WEEKEND REVIEWS : Theater : ‘Children of Eden’ a Celebration of Life

In drama, characters develop. If they don’t, we say the piece is no good. So, in “Children of Eden,” the expansive, ambitious musical version of the book of Genesis by Stephen Schwartz and John Caird, the protagonists experience personal growth. That includes the Bible’s main protagonist, God. And, I’m happy to report, God does eventually get his act together. He makes Adam and Eve take it on the road, though.

Schwartz, to recap, is the composer-lyricist of “Godspell” and “Pippin,” and the lyricist for “Pocahontas.” Caird co-adapted and co-directed “Les Miserables” and “Nicholas Nickleby.” The Riverside Civic Light Opera is offering the West Coast debut of “Eden,” a show that premiered and bombed in London in 1991. This commendable limited run offers a no-doubt rare look at a difficult-to-produce musical--one that boasts 39 songs and a cast of more than 100 (about half of them children in animal costumes).

Based on a “concept” by Charles Lisanby, “Children of Eden” is Genesis as refracted through the theology and sensibility of one of the most popular musical theater writers of the ‘70s, a man who captured the charm, openheartedness and naivete of the hippie/free-love era. Just the name Stephen Schwartz conjures up images of young people singing and cavorting in leotards and big, happy smiles. But Schwartz had trouble adapting his “family of man” stuff to the more ascetic era that came after.

Now, things are coming full circle. Family values, albeit different from the hippie era ones, are back, and Bob Dole would approve of “Children of Eden.” At times, when the show is at its most earnest and the all-white family of Noah is joyously singing “ain’t it good” and clapping their hands, you might feel as if you’ve just stumbled onto the Pat Robertson network.

Still, it sounds as if Schwartz is back where his heart belongs. He’s written a rich score that is authentic in its appreciation of the blessedness of life. The score has pageantry and sweep (thanks in part to the sheer number of voices onstage). It also offers the occasional diversion--the sexy, wailing horn and ragtime beat for the chorus line of snakes who seduce Eve (Michelle Revesz) to the apple, for instance. At times, when the children climb onstage dressed in their animal suits (performing delightful dances by John Vaughan), “Eden” seems like the most ambitious school play every staged (the huge cast is well managed by director Anthony Rhine).

Perhaps to make the Bible completely digestible to children, Caird has written a book that treats God (LaQuin V. Groves) as a literal father whose motivation to sire is extremely human. “What’s the use of a universe if you have no one to give it to?,” he reasons. It is only through loving his wayward children that he learns to be a truly loving and tolerant god.

But in the beginning, God has a long way to go and probably could benefit from some therapy. He is at first strict, unreasonable and mean. When Eve eats the apple, God offers Adam an unholy choice. He can follow Eve out of the garden and remain forever expelled, or stay, without Eve. “Don’t make me chose / Either way it’s more than I can bear to lose,” sings Adam, in a refrain that becomes the leitmotif of the evening. By the time we have descended to the generation of Noah, even God has learned that love means letting go (it’s all very “Butterflies Are Free”). Caird’s book plays very much as children’s theater, and too often seems lackluster and lazy in its jokes. When Eve first wonders who that other person on Earth might be, for instance, the stranger helps her out by announcing “Madam, I’m Adam!”

Groves plays “Father” as a temperamental but essentially gentle spirit. With his shaved head and earrings and arms-folded stance, he looks rather like Yul Brenner stepping in from the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant. As his first really wayward son, Cain (Robert Aaron Tesoro) recalls the headband-wearing Abbie Hoffman. He has a gravelly singing voice and matinee-idol looks; it would be interesting to see this actor when he is not trapped in a character whose emotions are always written on his sleeve.

As Adam and Noah, Reece Holland (who originated starring roles in Los Angeles productions of “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables”) starts out as an almost idiotically innocent Adam (“I think . . . whatever you think!” he happily tells God) and eventually becomes a graying, troubled Noah, who looks a lot like Dan Quayle (hmmm). Noah is the first son of the Father to become an autonomous and fully formed moral being. He accepts Yonah (Crystal Barron) even though there is evidence that her presence on the ark may endanger his family. He decides that if you can’t read God’s intention, then you must chose the option of tolerance (and here the show firmly departs from any resemblance to Pat Robertson’s network). Through watching his children, God learns what it means to be a father. It means you have to let go. And that, my friends, is why he doesn’t talk to us anymore.

* “Children of Eden,” Riverside Civic Light Opera, Landis Auditorium, 4800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, Dec. 15, 16, 8 p.m.; Dec. 16, 17, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 17. $14-$22.50. (714) 740-2000, (909) 222-8100. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

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LaQuin V. Groves: Father

Reece Holland: Adam/Noah

Michelle Revesz: Eve/Mama

Crystal Barron: Yonah

Robert Aaron Tesoro: Cain/Japheth

Robert Townsend: Abel/Mam

Jennifer Stein: Aphra

Carlos Martin: Seth/Shem

D.J. Gray: Aysha

With: An ensemble of about 100

A Riverside Civic Light Opera production. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by John Caird. Based on a concept by Charles Lisanby. Directed by Anthony Rhine. Musical staging and choreography by John Vaughan. Sets Brian D. Sandahl. Lighting Lee Lyons. Costumes Patricia Scarborough. Sound Matthew Pearson. Orchestrations Jeff Hunter. Stage manager Diane L. David.