Notes from the Director:
In the eyes of a literalist bible scholar Children of Eden may seem to be fundamentally flawed. Beside the fact that the storyline embellishes and deviates from the biblical telling, one may argue that the theme of this story is out of line with certain biblical teachings. Stephen Schwartz himself has noted that he was surprised how few complaints it receives from the most conservative of Christians in regards to
the artistic liberties the show takes with the Bible. Schwartz adapted the script and music from a production called Family Tree, developed by "Youth Sing Praise", a religious-oriented high school theatre camp outside of St. Louis. Since many are not familiar with Family Tree who knows what themes the Wicked creator could have implemented in the creation of Children of Eden.
All jokes aside. This production of Children of Eden attempts to dissect the power struggle between Father and his creation, showing less of God’s “red right hand”. All the while, it is practically impossible to strip away all indications of God’s fallibility within the story. So, in presenting this work I would ask a viewer to look for the genuine connections between the actors like only humans can connect. It is in those basic familial human connections we all experience a power greater than ourselves. However, many times these relationships are flawed at one time or another. Just like one can experience a defect in ones relationship with God. We thank you for attending our production, and truly hope you enjoy the show.
Matthew McAndrews
