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Based on the novel by Milton
John Milton's Paradise Lost: The Musical
Book, Music and Lyrics by Crystal Lowder
paradise lost musical concept
About the Show
JOHN MILTON'S PARADISE LOST: A Musical
Summary
John Milton's Paradise Lost: A Musical reimagines the classic epic as a Victorian-era story of rebellion, freedom, and authentic love. Lucy, a feisty student at the oppressive Pandemonium School for Young Ladies, escapes to find "Paradise" at the fading Eden estate. There she discovers that paradise isn't paradise at all.
At Eden, Lucy encounters Eve (an innocent gardener's wife), Josh (the estate owner's sensitive son trapped by duty), and his corrupt father Elijah (whose hedonistic schemes threaten everyone around him). When Lucy witnesses the estate's dark secrets and moral decay, she helps Eve escape and eventually transforms her former prison school into "The Hell School"—a progressive institution protected by a mystical Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
Blending supernatural elements with sharp social commentary, this musical explores themes of educational reform, women's liberation, and the courage to reject false paradises in favor of authentic freedom and love.
scene breakdown
John Milton's Paradise Lost
JOHN MILTON'S PARADISE LOST: A Musical
ACT I
Scene 1: Pandemonium School for Young Ladies Opens in a rigid Victorian boarding school with morning assembly. Students sing the oppressive school anthem while LUCY, an 18-year-old with striking red hair, barely conceals her rebellion. When Headmistress Moloch discovers Lucy's hidden flyer advertising "Eden: Nature's Paradise in the North," she burns it publicly. Lucy defiantly draws a map on the chalkboard showing her escape route to Eden, leading to her punishment and isolation.
Scene 2: Lucy's Supernatural Escape Lucy mysteriously levitates and floats through the school gates, witnessed by shocked students and faculty. Her friend Beelzebub watches from the window as Lucy vanishes into the night, beginning her journey to find Paradise.
Scene 3: Village Near Eden Estate Local villagers sing about Eden's former glory and current decay under the eccentric master Elijah, setting up the estate's backstory and the community's relationship to the once-grand property.
Scene 4: Eve's Garden EVE, a young woman with red hair similar to Lucy's, tends her humble garden outside a cottage on Eden estate. She sings contentedly about her simple life. LUCY arrives, claiming to be Eve's long-lost cousin from the Shaw family. Eve welcomes her warmly, offering her shelter in their cottage.
Scene 5: The Hillside ELIJAH, the hedonistic master of Eden, stands with his son JOSH overlooking the estate. Elijah revels in his selfish enjoyment of the property while Josh worries about its decline. MICHAEL, a professional lawyer, arrives with urgent financial matters. The scene reveals the estate's precarious situation and Elijah's dismissive attitude toward responsibility.
Scene 6: Secret Romance Revealed ADAM (Eve's husband and the estate gardener) and MICHAEL meet secretly, revealing their passionate affair. Lucy witnesses this clandestine meeting from hiding, discovering the first major secret of Eden.
Scene 7: Letters Across Distance Split scene showing Lucy writing to her friend Beelzebub at Pandemonium while Beelzebub writes back from school. Their duet explores their different situations and Lucy's mixed feelings about her "Paradise."
Scene 8: Josh's Yearning JOSH observes Lucy from his mansion balcony, singing of his growing fascination with the mysterious red-haired visitor who has brought new energy to the dying estate.
Scene 9: Elijah's Bath Elijah luxuriates in his bathroom, singing about his inflated self-image while Adam serves him. Elijah crudely propositions Adam about his wife Eve and schemes about using his son Josh to attract women to the estate.
Scene 10: The Bookshop Meeting Lucy and Josh meet properly in the village bookshop. Their conversation reveals their mutual attraction and different backgrounds - she well-traveled, he sheltered. Josh invites Lucy to a garden party at the mansion.
Scene 11: The Apple Lane Josh, elated after meeting Lucy, encounters his cynical father Elijah among the apple trees. Elijah warns Josh that Lucy is likely a gold-digger, but Josh defends her character.
