Kathy and I went to see “Children of Eden” last night – her first time seeing any of it and my first time seeing the show start to finish . . . and what a wonderful experience. It’s both a poignant and funny show, retelling the story of Adam and Eve through Noah and the Flood, not quite as these stories come to us in the Bible, but in a way that gets us really thinking about why God created us in the first place, how we fell away, and how we find ourselves where we do today. It was a glorious performance that pretty much went off without a hitch, which was a relief to the cast who had to contend the night before with a four-and-a-half minute power failure right in the middle of the act two showstopper. (They lost power to all the keyboards and for all of the amplification.)
Kathy and I went with Mr. Noble, and what a treat that was! We went out for supper beforehand to the Italian American Club, which is a slice of genuine Kenosha, for sure. Nothing fancy to look at but such wonderful food – and the place is operated by Steve and Marie Torcaso, whose son Joe is a freshman at Carthage (a wonderful tenor) and whose daughter Rita went there too as a splendid singer and pianist. Steve was there and welcomed us like royalty- recognizing Mr. Noble right away, greeted him by name, showed us to a lovely booth without waiting . . . everything was just great. Then after that we took a little drive along Kenosha’s lakefront, which is always fun, and eventually made our way back to Carthage in time to get seated for the show. We wanted to be there a good half hour early because Mr. Noble had a copy of the script with him – a thick white binder – because he very much wanted to read through each act ahead of time, so he would be better able to take in the story, know who was who, etc.
Well, he loved it – we loved it – the whole audience loved it – but in some ways one of my most favorite parts of the evening came afterwards, when we were out in the lobby. . . As I greeted various members of the cast, almost without exception they asked “Did Mr. Noble stay?” (He had come to Thursday night, but wasn’t feeling up to snuff, so he went home at intermission.) The kids were so anxious to know if he stayed and if he liked it. . . and when I pointed Mr. Noble out to them at the other end of the lobby, greeting other cast members, you saw this extra big grin on their faces. It was so important to them that he came and that he liked it – and that just did my heart so much good because that spoke volumes to how much of a deep, heartfelt bond has developed between him and these young people. And you should have seen those cast members clustered around Mr. Noble, waiting to have a word with him- and Mr. Noble was generous with each and every one of them, with a big hug, gigantic smile, and warm, reassuring words of praise- and, I should add, very perceptive, discerning comments that went beyond the generic and ultimately meaningless “You were great! The whole thing was great!” They could tell that he really took everything in and thought about it deeply- and that it moved him and affected him.
Mr. Noble even had a big hug for President Campbell, and I happened to be standing right there as he did so. The first words out of Mr. Noble’s mouth were “You must be so proud.” And then in the next breath, he said “this production would do any college or university proud.” A magnificent compliment from someone who has seen and been a part of a lot of splendid performances over the years.
What a gift this man has for making everyone in the room feel better – and not in a PollyAnna-ish sort of way. When a line has to be drawn in the sand, when someone has to be told that they are disappointing him or not measuring up, he is more capable of saying that. But when it’s time to give praise or to make someone feel like a million bucks, no one does that like Weston Noble.
During our drive last night, Mr. Noble mentioned at one point something sad which had just occurred to him that afternoon . . . that he has only three more weeks with the students. I don’t know who’s going to be sadder when those three weeks are up; I just know that I already find that there’s a big lump in my throat thinking about that.
pictured: Mr. Noble speaking to Michael DeFrang, who did a wonderful job with the role of Adam – and also with J——-, the youngest son of Noah. To his left, either waiting to talk to Mr. Noble or having just done so, are Dan Ermel (Cain) and Andrew Lenox (Father) – and with her back to the camera, Brigette Estola, a fine alto in the chorus.
By the way, a Mrs. Anderson came up to Mr. Noble right before the show to say hi. It turns out that both of her children went to Luther and sang under Mr Noble – – – and as she began talking, I realized that I knew both of her children – her son Mark, and her daughter Ruth, who I dated for awhile. (She came down from Appleton because she and her husband are close friends with the parents of Vaness Schroeder, a spectacularly talented junior who portrayed the critical role of Eve.) Mrs. Anderson only had to speak about five words before Mr. Noble knew exactly who she was. What must that feel like, to be recognized almost every place you go? What makes it so much better than, for instance, a Brittney Spears sort of fame, is that the people that recognize Mr. Noble and come up to him are not complete stranger who just want to rub elbows with someone famous. It is as though they are all friends. Because, in a very real way, they are. And now that circle of friends has grown still wider to include some young people from Carthage College.