July 15, 2010
The Garden of Eden has a new twist in this musical one act romp currently at the York Theatre as we’re privy to some of God’s little known secrets!
Tony Award Winner Joe DiPietro’s latest offering (he wrote Memphis), puts a new spin on the real first couple and procreation. With Angels Sarah (Jennifer Blood) and Michael (Nehal Joshi) as narrators never far behind, droll matter-of-fact God (Adam Kantor) tells it like it is in a swinging pop opening “God, It’s Good To Be Me” – “when you are the architect, you get respect!”
Creating good looking Adam (Jose Llana), with strong vocals and muscles galore, adorned in a teeny weeny gold lame loin cloth, was a good move as it turns out. But even in Paradise, where green grass rolls out onto a revolving platform with trees of glass lights and multi-colored pillows (genius of Beowulf Boritt), something is lacking in Adam’s obedient life. It is purpose. After all, the only man in town can’t loll around looking gorgeous 24 hours a day by himself singing “Another Day in Paradise” forever! What to do? Enter God She (Sasha Sloan). Yes, they are interchangeable after all. In an instant, that famous rib is ripped from Adam’s body to produce the lovely Eve (Krystal Joy Brown) whom Angel Michael would like to call Man-Rib.
There are a lot of wise-cracking laugh lines and familiar but trite messages such as female God’s “the way to keep the children is to let them go in “Only Human,” as the more curious Eve wonders why birds leave Paradise. A contemporary version of that forbidden fruit tree comes with liquid filled red glass apples, tempting the couple in “Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple” – “I want to bite that sucker.”
More sobering references to good and evil, innocence lost, obedience, horrors, wars and cruelty to man balances the on-going levity. Eve bites into the forbidden fruit and is banished from the Garden to wander the dark, angry earth in a terror-filled “Where Will I Sleep Tonight?” Brown provides an exquisite interpretation, her heart longing for Adam as she walks the Earth seeing another kind of Paradise and aging over many years, temporarily returning to Paradise to ultimately temp Adam to join her. Meanwhile, God and the Angels are in turmoil as to how the human race will evolve but seeing the future they know “Good Things Are A Comin’” in a clever laundry list of lyrics by David Howard (Galaxy Quest) and music by Bret Simmons (The Megan Mullally Show):
“IF YOU COULD SEE THE FUT-CHA YOU‘D FIND THINGS THAT‘LL SUIT YA…
THERE‘S GONNA BE CLOTHES, FIRES, WHEELS, TIRES, PRINTING PRESSES, SILK DRESSES, BOATS, OARS, WOODEN DOORS, THE ALPHABET AND MARBLE FLOORS, RAVIOLI, GUACAMOLE,‗LECTRIC POWER, EIFFEL TOWER, MOZART, CUIZENART, ARISTOTLE AND DESCARTES…JAMES BOND, HARRY POTTER, BRIE, CHEDDER AND RICOTTATEX-MEX, MALCOLM X, GROUCHO MARX, THE JOY OF SEXEINSTEIN, PATSY CLINE, KRISPY KREME, I HAVE A DREAM…
EDITH HEAD, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, LAMBOURGINIS, MARTINISYELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINIS…”
There are also musically beautiful ballads “Eve” and “Once A Life Ago.”
An array of wonderful color and design is accomplished with Herrick Goldman’s lighting and Bobby Pearce is responsible for the effective gold lame and white robe costuming. The clever direction is by Larry Raben working with a talented cast. Kudos to Artistic Director Jim Morgan for making this frolicking new take on a tale as old as time possible! The production runs through August 8th at the York Theatre at St. Peters, 54th & Lexington Ave. Tickets: 212-935-5820 http://www.yorktheatre.org/
The Garden of Eden has a new twist in this musical one act romp currently at the York Theatre as we’re privy to some of God’s little known secrets!
Tony Award Winner Joe DiPietro’s latest offering (he wrote Memphis), puts a new spin on the real first couple and procreation. With Angels Sarah (Jennifer Blood) and Michael (Nehal Joshi) as narrators never far behind, droll matter-of-fact God (Adam Kantor) tells it like it is in a swinging pop opening “God, It’s Good To Be Me” – “when you are the architect, you get respect!”
Creating good looking Adam (Jose Llana), with strong vocals and muscles galore, adorned in a teeny weeny gold lame loin cloth, was a good move as it turns out. But even in Paradise, where green grass rolls out onto a revolving platform with trees of glass lights and multi-colored pillows (genius of Beowulf Boritt), something is lacking in Adam’s obedient life. It is purpose. After all, the only man in town can’t loll around looking gorgeous 24 hours a day by himself singing “Another Day in Paradise” forever! What to do? Enter God She (Sasha Sloan). Yes, they are interchangeable after all. In an instant, that famous rib is ripped from Adam’s body to produce the lovely Eve (Krystal Joy Brown) whom Angel Michael would like to call Man-Rib.
There are a lot of wise-cracking laugh lines and familiar but trite messages such as female God’s “the way to keep the children is to let them go in “Only Human,” as the more curious Eve wonders why birds leave Paradise. A contemporary version of that forbidden fruit tree comes with liquid filled red glass apples, tempting the couple in “Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple” – “I want to bite that sucker.”
More sobering references to good and evil, innocence lost, obedience, horrors, wars and cruelty to man balances the on-going levity. Eve bites into the forbidden fruit and is banished from the Garden to wander the dark, angry earth in a terror-filled “Where Will I Sleep Tonight?” Brown provides an exquisite interpretation, her heart longing for Adam as she walks the Earth seeing another kind of Paradise and aging over many years, temporarily returning to Paradise to ultimately temp Adam to join her. Meanwhile, God and the Angels are in turmoil as to how the human race will evolve but seeing the future they know “Good Things Are A Comin’” in a clever laundry list of lyrics by David Howard (Galaxy Quest) and music by Bret Simmons (The Megan Mullally Show):
“IF YOU COULD SEE THE FUT-CHA YOU‘D FIND THINGS THAT‘LL SUIT YA…
THERE‘S GONNA BE CLOTHES, FIRES, WHEELS, TIRES, PRINTING PRESSES, SILK DRESSES, BOATS, OARS, WOODEN DOORS, THE ALPHABET AND MARBLE FLOORS, RAVIOLI, GUACAMOLE,‗LECTRIC POWER, EIFFEL TOWER, MOZART, CUIZENART, ARISTOTLE AND DESCARTES…JAMES BOND, HARRY POTTER, BRIE, CHEDDER AND RICOTTATEX-MEX, MALCOLM X, GROUCHO MARX, THE JOY OF SEXEINSTEIN, PATSY CLINE, KRISPY KREME, I HAVE A DREAM…
EDITH HEAD, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, LAMBOURGINIS, MARTINISYELLOW POLKA-DOT BIKINIS…”
There are also musically beautiful ballads “Eve” and “Once A Life Ago.”
An array of wonderful color and design is accomplished with Herrick Goldman’s lighting and Bobby Pearce is responsible for the effective gold lame and white robe costuming. The clever direction is by Larry Raben working with a talented cast. Kudos to Artistic Director Jim Morgan for making this frolicking new take on a tale as old as time possible! The production runs through August 8th at the York Theatre at St. Peters, 54th & Lexington Ave. Tickets: 212-935-5820 http://www.yorktheatre.org/
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