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Out of curiosity - has anyone here seen the Stephen Schwartz musical, Children of Eden? If so, what do you think of the show?
I'm curious, because it has some similarities to OSC's Women of Genesis novels, in that it humanizes figures from the Old Testament/Torah. I thought of it immediately when Mr. Card mentioned at his Q/A session in Madison that there was a Pastwatch book that he wants to write about Eden.
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Our local theatre guild did it last summer and my daughter was in the children's chorus, so I'm probably a bit biased. I liked it, it's a neat story and the music is good. I'd agree with the similarities to the Women of Genesis. I do believe Stephen Schwartz used Hebrew sources for the story, perhaps OSC used the same? Or maybe it's just a similar way of telling a story.
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I think it's the way of telling the story that's similar...kind of. I doubt that they worked from the same source material - I didn't really detect much beyond the book of Genesis in Schwartz's interpretation.
I think the real similarity is really in attributing and illustrating real human emotions in these historical figures that we often forget are more than allegories. We see more of what the figures in our sacred texts did rather than what they must have felt about what they had to do.
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Hmmm... I seem to remember reading something about Schwartz using some other sources besides Genesis but maybe I'm not remembering correctly... But you are quite right about both showing the real human emotions, both Women of Genesis and CHildren of Eden have enriched my understanding of Genesis... they all do seem more real.
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You may be right - I'd be interested to hear what Schwartz was using. I do especially like how he sets up the drama as a tribe telling the story to each other and acting out their history. Emotionally, this musical hits me harder than any other I've seen or been a part of. I can't hear the ensemble piece where Adam is reminiscing about the home they've made in the Wasteland while the children's song is being sung in the background. Gives me chills just thinking about it...And the serpent's song makes satan truly seem ssseductive. I've seen some truly horrendous renditions of this show, and the story and the music still managed to get past the production.
Oh...and here I've gushed again.
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Ah-- I found the program from the production last year, and it had "Composer's Notes" from Schwartz.
Other sources listed... --a book of Hebrew Myths compiled by Robert Graves, --books edited out of the Old Testament but collected as The Forgotten books of Eden, translated from Egyptian, published by World Bible Publishers --He highly recommends a book called "Memories and visions of Paradise" by Richard Heinberg, which examines the stories of the Lost Eden and the Flood in many cultures.
The serpent's song is great. The final numbers for both acts 1 & 2 never fail to bring me to tears.
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