MADISON — Billed as a “retelling of the Biblical metanarrative in rock-opera format” the world premiere production of The Garden offers more than just a retelling of the story of humanity through its creation, fall, and redemption — it reminds its audience of the modern applicability of these long-ago events.
The three-hour (with intermission) production at St. Paul’s University Catholic Center in downtown Madison makes its point almost solely through music and dance, beginning with humanity’s state of alienation and brokenness in “East of Eden” and leading through the Scriptural stories to our redemption in Christ.
The often intense but fitfully hilarious show is written by lyricist and St. Paul’s parishioner Sandy Kruse. The score was composed by James Carrano, with university students Mike and Charles Jadin and Jason Gantzer. This premiere production, directed by students Kaiti Anderson and Erin Brunner, suffers somewhat from sound issues (not altogether surprising for the venue) and slow scene changes. But a talented cast, most notably Caitlin Klein as Eve, Ryan Freng as Jesus, Caitlin Butte as the narrator/Daughter of Eve, and an enjoyably devilish Justin Riem as Lucifer, together with rich costuming, fantastic lighting effects, and bouts of impressive choreography, make the show an overall enjoyable experience.
A solid orchestra, conducted by the musical’s composer, Carrano, binds the production ably. A notable addition to the standard program booklet is a breakdown of the Scripture behind the music, supplementing the plot summary for a more in-depth understanding of the basis for the libretto. Several of the songs, especially “The Big Bang,” “War,” “One Man Twice,” and an enchanting “Waiting for Mon Dieu,” are memorably composed and performed. And the rollicking “Everybody Sing” and its reprise, led by — strangely enough — a manic Moses played by Nathan Simmons, will have you humming along as you leave.
Maggie Melchior, Cast Member RCF Production, UW Madison 2008
"From the very first time I read the libretto (back in October, 2007) I knew there was something special there.Even without any music yet, the script was beautiful, weaving God's beautiful love as a theme in every scene."
"The first time the whole cast rehearsed "Striking a Heel/Crushing a Head/Saving the World" was incredibly dramatic for me. The moment where Jesus cries out, "Father into your hands / my spirit I commend / my flesh and blood diminish / my work here now is finished," I cried."War" is most certainly my favorite number in the show and one of the most powerful.The reality of spiritual warfare is crystal clear, and the orchestration is intense – almost overwhelming.Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is often skipped or overlooked into many dramatic renditions of the Passion, but "War" emphasizes just how horrible it would have been for Jesus: abandoned and alone, taunted by Lucifer, with an unimaginable ordeal around the corner. Seeing just how much mental anguish the Savior experienced made the Crucifixion even more powerful.Lucifer's role is explicit; he draws power and pleasure from torturing Jesus, but Jesus refuses to give in.Juxtaposing such an extreme, complicated number with "TGIF: LMAO" was extremely effective, especially with the tragic beauty of "Striking a Heel" right after that.Performing in these three songs gave me such disturbing exhaustion that each time I was relieved to be offstage for a few minutes afterwards just to emotionally recover."
"Being a part of The Garden's original cast was a great joy and privilege.Every moment we spent preparing, practicing, or performing was a treasured memory from my last year of college."Being a part of The Garden's original cast was a great joy and privilege.Every moment we spent preparing, practicing, or performing was a treasured memory from my last year of college."
Theater is one of the many ways we can use our talents to worship God.Part of evangelization and worship is telling the story: the Great Story; the saga of God's all-consuming love for His people.
"Having the opportunity to co-direct The Garden has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. Not knowing exactly what I was getting into as I discussed the synopsis with Sandy Kruse and James Carrano in the spring of 2007, I jumped on board and soon found myself directing and choreographing the world premiere of an epic musical. Erin Riem—formerly Brunner—and I took on the task of directing the entire show, as well as creating all the costumes (Erin), and choreographing all the movement (myself)."
"It is very difficult to put into words what this production has meant to me.The job of actually putting a musical together for the first time is incredibly detail-oriented and weighty.But this musical is unlike any other.Its very essence made the tedious work easy, transformed the cast, and strengthened the leadership team working behind the scenes.This is not to say that directing this musical came without strife.The production of something so beautiful definitely brought with it many struggles—long nights, endless hours of discussing, creating, and rehearsing.Throughout the entire year, however, ran an undercurrent of joy in my heart.Joy in the fact that I could contribute to a show that is not only Broadway-material, but a show that changes lives with the truth that it proclaims.My year of The Garden brought me on a journey towards knowing myself and knowing Christ."
All music, lyrics and Web content on this Web site are the sole and exclusive property of the copyright holders. Copyright 2008 Sandra Kruse, James Carrano, and Mike Jadin. Use or reproduciton without permission is forbidden. Photos courtesy of Jason Malinowski. We would like to thank the following for their generosity in recording the demos: Katherine Biskupic, John Breunig, James Carrano, Tiffany Shen-Ping Chang, Wendy Pei-Ju Chu, Ryan Freng, Jason Gantzer, Charles Jadin, Mike Jadin, Caitlin Klein, Matthew Kopetsky, Angela Marie Luther, Kelsey McCarey, Maggie Melchior, Julie Pignotti, Valerie Plaus, Justin Riem, John Shoemaker, and Christine Nicole Treba.
