Prodigal God
Someone I took a musical writing class with last year has just released a 5-song demo for a new musical called “Prodigal God,” along with a snazzy website.
There are several encouraging elements to this show. (1) The music is actually enjoyable. It feels a lot like evangelical worship music, but well… I like that kind of music pretty well (within limits). (2) One of the collaborators is evidently a pastor. Exactly what kind of theological perspective this play has is not entirely clear to me, granted, but it’s dealing with Christian subject matter one way or another, and that’s encouraging.
My only real concern is that this demo sounds fairly album-y to me - I really don’t understand how it plays as a theater piece. It might work as sort of a narrative concert, a la Jesus Christ Superstar. But the production values don’t seem easily translatable to, say, an off-Broadway production with 5 instrumentalists. Not to say that it can’t be. The mental image just isn’t forthcoming.