The musical “Children of Eden,” music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by John Caird, will be performed at John Stark Regional High School in Weare on March 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24, at 7 p.m., and at 2 p.m. on March 25.
The composer and lyricist Schwartz is well known for composing other hit shows such as “Godspell” and “Wicked,” and the music for “Children of Eden” is just as fun and inspirational.
Composed of two acts, the play is based on a collection of stories from the Bible as it follows the character of Father, played by senior David Reynolds, through the creation of the Garden of Eden and the story of Noah’s Ark.
The first act focuses on Adam, played by senior Eric Bartolotti, and Eve, played by senior Alice Yen, and their discovery of the Tree of Knowledge. It continues through their banishment from the garden and the birth of sons Cain, played by junior Rob McCardell, and Abel, played by senior Christopher Pike. The audience watches Adam, now in the role of “father,” revisit his own rebellion through his son, Cain’s actions.
When the conflict between father and son explodes, Cain has his brother’s blood on his hands and is cursed by Father. The second act then jumps ahead in time through the opening show stopper “Generations” as the story then turns to Noah and his family.
Noah, also played by Bartolotti, and his wife, Mama Noah, played by John Stark’s choral teacher, Emily Jaworski, find themselves part of Father’s plan to cleanse the Earth of the race of Cain with a giant flood and start anew.
Each of Noah’s sons must bring a wife from the race of Seth on the ark to join them. Ham, also played by Pike, chooses Aphra, played by junior Laura Sevigny, and Shem, played by junior Ben Mueser, chooses Aysha, played by senior Adrien Kordas.
Father’s hopes become challenged when the youngest son Japheth, played by Rob McCardell, falls in love with a daughter of the race of Cain, Yonah, played by senior Jeanne Clark, and finds his love returned.
He sneaks her to the ark, but when the rains do not stop and Yonah is discovered, Noah finds himself with a tough decision. Through these hard times, the characters must rediscover their love for one another and what family truly means. Even Father, who turns out to be a very “human” God, learns a lesson about love.
The largest aspect of the play in both size and importance are the storytellers, whose job it is to narrate the story through song and dance.
Storytellers include seniors Alice Yen (Act II), Adrien Kordas (Act I), Jeanne Clark (Act I), Lindsay Burns, Kasi Allison, River Clegg, Chris Fitzpatrick, Meredith Gourley, and Rochelle Neveu, junior Sevigny (Act I), sophomores Bartolotti and Sarah Walton, and freshmen Toni Allison, Wade Croteau and Maureen Menard.
The storytellers are also aided by dancers Amber Finn, Chandelle Bailey, Jen Leclerc, and Raven Widger. The cast includes an additional set of young actors from the Weare and Henniker middle and elementary schools
including Tristan Cole, Joshua Gagnon, Courtney Flaherty, Paul Flaherty, Keith Nieman, Emily Sorey, Kyle Auger and Chloe Wojewoda from Weare along with Billy Howard, Charlie Howard, Molly Glover, Robert Dunn, and Carson Dunn from Henniker. With toe tappers like “Generations” and “Ain’t it Good,” a wide and diverse cast, and themes of forgiveness, love and family,
Tickets will be $5 for students and senior citizens, and $7 for adults.
They will be available at the door or can be reserved by calling the performing arts office at John Stark Regional High School at 529-5314.