'' The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told'' is a

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

comedy written in 1998 by

Paul Rudnick Paul Rudnick (born December 29, 1957) is an American writer. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world. He is also known for having written the screenplays for several movies, including ''Sister Act'', ''Addams F ...

Plot

Original Production

The play was originally produced at the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

on the Nikos Stage, opening on July 1, 1998. The show was directed by

Christopher Ashley Christopher Ashley (born July 6, 1964) is an American stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse. Career Ashley graduated from Yale University in 1986, with a Bachelor of Art in Theatre.

, set design Michael Brown, costume design Marion Williams, lighting design Rui Rita, and sound design Kurt B. Kellenberger. The cast starred Dara Fisher (Stage Manager),

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ;; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' with Sandra Bullock (2000), ''A Knight's Tale'' with Heath Ledger (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' with Vince Vaughn (2004) ...

(

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

Bobby Cannavale Roberto Michael Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for various television roles, including leading roles in ''Third Watch'', ''Vinyl'', and ''Mr. Robot'', as well as recurring roles in ''Will & Grace'', which wo ...

(

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

), Maggie Moore (Matinee Lady, et al.), Michael Wiggins (Priest, et al.), Peter Bartlett (Latecomer, et al.), Michi Barall (Cheryl Mindle, et al.),

Becky Ann Baker Becky Ann Baker (née Gelke; born February 17, 1953) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles of Jean Weir on NBC comedy-drama series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000) and Loreen Horvath on HBO comedy-drama series ''Girls'' (2012� ...

(Jane), and

Jessica Hecht Jessica Hecht is an American actress and singer who played Gretchen Schwartz on '' Breaking Bad'', Susan Bunch on ''Friends'', and Carol on '' The Boys''. She has also made numerous Broadway appearances. Early life and education Hecht was born ...

(Mabel). The play would transfer to the

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 4th Street (Manhattan), East 4th Street between Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village, ...

, with Ashley directing, set design Brown, costume design

Susan Hilferty Susan Hilferty is an American costume designer for theatre, opera, and film. Biography Early life and education Hilferty grew up in a big family in Arlington, Massachusetts, where her greatest source of joy was the library. "We didn’t have a ...

, lighting design

Donald Holder Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera and dance based in New York. He was born in 1962. He has been nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Award ...

, and sound design Darron L. West. The cast starred Tudyk (Adam), Bartlett (Latecomer, et al.), Baker (Jane),

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and ''The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

(Stage Manager), Juan Carlos Hernandez (Steve), Orlando Pabotoy (Father Joseph, et al.),

Lisa Kron Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron (born May 20, 1961) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical ''Fun Home'' for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for ...

(Miriam Miller et al.),

Joanna P. Adler Joanna P. Adler (born 1964) is an American actress, known for her roles in Off-Broadway plays. She won an Obie Award in 1995. In 2014, Adler starred in the second season of the Lifetime (TV network), Lifetime television series ''Devious Maids''. ...

(Cheryl Mindel et al.), and Kathryn Meisle (Mabel). Jenny Bacon was playing Mabel, but broke her foot a few days before opening, and was replaced by Meisle. After that, the production transferred to the

Minetta Lane Theatre The Minetta Lane Theatre is a 391-seat off-Broadway theatre on Minetta Lane in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan, New York City. Significant productions include '' Marvin's Room'' in 1992, '' Jeffrey'' in 1994, and ''The La ...

, the only changes to the cast was Peg Healey (Stage Manager) and

Jay Goede A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian ...

(Steve).

Reviews

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

of the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

said, "there's reverence in Mr. Rudnick's irreverence, an earnest warmth beneath the frivolity" and "Line by line, Mr. Rudnick may be the funniest writer for the stage in the United States today...".

Controversy

The show's content, not only rewriting the Bible, but also having Adam be homosexual, has caused numerous protests when the show is scheduled to open. Rudnick stated about detractors, "tell them I spoke to God personally and he said they're wrong." The 2002 production at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...

and Margie Phelps of the

Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, as ...

protested the production, with Phelps stating ""this fiasco at UC Santa Cruz is just one more symptom of the deadly disease encompassing this land. We have institutionalized sin and we're going to face the consequences. Soon" In 2013,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

state representative Dan Fisher claimed it was a "direct frontal attack" to Christians. The same year, in Dallas,

America Needs Fatima America Needs Fatima is a campaign of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), a Catholic 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It advocates faith and morals based on the teachings of the Virgin Mary, particular ...

protested another production. In 2017, America Needs Fatima also protested a production in Atlanta.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, The 1998 plays HIV/AIDS in theatre Off-Broadway plays 1990s LGBT literature LGBT-related plays LGBT-related controversies in plays Plays based on the Bible Plays set in New York City