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Broadway Tuesday

It's Tuesday, and it's time to get very detailed about Stephen Schwartz and his obscure, failed musical, "Children of Eden."

-A truth universally acknowledged. In Broadway musicals, the cream often does *not* rise to the top. There are many, many intuitive, charming actors with fabulous voices, and they are wandering around jobless. Meanwhile, who often gets roles in Broadway musicals? John Lithgow and Matthew Broderick. Does anyone want to hear either of these men sing? No. But--because of the laws of the marketplace, and because of some kind of tenacity/ego mix that other, more-gifted performers lack--Broderick and Lithgow tend to be your go-to performers for musicals.

I'd like to call your attention to "Lost in the Wilderness," performed by Darius deHaas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpw5PRD9Ock   If you want to go right for the pay-dirt, fast-forward to 2:25. That's when Darius goes full-scale Whitney Houston on the word "lost." Loo---ooooo-oooooooo---ooowaaaaaaawaaaowoo---woooost!" This, to me, should guarantee Darius deHaas a lead role in all Broadway musicals--from here to eternity. The "presence," the half-restrained fury, the phrasing, the way he builds to 2:25--What more could you ask for? And yet it's unclear to me that Darius deHaas has ever--ever!--been a protagonist on Broadway.

-The King of "I Want." Another important thing to know is that Stephen Schwartz writes "I Want" songs better than anyone else. It's up in the air if he has other gifts. But he can deliver an "I Want." He can do it in his sleep. "The Wizard and I," "Just Around the River-bend," "Day by Day," "Lost in the Wilderness," "Spark of Creation," "Meadowlark"--These are all iconic, they're all more or less the same song, and they all belong to Stephen Schwartz.

It's also important to know that the half-life of a Broadway tune is different within circles of actors from the thing that it is within the general public. So, for example, you out there in Kansas City might know Stephen Schwartz only from "Defying Gravity." But if you were a casting director, it's likely you would often need to roll your eyes and say, "I can't take another 'Lost in the Wilderness' today."

-Frenemies. Ann Patchett has said she has just one story--it's an effort to rewrite "The Magic Mountain"--and she just tries it over and over again. And that's her career. It seems to me that Schwartz is drawn to frenemies. The Cain/Abel story is reproduced in the Elphaba/Glinda story. One figure--Abel/Glinda--represents the status quo. The sexier, more-charismatic figure--Cain/Elphaba--gets to upset everyone with a big, provocative "I Want" song.

Who plays Abel on the recording? Hunter Foster--once a Broadway star with a promising future. What happened to him? It must be difficult to be Hunter, and to wake up every morning and think, "I am the sibling of Sutton Foster." This is the kind of scenario I spend a fair amount of time pondering.

-Too big to fail. Why didn't "Children of Eden" work? The plot is a mess. Well, the first act is fine. We have the over-ambitious mother, Eve, "infecting" Cain with similar creative wants. The tension between a need for conformity and a need for change builds and builds; Cain kills Abel; there's a deep sense of sadness; Schwartz does a nice job writing about human frailty.

The show maybe should end there. But Schwartz keeps going with a Second Act, only tangentially related to the First. Here, in Act Two, he cooks up a new spin on the Noah story; we get an invented character (Kelli Rabke, from "Joseph and the Amazing"--!) who can't get on the ark because she is a descendant of Cain. But she's in love with one of Noah's kids. This feels tacked-on, half-baked, and your attention wanders. And that's how you kill a musical on its way to Broadway.

The odd thing is that most of this also applies to "Wicked," which is a huge, baggy, tiresome mess. "Wicked" is exhausting and baffling. It's a disaster. But "Wicked" became a Broadway juggernaut. That's not because of its elegance. It's because of "Defying Gravity." It's also because of two beautiful and (sometimes) unsung words: KRISTIN. CHENOWETH.

-Broadway Baby. I suspect Schwartz is so good at "I Want" songs in part because he has an itchy ambition to create. So he can "relate." The first act of "Children of Eden" gives us not one, not two, but three big "I Want" moments. (Too big to fail.) They all rank among the highlights of this musical.

First, we get God the Father, planning Creation. "Let there be....giant lizards with tiny brains....birds and fish and snakes and worms and a billion bugs and a trillion germs!" (I'm paraphrasing.) The melody races along, the notes try to keep up with the words, as God's head spins and his creative juices flow. (Content dictates form.) A human: "He'll search for answers he cannot see--and dream of glory--and worship Me!"

Second, the famous song from this show. An alum of "The Wiz," playing Eve, worries that her life is boring. "I've got an itching on the tip of my fingers; I've got a boiling in the back of my brain." "Where there was nothing, let there be something--something made by me." Note: "Let there be." Eve is echoing her father's words.

Third, "Lost in the Wilderness." Adam "had a garden once. He had a chance to use it. He gave it away, including my share." (This song boldly anticipates "Loathing," from "Defying Gravity." When he is not singing of his wants, Cain is mocking the rule-following habits of his semi-nemesis, Abel. So good!)

And that's all for today. What is your favorite Stephen Schwartz moment? How do you feel about the tragedy of Darius deHaas? Now is the time to share your thoughts!

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