Joseph Spieldenner and Emmy Raver-Lampman as
Adam and Eve (Photo credit: Jen Maufrais Kelly)

Although produced in London in 1991, Stephen Schwartz’s musical, Children of Eden, has not had a major New York production. Considering the runway success of his most recent Broadway show, Wicked, this is even more surprising given the impressive production now appearing at the Astoria Performing Arts Center under the innovative direction of Tom Wojtunik. Loosely based on the Book of Genesis, Children of Eden has something for everyone. It is melodic, moving, entertaining and inspirational.

Originally scored for a chorus of 60 (including children), its expense may have put off producers. It has not been entirely neglected in the New York area: Paper Mill Playhouse mounted a production in the fall of 1997 which featured Stephanie Mills and Adrian Zmed. A one night benefit for World AIDS Day 2003 was produced at the Riverside Church under the auspices of the York Theatre Company with a starry cast which included Norm Lewis, Julia Murney, Laura Benanti, Max von Essen, Darius de Haas, Jai Rodriguez, and John Tartaglia.

Alvin Klein’s negative New York Times review of the Paper Mill production in 1997 may have also given producers pause. But then they had not seen what the APAC could do with this material. The APAC production does not have starry names but it is a very impressive musical evening. Before the show, the audience is first ushered into the beautiful Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. When the performing space is revealed, it has been turned into an environmental theater with the show happening both in front and around the audience which sits on three sides of the playing area.

Stages at each end of the playing area are connected by platforms that run from one end of the black box theater to the other. Michael P. Kramer’s imaginative setting includes a circular stage in the middle of the theater in which props are planted at various times in the evening, as well as exits and entrances for the actors scattered in several parts of the house. The archways over the two stages and the doorways over the exits look like ancient stone blocks. The staging makes use of the entire space including the two-story stage at one end. Performed this way, Children of Eden becomes a communal experience.

Based on a concept by Charles Lisanby, and with book adapted from the Old Testament by John Caird, Tony Award winner for his co-direction of Les Miserables and honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Children of Eden is almost entirely sung-through. With 35 musical numbers including the two reprises each of “The Spark of Creation” and the title song, Schwartz’s music and lyrics tell the story. The joyful songs are very varied including such genres as gospel, lullaby, anthem, hymn, ballad, blues, calypso and torch song.

While the book is very respectful of the Old Testament, Children of Eden makes some changes in its attempt to follow the theme of the conflict between fathers and sons. God is here called Father (played by James Zannelli). After Adam (Joseph Spieldenner) and Eve (Emmy Raver-Lampman) are created, one immediately after the other, Eve immediate becomes curious about everything, while Adam is content to accept things as they are. When Eve eats the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, she is thrilled that she now knows everything. At her expulsion, Adam is given a choice to remain in Eden and have Father create a new Eve for him, but he choose to join her in exile (“A World Without You”) even though it means never seeing Father again.


Snake in the Temptation scene
(Photo credit: Jen Maufrais Kelly)

Cain (Alan Shaw) and Abel (Stephen Gelpi) are born and history repeats itself. Cain is not content to remain in one place and goes exploring. When he finds a Stonehenge- like ring of stones strongly suggesting another but alien tribe, he confronts Adam who forbids him to go there again. Attempting to strike Adam, he accidentally kills his brother Abel, is given the mark of Cain and is banished forever. Seth (Jonathan Gregg) is born and Act I ends with the deaths of Adam and Eve who go to join their Father.

After narrating many future “Generations” in a catchy calypso choral number, the second act continues with the story of Noah and his family, and the cycle of father and son conflicts begins again. Spieldenner and Ravel-Lampman return as Noah and his wife, and the same actors reappear as their three sons. Shaw as Japheth is again the rebel and challenges his father as to his choice of wife. When he picks Yonah, his father’s servant, a daughter of Cain, he is forbidden to bring her on the Ark.

However, he refuses to be parted from her and hides her on the Ark. When she is discovered, she is blamed as the reason why the rain won’t stop falling. Her act of setting free a dove leads them to the discovery of land, and she is finally forgiven for being a daughter of Cain. When Noah’s sons set off in different directions, Japheth and Yonah choose to go looking for Eden and Noah tells them to seek the Tree of Knowledge.

While Schwartz’s music is lush, diverse and extremely melodic, the quality of his lyrics varies greatly. While the child-like rhymes are acceptable for the innocence of the characters, there is too often dependent on clichés and trite expressions, for example “the family of man,” “we are not alone,” “outward bound,” etc. Eve’s theme, “The Spark of Creation,” which is meant to be inspirational, is both flat and prosaic. However, among the 35 numbers are some standouts. Adam’s “A World without You,” is a lovely ballad, while Cain’s “Lost in the Wilderness” is powerful and passionate. Act I ends with the haunting title song.


Emmy Raver-Lampman (Mama Noah) and Joseph Spieldenner
(Noah) (Photo credit: Jen Maufrais Kelly)

After the foot-tapping calypso number, “Generations,” Act II offers Yonah’s poignant ballad of alienation, “Strangers in the Rain,” and the impassioned duet for her and Japheth, “In Whatever Time We Have,” which raised the stakes of their relationship. Noah and Father sing the moving and beautiful duet, “The Hardest Part of Love,” describing a parent's fears for his children. The evening ends with two rousing choral numbers, “Ain’t It Good,” and a finale of “Children of Eden.” Bruce Coughlin and Martin Erskine are responsible for the always pleasing, and wide-ranging orchestrations.

Wojtunik’s production makes the material look more original that it actually is, in no small part owed to his choreographer Christine O’Grady and his magnificent chorus led by Shad Olsen and Erin Michelle Washington. Among the most memorable and magical sequences are the sensuous temptation by the five (!) snakes played by Gelpi, Gregg, Charissa Bertels, Kelly Scanlon, and Stacie Bono at the foot of the Tree of Knowledge in the musical number, “In Pursuit of Excellence”; “The Naming” of the animals using witty shadow puppets; the joyous feast for Noah’s family called “A Piece of Eight”; and the witty “Return of the Animals” which leads to their arrival on the Ark.

Although there are no weak links in the cast, not all of the performers are equally memorable. Tenor Spieldener is bland as both Adam and Noah, while this is offset by the virtuoso portrayal of Raver-Lampman of both Eve and Mama Noah. Zannelli’s baritone doesn’t seem quite up to the music his role has been assigned, though his characterization as a perturbed patriarch is fine. However, both Shaw as two rebellious sons and Bono as Japheth’s love interest Yonah are quite impressive in their roles. The eight piece band conducted by Lilli Wosk gives a delightful rendition of this long and complex score. Hunter Kaczorowski, responsible for the many costumes and puppets, cleverly begins his color palette with white and works his way to bright and colorful fabrics by the end of the evening.

Children of Eden, long overdue in New York, has finally received a worthy production in the capable hands of director Tom Wojtunik, assisted by choreographer Christine O’Grady. Along with the melodic score by Stephen Schwartz, and a talented cast of 19, Astoria Performing Arts Center’s production of Children of Eden is a joyful, magical evening that is ultimately both entertaining and moving.

Children of Eden (through May 29)

Astoria Performing Arts Center, Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent Street, in Astoria, Queens

For tickets, call 212-352-3101 or http://www.APACNY.org