My overall impression
Having seen the Staged Reading a few months back, I continue to be impressed with how this show is growing. You hear Biblical musical and you immediately think of some sappy book with weak songs that ends with an altar call. Not so here. Ben takes the story of Adam and Eve and presents an alternate viewpoint that you won’t hear on a typical Sunday morning. Hardly like a religious tract to present anything other than orthodoxy. And he does it with a snappy book and some wonderfully moving and creative songs. These are not “Jesus Loves Me” songs, more “Jesus Christ Superstar” songs with complex and interesting arrangements. I can not wait to hear those songs with more orchestration.
Ben as Adam, and Cody as Prime, were the standouts of the night, with beautiful voices and great performances. I have to admit, I was spoiled by the original Lucifer, but Leanna brings her own take, perhaps making Lucifer even more sympathetic. Given the black box nature of the production, the sets were pretty simplistic, but the cast made it work. The only caveat: the set changes took too long, which diffused the energy of the show. Keep the periaktoi in one place, rather than move them around the set.
Now that the show is on it’s feet, I hope it keeps going. A show in it’s origin phase is never fully polished, but there is a strong foundation here that you don’t see in a lot of young works. Everyone I spoke to afterwards seemed to like it. The only guy who had a problem with it was the rude guy sitting next to me who knocked me over on his way to leave, where he then pushed past an usher who was trying to direct him to the real exit. I suppose if a show about love and faith made a rude guy uncomfortable, it must be doing something right.