Scene 12: Moloch's Death at Pandemonium Headmistress Moloch dies of fever. Beelzebub is appointed to take her place but must leave to care for a dying aunt, asking Lucy to return and become the new headmistress.
Scene 13: The Greenhouse Confrontation Lucy receives Beelzebub's letter about Moloch's death. She then witnesses Adam and Michael's affair again in the greenhouse, leading to her decision to warn Eve and convince her to leave Eden with her.
Scene 14: The Apple In the orchard, Lucy persuades Eve to "bite the apple" - literally and metaphorically - as a symbol of choosing freedom over her current life. They decide to leave Eden together for Cornwall.
Scene 15: The Garden Party Elijah hosts a party to revive Eden's social standing, but both Lucy and Eve fail to appear. Josh searches desperately for Lucy while Elijah pursues other guests. The absence of the two women creates tension and confusion.
Scene 16: The Empty Cottage Adam and Michael discover that Eve and Lucy have departed, taking their belongings. Michael sees this as an opportunity for their relationship, but Adam realizes the gravity of his betrayal and ends their affair, choosing to seek Eve's forgiveness.
Scene 17: The Gates of Eden Josh waits at the estate gates through the night, hoping Lucy will return, singing of his longing and the prison-like nature of his privileged life.
ACT II
Scene 1: Moloch's Funeral At Pandemonium, students sing a solemn farewell hymn for the deceased headmistress. Lucy arrives for the funeral, and Beelzebub convinces her to take over the school with an energetic duet about transformation and freedom.
Scene 2: Letters and Mockery Lucy writes to Josh explaining she won't return to Eden, having become headmistress of her former prison. Elijah mocks Josh's heartbreak with a cruel song about women's deceptive nature, while privately revealing his own possessive anger about losing Lucy.
Scene 3: The Warlocks Two dark magic practitioners meet in York, hired by Elijah to perform love magic on a young woman. The scene establishes Elijah's descent into supernatural manipulation.
Scene 4: Elijah's Ritual Elijah attempts a magical ritual to astrally project himself to seduce a young woman, showing his complete moral corruption and delusions of power.
Scene 5: Josh's Intervention Josh discovers the warlock leaving the mansion and physically ejects him from the property, rejecting his father's magical schemes and showing his own moral strength.
Scene 6: Adam's Workshop Crisis Adam learns of an attack on a young woman, demonstrating the violence lurking around Eden and the consequences of the estate's moral decay.
Scene 7: Michael's Departure Michael quits as Elijah's lawyer after he proposes a scheme to exploit vulnerable women seeking "absolution" at Eden. Josh tries to convince her to stay but she leaves him with resources for his own escape.
Scene 8: Josh's Decision Alone in the mansion corridor, Josh resolves to leave Eden and find Lucy at her school, singing a reprise about meeting her at "the gates of Hell."
Scene 9: Hell School Established Lucy transforms Pandemonium into "The Hell School," complete with a protective "Lake of Fire and Brimstone." She and Eve (now a poetry teacher) work together while Lucy plans elaborate defenses for their institution.
Scene 10: Beelzebub's Farewell Beelzebub returns briefly, now wealthy from an inheritance, and exchanges a duet with Lucy about their different paths to freedom before departing for Europe.
Scene 11: Michael's Arrival Michael arrives at Hell School, having crossed the mystical lake. She reveals the truth about her relationship with Adam to Eve, explaining how their affair began as protection from Elijah's advances.
Scene 12: The Lake of Fire Reunion Eve and Adam meet across the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. They honestly confront their past mistakes and choose to start over together in a new location, with Eve crossing the lake to join him.
Scene 13: Josh's Arrival The students sing their new school anthem when Josh suddenly appears, having crossed the Lake of Fire unharmed due to his pure heart. Lucy embraces him as the students form a protective circle around the reunited couple.
Finale: Guardians of the Light The students sing a closing anthem about protecting goodness and love, as Lucy and Josh find sanctuary together at Hell School, having both rejected false paradises to create their own authentic haven.