‘Eden’ Is a Divine Creation

Praise be to Fullerton Civic Light Opera for briefly forsaking familiar fare in favor of “Children of Eden.”

Among biblical-inspired, rock-influenced musicals, this one might be the best. It tackles big themes, provoking thought while maintaining a modicum of humor. The score should appeal to people of many creeds, musical tastes and ages. “Eden” is better than “Godspell”--its own composer Stephen Schwartz’s original claim to fame--or Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Why have all of those shows received a lot more attention? A rocky premiere of “Eden” in London in 1991, on the eve of the Gulf War, had something to do with it. But the musical apparently has changed a lot since then. Riverside glimpsed an earlier edition in 1995. Fullerton is the first professional Southland group to stage the complete, finished version.

Any show that dramatizes the first few chapters of Genesis requires a large cast--all of those species have to file into Noah’s ark. So perhaps “Eden” is destined for companies that aren’t contractually bound to pay every actor union scale. Still, plenty of lesser shows have large, all-union casts--the lifeless “Titanic,” for example.

Certainly the creators of “Eden” are well-connected. Schwartz was nominated for two Oscars last week, for “The Prince of Egypt.” Book writer John Caird adapted “Nicholas Nickleby” and co-directed it and “Les Miserables.” The original story on which “Eden” is based has an impressive pedigree, as well.

The character at the hub of “Eden” is called Father, not God. As Schwartz told a Times interviewer last week, the show is “less a biblical tale than a story about family relationships.” Father creates a protected paradise for his children, but Eve’s natural curiosity lures her away. A generation later, the pattern is repeated as Cain likewise defies his parents.

After intermission, “Eden” strays farther from the Bible, focusing on a conflict between Noah and his son Japheth over the latter’s wish to wed the servant Yonah, who is descended from the cursed Cain. Can someone with a blighted ancestry join the surviving human family? Father retreats, letting Noah work this out on his own. The kids have got to grow up eventually.

People who don’t believe that God has retired may object, but that shouldn’t stop them from seeing “Eden.” They could still see it as a parable about parents and children.

At first, Gary Gordon’s Fullerton staging looks too crowded. If Father is alone before Adam and Eve show up, who are all those other people? Well, they’re Storytellers, and they take turns singing narration. Still, the sheer number of bodies onstage could effectively be trimmed. The dancers look cramped.

The masses do come in handy, however--when Adam and Eve name the animals; later, when the generations multiply; and, finally, when the animals board the ark. This last number gives the audience a tiny taste of the effects seen in “The Lion King,” with the animals depicted in an array of clever costumes and masks.

But visual design is hardly “Eden’s” forte. Indeed, though the lighting works overtime, the skeleton of the main set in the first act is exposed in a way that looks a bit shoddy.

No, it’s Schwartz’s score--sung by some sterling musical theater voices--that is the heart of this “Eden.” His lyrics bounce and twist intriguingly, and his music displays a wide range of styles: the expansive opener “Let There Be,” the seize-the-moment spirit of Eve’s “The Spark of Creation,” the big band sounds of the Snake’s “In Pursuit of Excellence,” the driving bass beat of “The Wasteland,” folk, gospel--this is one eclectic and sometimes electric score.

John Huntington’s Father has a lustrous voice. Bets Malone helps makes Eve’s quest essential, and later leads a rousing number as Mama Noah. Christopher Carothers’ Adam is a likable Everyman surrogate, though his Noah could use a little maturing (the Bible says Noah was 600 years old when the flood began). Miles Wesley is a sufficiently fierce young rebel as Cain and Japheth. Chorus soloists unveil equally strong voices.

A bigger-budgeted production would look better and presumably would eliminate a few sound-system bloopers, but the onstage talent in Fullerton gives us a strong first impression of this formidable creation.

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* “Children of Eden,” Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; also Sunday, 7 p.m.; Feb. 27, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 28. $14-$35. (714) 879-1732. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.

John Huntington: Father

Christopher Carothers: Adam/Noah

Bets Malone: Eve/Mama Noah

Miles Wesley: Cain/Japheth

Steve Parmeter: Seth/Shem

Billy Parish: Abel/Ham

Glenn Shiroma: the Snake

Jennifer Gordon: Yonah/the Snake

Robin De Lano: Seth’s Wife/Aphra

Sascha Childers: Storyteller/Aysha/the Snake

Jesse Endahl: Young Cain

Steven Morse: Young Abel

Julie Gunner/Michael Criste: the Snake

A Fullerton Civic Light Opera production. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by John Caird, based on a concept by Charles Lisanby. Directed by Gary Gordon. Choreographed by Lee Martino. Sets by Gil Morales. Lighting by Donna Ruzika. Sound by A.J. Gonzalez. Costume coordination and design by Sharell Martin. Musical director: Lee Kreter. Production stage manager: Donna R. Parsons.