Ron Bohmer, Ashley Brown, Rebecca Naomi Jones & Jeremy Jordan Set for Kennedy Center's CHILDREN OF EDEN Concert on 5/19

The Kennedy Center presents Children of Eden in Concert on Monday, May 19 at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Theater. Featuring music and lyrics by Oscar® and Grammy Award® winner Stephen Schwartz and book by John Caird, the semi-staged performance is directed and choreographed by Tony® nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The all-star Broadway cast includes Ron Bohmer, Ashley Brown, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Jeremy Jordan and will be accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. This one-time-only event is made possible by the HRH Foundation. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 28.

Casting for Children of Eden in Concert includes Ron Bohmer as Father, Ashley Brown as Eve/Mama Noah, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Yonah, and Jeremy Jordan as Cain/Japeth. Other cast members will be announced soon. The concert staging is accompanied by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra led by Brad Haak and the National Broadway Chorus serves as angels, animals, and storytellers. Children of Eden is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

Freely based on the story of Genesis, Children of Eden is a frank, heartfelt and often humorous examination of the age-old conflict between parents and children. Adam, Eve, Noah, and the "Father" who created them deal with the headstrong, cataclysmic actions of their respective children. The show delivers a bittersweet but inspiring message: "the hardest part of love... is letting go."

Composer, lyricist, director, and author Stephen Schwartz has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Bernstein's Mass, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, and Children of Eden. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for Disney's Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted, and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. His first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, was presented by New York City Opera in April 2011 and Defying Gravity, a book about his professional career, was published by Applause Books. Mr. Schwartz is the artistic director of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshops and president of the Dramatists Guild. Awards include three Academy Awards®, four Grammy Awards®, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. He was a 2009 Theatre Hall of Fame inductee.

The original full-length production of Children of Eden opened at the Prince Edward Theatre on London's West End in 1991 and ran for a short run. The musical has never enjoyed a Broadway or Off-Broadway run, but a major revival appeared at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1997. The musical continues to be revived in various versions by amateur and professional companies around the world, becoming one of Musical Theater International's most frequently licensed properties.

Tickets for Children of Eden in Concert start at $49 and go on sale to the general public on March 28. Tickets may be purchased at the Kennedy Center Box Office or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600; patrons living outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan calling area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324 or visit kennedy-center.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos