11th Hour Theatre Company presents ‘Children of Eden’

The reason for that seems obvious, at least to this observer. Though the score contains several oft-performed show tunes, including the moving “Stranger in the Rain” and the exhilarating “Lost in the Wilderness,” the show itself never rises above treacly sentimentality or baldy telegraphed messaging. In dramatizing the cornerstone stories of the Old Testament — Adam and Eve’s fall from Grace and Noah’s flood — Schwartz and Caird have fashioned an entertainment that wouldn’t feel out of place at the Creation Museum.

It also suffers from the worst excesses of its time, when musicals grew ever louder and less subtle. Schwartz frames Adam and Eve’s story as a familial parable, with the disapproving Father tut-tutting the willful spirit of his ungrateful children. After the fall, the introduction of Cain and Abel is reduced to a number of rebellious-teenager tropes.

The Noah saga — which centers around son Japheth’s love for Yonah, a child of Cain’s cursed lineage — generally feels tighter and better realized, the central love story compelling and sweet. But after the vibrant opening number, “Generations,” Schwartz’s music recedes back toward generic synth-pop doggerel.

Vibrant staging and voices

Given the questionable quality of the material, director Megan Nicole O’Brien deserves credit for producing a vibrant staging that makes the most of the concert setting. A group of “storytellers,” mostly pulled from Temple University’s undergraduate theater program, brings youthful energy and strong voices to the show’s choral numbers, moving around the Drake’s cavernous stage. They sound best when singing unamplified — a reminder that Philly’s small theaters lend themselves well to natural acoustics.

The evening also features a level of solo singing that one doesn’t often hear locally. Robi Hager portrays Cain and Japheth with an ideal combination of ardor and taste. I doubt I will hear a more beautiful duet this season than “In Whatever Time We Have,” which Hager’s sympathetic Japheth performs opposite Jack Henry’s terrific Yonah.

No neglected masterpiece

Kyleen Shaw makes a positive impression as Eve and Mama Noah, although she occasionally pushes her voice to its limits. In both roles, she displays convincing chemistry with Scott Guthrie (Adam/Noah). Christopher McCrewell impresses vocally as Father, although the character itself is insurmountably arch.

Music director Gina Giachero leads a fine onstage band, ably supporting the singers — and the overall impact is greater than the sum of its parts. Children of Eden may not be a neglected masterpiece, but 11th Hour proves once more why it’s worthy of attention.

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