Children of Eden Concert

[LostinTranslation]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 8:57am

For those of you inclined, there's a concert reading of Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden this coming Monday at the Kennedy Center with a 41 piece orchestra, 30 member chorus, plus principles and dancers. Should be a great show.
Children of Eden

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 9:51am

It's so bizarre to me that Ashley Brown is Eve/Mama Noah and Rebecca Naomi Jones is Yonah. It would be infinitely more appropriate casting if they switched roles.

[ncgator]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 5:24pm

I really don't know anything about this show, but will be around 45 minutes from the Kennedy Center tomorrow on a business trip. Based on what you know of this concert presentation, should I make the trip downtown to see it?

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 5:53pm

I am so angry that I'm not gonna be able to see this. The music in COE is by far the best part of this incredible show and these are some talented people. ARGH!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:07pm

Any chance in hell this will get recorded? I'd love a recording with Jeremy Jordan.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:22pm

I got my tickets the day they went on sale, super excited!

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:54pm

I would like to see a new recording, but I doubt there will be one. Stephen Schwartz is notorious for his shows (save for Godspell) having one "definitive" recording available and no others.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 12:24am

darquegk, not quite sure what you're getting at- PIPPIN has multiple recordings as well. The other shows haven't been as widely interpreted or produced on a significant enough level to justify multiple recordings. It has nothing to do with any retisance on Schwartz's end.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 9:45am

The Baker's Wife has 2 or 3 recording as well.

I would love a new COE recording. The OLCR CD is corrupted (although thankfully I kept my cassette version)and the American version is decent but Stephanie Mills sounds just awful on it.

[GreatWhiteGay]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 11:39am

Very unfamiliar with this show, excited to hear a Schwartz score with such a fleshed out orchestration!

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 11:54am

Tazber, I completely agree with you. The 1998 cast is nice because it has so many chorus singers, but Stephanie Mills is terrible and the CD is produced really weirdly with lots of strange effects. The London cast is great, but the girl who plays Eve still isn't very good, and the woman who sang "Ain't it Good?" on the OLCR was the understudy and was not good at all. They need a better recording of such a beautiful score.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 12:01pm

I'll be there. Held out before purchasing a ticket, and wouldn't you know it appeared on Goldstar last week after I bought one. I saw Charl Brown on Friday when I was at the KC picking up a ticket for another event.

I think the Ford's Theatre did a production of this several years ago. I vaguely remember it.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 2:38pm

Eve is a lead. Yonah is supporting. Ashley Brown is a bigger name. Makes enough sense for a concert.

I'll be there. It's weird how little promotion there was for it. I'm a member and I found out about this from Twitter only a few weeks ago.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 3:34pm

Dottie, I was waiting for it to go on Goldstar as well! I wish I was able to go.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 4:57pm

Orangeskittles, I agree. I didn't find out about this until 3 weeks ago. I think I'm in the last row of the balcony.

I've done very well by Goldstar so far this year, but I'm really surprised this was listed just last week.

[Wickedmonkey332]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 9:21pm

Oh my goodness. It is incredible- Jeremy Jordan and ASHLEY BROWN are unspeakably good.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 11:08pm

Ashley Brown - I'm speechless!! Wow. She was wonderful, as was the concert this evening.

[GreatWhiteGay]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 11:19pm

Ashley Brown blew the roof off the place, Ain't It Good stopped the show! Jordan was also a standout, and Schwartz was in the audience.

Updated On: 5/19/14 at 11:19 PM

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 5/19/14 at 11:26pm

I'm so freaking sad that I missed it!!!!!!!

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 12:05am

Ashley Brown. I loved Spark of Creation I thought she was incredible, but then Ain't it Good was so amazing I can't really find the right words. I am a fan of her's and I was impressed, astounded, and in awe of how amazing it was.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 12:27am

Isn't a concert of this show redundant? It *is* a concert as written, isn't it?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 12:42am

I'm so glad Kennedy Center did this concert. It's such a great show, but I'm sure it's prohibitively expensive for most theatres to pull off right, and a commercial run is out of the question. That said, if this is what they could pull off in only a week, imagine how amazing a real production could be.

Dottie, I was in the balcony too! Once again, we just barely miss each other!

Updated On: 5/20/14 at 12:42 AM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 1:34am

What's so expensive? A bare stage with suggestive scenery. A large orchestra is nice, but not requited for that thin score. It's somewhat sweet but not profound.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 4:04am

I know it was just a concert, but did they do anything interesting or out of the ordinary with the design?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 6:18am

Orangeskittles, I was in F1. Where were you?

In terms of design, the chorus was on the diagonal stage right, and the orchestra was on a diagonal on stage left. Staircase slightly off center. The chorus and orchestra had a large number of members. There was a group of dozen dancers as well. The staging worked. I thought all the performers did a wonderful job with a very short rehearsal process.

I know I saw this same show in DC in 2004, but I don't remember a thing about it.

I usually feel like I miss out on things by no longer living in NYC, but it is evening's like this, that I'm so happy to live in DC now. The Kennedy Center continually brings in a number of people from the Broadway community throughout the year. Will be interesting to see if this changes once Michael Kaiser leaves the KC in a few months.

Updated On: 5/20/14 at 06:18 AM