The Baton Rouge Little Theatre is keeping area children occupiedthis summer with “Children of Eden,” a musical geared towardfamilies.
The theater has one large musical each summer, said PaigeParsons, director of development and marketing for BRLT.
The play, by Stephen Schwartz of “Godspell” and “Pippin” fame,has never been performed on Broadway, Parsons said.
But, Parsons said the play is one of Musical TheaterInternational’s top-20 requested plays in the nation.
Parsons said the musical is based on the first nine chapters ofthe Bible’s book of Genesis.
“It’s basically God’s relationships with Adam and Eve, and theirchoices and their children’s choices that hurt him,” Parsons said.”The father has to decide whether to hold on to his children, orlet them go and make their own mistakes and learn the hardway.”
Parsons said the audience will be able to relate to the theme ofthe musical.
“It’s looking at it from the father’s point of view that we’veall experienced,” she said. “[The play] puts a human face on acenturies-old biblical story. [It] gives an insight you wouldn’tcome to on your own.”
The theater likes to put on plays that appeal to the entirefamily, Parsons said.
“We find summer is a time where families have the opportunity tobring children to the theater,” Parsons said.
Director Chuck Rogers said the family-friendly tone of themusical is the reason they chose this production for thesummer.
“Last summer we did ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and we really liked thesuccess that we saw in doing a musical for the whole family,”Rogers said. “We have a lot of young people in the show and severalfamilies, and it just seemed to fit the bill for our summermusical.”
Parsons said a few years ago some of the cast started callingBRLT “Camp BRLT” because it gave kids something to do during thesummer.
“They can spend the time in the evenings rehearsing withouthaving to wake up and go to school the next day,” she said.
Parsons said Terry Head, who paints backdrops for the show, hasthree children in the cast, and her other children help herpaint.
“Parents are able to be involved with the kids during [themusical],” Parsons said. “There’s so much you can learn fromtheater as a child — the discipline, the teamwork.”
Parsons said there are 62 cast members in the musical, some ofwhich are from the University.
Rogers said the cast members range in age from five years old tothe mid-60s.
“There’s a cross section of ages, races [and] cultures,” Rogerssaid. “It’s just a mix of all of the types of people that we havehere in Baton Rouge.”
Parsons said summer musicals are popular at BRLT. She said thetheater had to extend the run of “The Wizard of Oz” last summerfrom the normal 17 performances to 26 performances.
“Children of Eden” runs July 2 to July 25, Thursday throughSunday. There also will be a benefit performance for Volunteers ofPublic Schools Wednesday, July 7 at 7:30 p.m.