Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Playwrights: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice

Company: Rosebud Theatre

Lead Cast: David Snider as Joseph, Jeany Van Meltebeke as the Narrator

I have never attended a performance of the Broadway/West End version of Joseph, but I've seen clips of the costumes, dances and grandiose sets. I was very interest to see a more homespun version, similar to the original. (Joseph was originally written to be a school production for an all-boys school. The performing of the narrator by a woman and the addition of the son's wives to the chorus were added later.)

Rosebud's set was a necessarily simple one, due partly no doubt to budget constraints, but also to the size of their stage. There were only two major set pieces, a bed shaped like an open book set beneath a window, and a second book/bed, this one closed, which, when opened, became the pit into which Joseph is thrown. Otherwise, the set consisted of benches, tables and a cut-out of a trailer. (Hey, Jacob would have lived in a tent...makes sense.)

Rosebud added a spoken prologue to the play, in which they, rather heavy-handedly, explained their take on the material. Two mothers (one of whom is also the Narrator) and a babysitter are trying to put the children to bed. There follows a discussion between the narrator and her children as to the power of dreams. Personally, I thought the set was clear without explanation.

In any case, the children are put to bed and at this point the show (as scripted) begins. I was very intrigued by the choice to have Joseph begin "Any Dream Will Do" a capella. Joseph 'wakes' the children and leads them into the world of the play -- very Pied Piper. The Narrator seems to be in with Joseph and the other mother and the babysitter are taken along as well, though unwillingly.

Though the children have no lines in the show they do interact, mostly with Joseph and the Narrator, but also with the characters of the story and sing the chorus parts in various songs ("Go, Go Joseph", "A Pharaoh's Story"). In "Close Every Door" Joseph leave the children to finish the song, drifting off after "For we have been promised..."

Interestingly, only nine of the eleven brothers were represented. When they are listed off in "Jacob and Sons" the mother and babysitter are roped into representing Benjamin and Judah. This actually foreshadows another choice later in the show, in which we suddenly find one of the children accused of Benjamin's thievery, to the horror of her mother.

Oh, and while I'm mentioning "Jacob and Sons": The sheep!! (Cate dissolves into giggles at the mere memory of the sheep.)

Performances were up to Rosebud standard (which I find are higher than a lot of companies I've seen). Though he was a lovely singer and an actor, I disagreed with David Snider's interpretation of Joseph as a victim with an 'ah shucks, why me?' attitude. Granted, there are only a couple lines that I can hold up as evidence, but I always saw Joseph and a bit of a self-centred priss. Without his time in jail, he would have been insufferable as Pharaoh's assistant.

Lots of laughs. Fine holiday fun.

Cate

PS: Couldn't find a theatre icon on short notice, so this will serve, for now.

ETA: Found a Doug Sills icon... *Cate drifts off into a Doug-related trance*