It's that time of year again! This year's main stage musical is about to open on the IC campus, and everyone's buzzing about it. Children of Eden, the Stephen Schwartz musical directed by Lee Byron, chair of the theatre arts department, previews Tuesday and opens Thursday at 8:00 p.m. "Despite never having played on Broadway," the Musical Theatre International website reports, Children of Eden is a popular show and "consistently ranks among MTI's top 20 most frequently licensed titles." I can see why.

I was lucky enough to catch one of this production's last tech rehearsals this weekend, and I was thoroughly impressed with the scope of it. Eden is a big show, and it's more technically complicated than any I've seen on the IC campus so far. The story is simple enough -- it's based on stories from the Bible -- but the technical aspects are as far from that as a college campus can get. There's a turntable, an arc, glowing apples, smoke and illusion, giraffes and elephants (not REAL ones, but they're pretty cool), and more.

The production itself showcases some of the impressive musical talent in the IC theatre arts department. My favorite performances from the technical rehearsal I saw included those of Bruce Landry '12 as Japheth, Lysie Shutrump '10 as Yonah, and Jessica Bennett '11 as Mama Noah. The show is also superbly lighted by Christine Goldman '10, and choreographed by Mary Corsaro, associate professor of theatre arts.

Even if you're not a Bible story fan, this production is worth a ticket. Snakes dance, and "God" sings, and there's a turntable. And glowing apples. I can't stress that enough.

Hey, it's Thursday! Must be time for a little controversy.

The Ithaca College Theatre main stage season kicks off tonight with The Exonerated, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s play based on the true stories of six people wrongfully accused of capital crimes and eventually released from death row.

So, probably not one for Date Night or an evening's frolic with the young'uns. But certainly worth seeing.

http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/theatre/main/

One of the subjects of the authors' research, Kerry Max Cook, will be giving a free talk this Friday (Oct. 10) at 3:30 p.m. in Textor 102. Wrongly convicted of murder and rape, Cook spent two decades on death row until a series of retrials unearthed enough evidence of police misconduct to grant him a reprieve. Subsequent DNA evidence cleared him completely, though he still has yet to be officially pardoned.

And you thought you had it tough with mid-terms.

Cook will sign copies of his book, Chasing Justice, at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 11, in the lobby of Dillingham Center before the 2:00 p.m. matinee of The Exonerated. The evening of October 11, Cook is also participating in a talk-back at 9:45 p.m. in the Clark Theatre at Dillingham Center, immediately following the 8:00 p.m. performance.

Capital punishment isn't one of those fence-sitter issues; most people have pretty strong opinions one way or the other. Check out the show, talk with Kerry, and let us know if it changed your mind. Or if you liked the play, for that matter.