Children of Eden is a 1991 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John Caird. The musical is based on the Book of Genesis, with Act I telling the story of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, while Act II deals with Noah and the flood.
Though commercially the musical has had very little success, it is popular in community and regional theatres worldwide, due to its ability to accommodate a large or small cast, religious subject, and its universal themes of family and love. The show's publisher, Music Theatre International, reports that Children of Eden is one of its top 20 most frequently licensed properties.
Production history
Origins Children of Eden was originally written in 1986 as Family Tree for a production by Youth Sing Praise, a religious-oriented high school theatre camp performed at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois. Stephen Schwartz adapted the script and music of Family Tree into a full-length musical, giving it the title it uses today.
Original London Production The original cast production of Children of Eden was developed as a Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) workshop. The production was directed by John Caird, and starred Ken Page as Father, Richard Lloyd-King as the Snake, Martin Smith as Adam, Shezwae Powell as Eve, Adrian Beaumont as Cain, Kevin Colson as Noah, Earlene Bentley as Mama Noah, Frances Ruffelle as Yonah, Anthony Barclay as Japheth, Craig Pinder as Shem, Ray Shell as Ham, Hiromi Itoh as Aysha and Ruthie Henshall as Aphra. After the RSC's budget was cut, it instead opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End on January 8, 1991. The show closed on April 6, 1991, due to poor reviews and the negative effects the Persian Gulf War had on tourism worldwide.
Because of the show's poor reviews and quick closing, the idea of a Broadway transfer was abandoned. Schwartz believes the show has not played on Broadway because of the expense required to produce it in an Actor's Equity house, due to the cast of characters.
American Premiere Throughout the 1990s, the show received numerous productions at both the amateur and professional levels; it was also reworked and edited, with songs and scenes being added and cut. In 1997, a major production was mounted at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. The production ran from November 5 to December 14, 1997. In contrast to the London production, the Paper Mill production had actors double roles. A cast recording of this production was produced by Schwartz himself. This revised version, commonly known as the "American version" or "Paper Mill version", is substantially what is currently licensed for production in the United States.
The cast featured William Solo as Father, Adrian Zmed as Adam/Noah, Stephanie Mills as Eve/Mama Noah, Darius de Haas as Cain/Japheth, Hunter Foster as Abel/Ham, and Kelli Rabke as Yonah.
Subsequent Productions
The New York City premiere of the piece was as the inaugural World AIDS Day Concert presented by Jamie McGonnigal and Kate Shindle for The York Theatre Company. The concert featured Norm Lewis as Father, Julia Murney as Eve/Mama Noah, Jonathan Dokuchitz as Adam/Noah, Darius de Haas as Cain/Japheth, Max von Essen as Abel/Ham, Kate Shindle as Yonah, John Tartaglia as Seth/Shem, Ann Harada as Aysha, and Laura Benanti as the Snake. The concert raised funds for The National AIDS Fund and was presented December 1, 2003, at Riverside Church.
A Gala charity concert adaptation ran for one night only at the Prince of Wales theatre in London on 29 January 2012. The concert was produced to support Crohn's and Colitis UK and featured performers from London's West End theatre community and from UK television.
In 2013 Children of Eden was presented in Melbourne, Australia by award-winning production company Magnormos, as the finale of their Stephen Schwartz Celebration Triptych, which also featured Godspell and Pippin. Composer Stephen Schwartz was in attendance.
A one-night only concert was presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2014. The concert featured Ron Bohmer as Father, Charl Brown as Adam/Noah, Ashley Brown as Eve/Mama Noah, Jeremy Jordan as Cain/Japheth, and Rebecca Naomi Jones as Yonah. The production was accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Broadway Chorus, and was attended by composer Stephen Schwartz.
In 2015, the show was adapted into a junior version by Lindsay Maron and was presented at the Summit Playhouse in Summit, NJ from July 24-August 2, with preview performances July 17–19. The production was directed and choreographed by Maron with musical direction and musical arrangements by Alex Ratner. The cast included 37 performers from all over the tristate area. Stephen Schwartz and executives from MTI attended the production and the junior version of the show is now available through MTI.Will Jr. Version of Children of Eden, Adapted by a Student, Move Forward? Stephen Schwartz Weighs In!
In 2016, Children of Eden marked its 30th anniversary. In celebration of this achievement, Youth Sing Praise, the same religious-oriented high school theatre camp that premiered it in 1986, performed the show at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois, on June 25, 2016, to a crowd of over 1,000 people.
In 2016, 25 years after its original London production, Children of Eden was revived at the new Union Theatre in Southwark, London.http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/children-of-eden-union-theatre_41298.html What's Onstage report. Accessed 14 August 2016
In 2019, Schwartz announced a planned Chicago production in 2020 and its possible filming. The production was later postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 and had planned to open in Chicago's Arcada Theatre in 2022. The production was set to feature Norm Lewis, Deborah Cox, David Phelps, America's Got Talent alum Brian Justin Crum, and Kirstin Maldonado of Pentatonix. The production was later put on as a concert on October 15, 2022, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. The cast featured Randal Keith as Father, David Phelps as Adam/Noah, Michelle Williams as Eve/Mama Noah, Sam Tsui as Cain/Japheth, Chris Graham as Abel/Ham, and Koryn Hawthorne as Yonah. The production will be streamed in April 2026 ahead of a Broadway-aimed production in Chicago.
