Similarly, Act II's set is much more appropriate to the progression of the musical. Act I featured an array of disjointed murals on an extended platform staircase. The first scene of Act II, a boisterous rendition of a song called "Generations," replaces these murals with Noah's arc. The maneuvering of this set change was somewhat disjointed, but another day's rehearsal should polish the scene changes. The set in Act II becomes a vital part of the story of Noah and the Flood rather than merely an entrance and exit prop for the cast.

Unfortunately, however, in both the first and second act the choices of Costume Director Liz Cullum '01--while interesting in their own right--indulge the play's inconsistency in a distracting way. God (Dan Berwick '01) is not dressed as an old man with a white beard as one might expect but as a clean-shaven red-robed preacher figure. Act I's storytellers wear all white, and after the fall of man, Eve and Adam don fur vests. Yet in Act II, we find Noah and his children wearing twentieth century rain ponchos. The play is an incomplete anachronism. Ham (Noam Osband '03) wields a gun, while Cain (John Keefe '01) dances around Stonehenge. Cullum's costumes promote a general sense of ambiguity and instead of toying with the musical's indecision, they tend to perpetuate a sense of confusion.

Nonetheless, the musical succesfully creates an overall atmosphere of wholesome fun. Sure, Noah's dove is obviously attached to a string, but this is all part of the musical mocking its own attempted seriousness. Musical numbers about the expulsion from Eden and time on the ark are bound at the very least to promote a bemused audience, and the cast does an admirable job with a show that lacks a cohesive theatrical intent. And so a trip to the Loeb Ex for a brush with the biblical is highly recommended. It should at least serve as a more entertaining form of pre-exam prayer.

Please note that the above review was based on a dress rehersal and not a full production.