and Mossy!

Post by **Alatar** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:42 am

Tech rehearsal tonight. Went well, all considered. Lots of techy type issues that stopped a proper run, but hey, thats what tech rehearsals are for.

Band Call tomorrow, which will be our first time hearing the orchestra/band. Thats in the afternoon, followed by full dress rehearsal tomorrow night and opening on Sunday.

Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:48 am

Fun! (Unlike tech rehearsals.) Band calls are always exciting.

Hope all goes well!

(This was our first night with no hitches whatsoever. It was exciting.)

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:01 pm

Well, Dress Rehearsal went very well. Opening night, as a result was just ok. Its a stage truism that a good dress often means a poor opening night. The same energy isn't there unless you're genuinely scared it won't work!

Anyway, here's a slideshow:

Children of Eden Dress Rehearsal

Here's me in action:

Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:34 pm

You look very biblical. (But different from in other photos-- I don't think I would have recognised you in the slideshow.) It looks like a great show.

I hope you have/had a better second night! It's very true about dress rehearsal, but if opening night was just okay, then perhaps it will carry over and you'll have a terrific second night.

Post by **yovargas** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:10 am

I had meant to comment - you look like you've lost a good bit of weight since the last pics I saw of you. You look quite handsome.

Post by **Alatar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:11 am

Actually I've lost a lot, then put most back on...

I'm still down a bit on where I was, but far from thin!

Beards are great for hiding double chins....

Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:07 am

Alatar, good luck with the rest of the show! I know from experience that it is highly likely that the mistakes that were so obvious to you were not apparent to most anyone else.

I really like the beard, by the way.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:20 am

Thanks for sharing the slide show, Alatar! The show looks great. And I entirely agree with Voronwë about the beard—it really suits you!

Will there be some video or audio files?

Post by **Alatar** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:04 pm

Eventually I'm sure... but the beard comes off closing night. I wore a beard for about 15 years and I've only been beardless for a few years now. I can't wait to be cleanshaven again.

Post by **Alatar** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:29 am

Saw the DVD last night! Very pleased with the show, but determined to get back on a serious diet again. I know the camera is supposed to add 10 pounds, but unless it added about 50 I need to get thin again!

Clips later.

Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:11 pm

Looking forward to the clips.

Keeping weight off is hard.

Post by **Alatar** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:12 pm

Ok, I'm switching to Youtube for this, since the quality is better than Realplayer!

Here's my main song, "The Hardest Part of Love"