In 2024, a concert version of the show was performed at Lincoln Center. It starred Norm Lewis as the Father, Auli’i Cravalho as Yonah, Nikki Renée Daniels as Eve/Mama Noah, and Lucas Pastrana as Abel/Ham. Paul Alexander Nolan and Jordan Fisher were originally set to star as Adam/Noah and Cain/Japheth respectively, but were replaced by David Phelps and Donald Webber Jr.Nikki Renée Daniels, Auli’i Cravalho, and Norm Lewis in Concert Performance of Children of EdenAuli'i Cravalho, Jordan Fisher, Norm Lewis, and More Will Lead Manhattan Concert Productions' CHILDREN OF EDEN Choirs from around the world were invited to perform, including the Blue Springs High School Choir from Blue Springs, Missouri.
Recordings
The Original London Cast Recording was released on LP and CD, but quickly went out of print. The CD release was marred by manufacturing defects that caused most of the discs to "bronze", and become unplayable. Consequently, a playable copy of the disc is highly prized by musical theatre collectors.
The rarest recording of the show is a concept recording released after changes were made following the 1991 London production. The tracks feature Stephen Schwartz himself playing the piano. The recording was made before the Paper Mill Playhouse production in an effort to review the rewrites and revisions. The album was made available only for a limited time on Stephen Schwartz's website via RealAudio streaming. This recording is considered to be the rarest version of the show that exists. There are only a handful of copies of this recording in existence.
The Paper Mill Playhouse Cast was recorded in 1998. The recording was financed by Stephen Schwartz. It is the only professional recording of the show in its revised state.
Synopsis
Act I
Much like the story in Book of Genesis, the universe is born out of darkness. Father, with the help of the Storytellers, brings the universe and life into existence, including Father's new children, Adam and Eve ("Let There Be"). Eve finds herself drawn to the Tree of Knowledge, but Father tells her to stay away from "that tree," though he provides no clear reason why ("The Tree of Knowledge"). Father attempts to distract the two with a game where they name all the animals in the garden ("The Naming"). With everything right in the newly created world, Father reflects on parenthood and Adam and Eve fall in love with one another ("Grateful Children", "Father's Day", and "Perfect"). Though her life is perfect, Eve still hungers for something more: knowledge, adventure, and to see what lies beyond the garden ("The Spark of Creation"). Eve meets a snake who tempts her with apples from the forbidden tree and the possibilities that would open up for her if she eats it. ("In Pursuit of Excellence"). She eats the fruit and is awakened to knowledge and possibility. ("The End of a Perfect Day" and "Childhood's End"). Later that night, Eve attempts to trick Adam into eating the apple in several apple-related dishes, but stops him before eats. Eve admits to Adam that she ate of the Tree of Knowledge and the two hide from Father in the garden.
Father, after discovering Eve has eaten the apple, tells her that she must leave the garden as she is no longer innocent. But unlike in the Genesis tale, Adam is made to choose his fate: he can either stay with Father in Eden, or he can eat the fruit and be banished with Eve. Adam, deeply torn by the decision, decides that, even though it means he has to leave the garden he loves with all his heart, he must be with Eve ("A World Without You"). Adam and Eve are driven out of the garden by Father and into the wasteland of the outside world. As the years pass, they build a new life and have two children, Cain and Abel ("The Expulsion" and "The Wasteland"). The family hope that Father will one day bring them home to Eden, praying to him each day and offering sacrifices of their crops.
Adam and Eve, out of fear for their children's safety, have set their glen as a boundary, preventing them from going beyond a nearby waterfall. As the children grow into adulthood, Eve sees the same fire she once had present in her son, Cain ("The Spark of Creation (Reprise 1)"). Cain, much like his mother, longs to see the world beyond the boundaries placed by his parents, while Abel remains devoted to their parents and the idea that Father will one day bring them back to the garden. Cain begs Abel to run away with him, claiming Father doesn't care about them and that the boys should not be stuck with the consequences of their parents' mistakes ("Lost in the Wilderness"). As Abel hesitantly agrees to leave, Father appears. Having never seen Father, the two are shocked. Father shows the two love and affection and promises them their very own wives. Assuming that he has arrived to take them all back to the garden, Abel goes to fetch their parents, but is stopped by Father. It quickly becomes clear that Father has no intention of seeing their parents or taking any of them back to Eden. Cain, further embittered, tells Father and Abel that he is going to leave the glen, finally free from the boundaries and predetermined fate his parents and Father have set for him ("Lost in the Wilderness (Reprise)"). Father tells Abel to keep their visit secret from his parents, but that he will return to them soon.