"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" National Tour Review
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is a very special show to me. It is one of the first cast recordings that I have owned and it is one of the first musicals that I fell in love with and made me into the person that I am today. I have seen the movie version featuring Donny Osmond many times and it never fails to impress me and make me fall in love with it all over again. When it was announced that the national tour would be coming to my city around this time last year, I was thrilled because I have never seen a real production of "Joseph". Like the Donny Osmond movie, this production won me over, yet again.
As if you didn't already know (and if you don't then what are you doing?), "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a sung through show, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, that is based on the bible story about a boy named Joseph who is given a multicolored coat that leads him through good times, bad times, and more.
Telling the story of Joseph, his father Jacob, and his eleven brothers is our narrator, played by Laura Helm. When Helm makes her entrance, she immediately grabs you with her voice. But unfortunately, the narrator's charm isn't there right away as it should be. However, once the charm is there, it really is there. As Joseph, JC McCann has a very warm voice that carries easily throughout the theatre.
Joseph has eleven brothers. Out of those eleven brothers, there are three that really stand out. They are Reuben (Jacob Sharf), Simeon (Usually played by Peter Surace, played by Patrick T. Shaw at the performance I attended), and Judah (Kyle Freeman). Sharf gave a delightfully nasty rendition of 'One More Angel in Heaven", Shaw was absolutely hilarious leading the brother's big number "Those Canaan Days" and Freeman made a huge splash in "Benjamin Calypso". Another huge standout was Marc Ciemiewicz who plays Jacob and Potiphar with an excellent stage presence, as well as Joe Ventrecelli who played the Pharaoh.
One of the best parts about this show was the direction and choreography, both of which were done by Andy Blankenbuehler, who is also the choreographer of some little show called "Hamilton". As in any show, the choreography played a huge part in making this production what it was. The choreography was truly phenomenal and it was a joy to watch. Almost anything Blankenbuehler does is absolutely spectacular.
While this is an amazing production "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", it is not exactly perfect. This production includes a very strange framing device in which the show's prologue takes place in the modern day. I am not sure what they were trying to achieve with that, but it is very unnecessary because it goes literally nowhere. If you are a regular reader of my blog and saw this production, then you were most likely expecting this in my review...projections (by Daniel Brodie). The set consisted of a white drop, in which all the "backdrops" were projected against, a few staircases, and a some additional backdrops that only came out occasionally. I know that this is a tour that typically only plays one night stands, but I think that they could do better than this. The reason why using projections as sets bothers me so much is because it is cheap and makes the stage look empty. I guess I should just start getting used to it because it's truly starting to become the norm. However, the projections didn't bother me as much in this show, mostly because the moving staircases took up quite a bit of space and other features made the set look a bit more cool. I also think the fact that they projected the backgrounds on a real cloth drop, rather than a screen really helped. On a more positive note, the lighting design on this production was really a sight to behold. It really made up for the projections.
This production was "Joseph" was delightful. It is a show that never gets old and is hard to go wrong with. If this production comes near you, I strongly encourage you to go see it. It is truly one of the greatest out there and I wouldn't pass up any opportunity to see a production of it. If you haven't seen the show live, this production is a great way to do that. I loved this production and I hope the rest of the audience did as well. Judging from the immediate standing ovation, I think they did.
"JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT"
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Directed and Choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler
For more information, visit http://www.josephthemusical.com/
The cast of the touring production of "JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT" consits of
The Narrator- LAURA HELM
Joseph- JC McCANN
Simeon- PETER SURACE
Jacob/Potiphar- MARC CIEMIEWICZ
Reuben- JACOB SHARF
Judah- KYLE FREEMAN
The Pharaoh- JOE VENTRECELLI
As if you didn't already know (and if you don't then what are you doing?), "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a sung through show, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, that is based on the bible story about a boy named Joseph who is given a multicolored coat that leads him through good times, bad times, and more.
Telling the story of Joseph, his father Jacob, and his eleven brothers is our narrator, played by Laura Helm. When Helm makes her entrance, she immediately grabs you with her voice. But unfortunately, the narrator's charm isn't there right away as it should be. However, once the charm is there, it really is there. As Joseph, JC McCann has a very warm voice that carries easily throughout the theatre.
 | |
| JC McCann as Joseph and the company. Photo by Daniel A. Swalec |
Joseph has eleven brothers. Out of those eleven brothers, there are three that really stand out. They are Reuben (Jacob Sharf), Simeon (Usually played by Peter Surace, played by Patrick T. Shaw at the performance I attended), and Judah (Kyle Freeman). Sharf gave a delightfully nasty rendition of 'One More Angel in Heaven", Shaw was absolutely hilarious leading the brother's big number "Those Canaan Days" and Freeman made a huge splash in "Benjamin Calypso". Another huge standout was Marc Ciemiewicz who plays Jacob and Potiphar with an excellent stage presence, as well as Joe Ventrecelli who played the Pharaoh.
One of the best parts about this show was the direction and choreography, both of which were done by Andy Blankenbuehler, who is also the choreographer of some little show called "Hamilton". As in any show, the choreography played a huge part in making this production what it was. The choreography was truly phenomenal and it was a joy to watch. Almost anything Blankenbuehler does is absolutely spectacular.
 |
| Laura Helm as the Narrator and Company. Photo by Daniel A. Swalec |
While this is an amazing production "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", it is not exactly perfect. This production includes a very strange framing device in which the show's prologue takes place in the modern day. I am not sure what they were trying to achieve with that, but it is very unnecessary because it goes literally nowhere. If you are a regular reader of my blog and saw this production, then you were most likely expecting this in my review...projections (by Daniel Brodie). The set consisted of a white drop, in which all the "backdrops" were projected against, a few staircases, and a some additional backdrops that only came out occasionally. I know that this is a tour that typically only plays one night stands, but I think that they could do better than this. The reason why using projections as sets bothers me so much is because it is cheap and makes the stage look empty. I guess I should just start getting used to it because it's truly starting to become the norm. However, the projections didn't bother me as much in this show, mostly because the moving staircases took up quite a bit of space and other features made the set look a bit more cool. I also think the fact that they projected the backgrounds on a real cloth drop, rather than a screen really helped. On a more positive note, the lighting design on this production was really a sight to behold. It really made up for the projections.
This production was "Joseph" was delightful. It is a show that never gets old and is hard to go wrong with. If this production comes near you, I strongly encourage you to go see it. It is truly one of the greatest out there and I wouldn't pass up any opportunity to see a production of it. If you haven't seen the show live, this production is a great way to do that. I loved this production and I hope the rest of the audience did as well. Judging from the immediate standing ovation, I think they did.
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"JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT"
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Directed and Choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler
For more information, visit http://www.josephthemusical.com/
The cast of the touring production of "JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT" consits of
The Narrator- LAURA HELM
Joseph- JC McCANN
Simeon- PETER SURACE
Jacob/Potiphar- MARC CIEMIEWICZ
Reuben- JACOB SHARF
Judah- KYLE FREEMAN
The Pharaoh- JOE VENTRECELLI
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