Local Review: The UTEP Dinner Theatre's Production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
While there is quite a lot of theatre that is written to reflect what is/was going on in society, there is also theatre that is written to be a form of escapism. While I thoroughly enjoy both forms of theatre, every now and then I need to see a show that just allows me to leave my every day struggles behind and focus only on whatever story is being told for me. With that being said, The UTEP Dinner Theatre's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat falls into the category of escapist theatre and if I must say so myself, it was a wonderfully pleasurable ninety minutes in the theatre that I absolutely needed during this somewhat stressful time of the year.
I LOVED the UTEP Dinner Theatre's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. That's the easiest and most straightforward way to say how I felt about the production. I feel as if it were one of the best locally done productions I have seen in well over a year (and possibly ever). This was the UTEP Dinner Theatre's official 35th anniversary production and the team over at the UDT truly pulled out all of the stops for this show. The Dinner Theatre's production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice classic was so marvelously done. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was filled with more joy during this one show than I was during the entire month of April (and likely the rest of May).
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat just so happens to be one of the most delightful musicals in existence. I have always loved the original Broadway cast album, so I am always excited when the opportunity to see a production of the show comes along. The last time I saw the show live was in 2016 when the national touring company came through El Paso, Texas. Although all of my friends thought that the national tour was poorly done, I really enjoyed that production. However, after seeing the UTEP Dinner Theatre's production, I genuinely believe that their production is far superior to that of the national tour. In fact, now that touring production isn't quite as wonderful as I remember it being. I still enjoyed that production, but the UTEP Dinner Theatre did a much better job with the material and delivered a production that was more eye popping and lovable.
The extremely talented and highly energetic cast was led by Tanisha Lewis as the Narrator and Ricardo Parra as Joseph. Lewis absolutely nailed it as the narrator and she did a lovely job keeping the audience in the palm of her hand. In the titular role, Parra surely left a fantastic impression on the audience with his beautiful voice and innocent portrayal of the role. In this performance of Joseph, I was particularly impressed with performances of Joseph's brothers (all of whom are listed below this review). Each of their numbers was a showstopper and at times, I felt as if they walked away with the entire show. Cast members that I must mention in this review are Ivan Cano (Photiphar/Issachar), Kevin P. Mullin (Jacob), and Jean-Andre Moore (Pharoah/Dan), who were all perfectly cast and had many moments that allowed them to shine throughout the show.
The director, Gregory L. Taylor, and the entire creative team for this production put their absolute everything into this production and it shows. The blocking was just as stunning to look at as Mike Spence's glorious sets. One of the most effective pieces of blocking in the show was how Joseph's eleven brothers moved as a unit. It is so simple, but every time they used that motif, I was obsessed with it. An aspect of the direction that I greatly appreciated is how the spectacle of the show never felt too over the top. I have seen certain productions of Joseph that tend to unintentionally favor choreography and spectacle over the story, but this production found an admirable balance between all three elements
Also infusing the show with joyous life was choreographer, Lisa Lopez, who had the ensemble dancing for their lives and Jaime Barba, whose costumes were fun to look at and defined the characters very well. Another element of the show that genuinely impressed me was the exuberant lighting design by Mike Spence and Scott Weir. Overall, the Dinner Theatre's production of Joseph was top notch in essentially every way imaginable. I feel as if I was equally impressed with every single element of the show.
I am aware that people come to this blog for critiques, but I really loved everything about this production. I found that the entire show was pure theatre magic. In fact, had the first act finale gone on any longer, I likely would have started crying because that is how overjoyed I was at this production. This has probably been the most "fan girly" I have ever been in a review, but considering the quality and entertainment value of this production, it is called for. I give the UTEP Dinner Theatre's Production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat an A+.
The UTEP Dinner Theatre's Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT was directed by Gregory L. Taylor and the cast consisted of:
Narrator- TANISHA LEWIS
Joseph- RICARDO PARRA
Photipar- IVAN CANO
Mrs. Photiphar- MARIA HART
Pharoah- JEAN-ANDRE MOORE
Jacob- KEVIN P. MULLIN
Butler- JOHN LEVICK
Baker- ETHAN BARRERA
The Brothers:
Ruben- AJITH KUMAR
Simeon- SCOTT FRANKLIN
Levi- JOHN LEVICK
Naphtali- EVAN BRUCE
Issachar- IVAN CANO
Asher- RAUL HERNANDEZ
Dan- JEAN-ANDRE MOORE
Zebulan- ZAID OSWALDO ZAVALA
Gad- CONNOR DICKEY
Benjamin- OCTAVIO RAMIREZ CARDENAS
Judah- JAYDEN RODRIGUEZ
Wives & Women of Egypt- ISABELLA CANDELARIA, MARIA HART, EMMA MONTES, ALONDRA MORALES, ARAZELIA PEREZ, REILLY ROBINS, BAILEE RODRIGUEZ, EURYDICE SAUCEDO, MARISOL TERRAZAS
Performance Reviewed: May 2, 2018 (7:00 PM)
I LOVED the UTEP Dinner Theatre's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. That's the easiest and most straightforward way to say how I felt about the production. I feel as if it were one of the best locally done productions I have seen in well over a year (and possibly ever). This was the UTEP Dinner Theatre's official 35th anniversary production and the team over at the UDT truly pulled out all of the stops for this show. The Dinner Theatre's production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice classic was so marvelously done. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was filled with more joy during this one show than I was during the entire month of April (and likely the rest of May).
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat just so happens to be one of the most delightful musicals in existence. I have always loved the original Broadway cast album, so I am always excited when the opportunity to see a production of the show comes along. The last time I saw the show live was in 2016 when the national touring company came through El Paso, Texas. Although all of my friends thought that the national tour was poorly done, I really enjoyed that production. However, after seeing the UTEP Dinner Theatre's production, I genuinely believe that their production is far superior to that of the national tour. In fact, now that touring production isn't quite as wonderful as I remember it being. I still enjoyed that production, but the UTEP Dinner Theatre did a much better job with the material and delivered a production that was more eye popping and lovable.
The extremely talented and highly energetic cast was led by Tanisha Lewis as the Narrator and Ricardo Parra as Joseph. Lewis absolutely nailed it as the narrator and she did a lovely job keeping the audience in the palm of her hand. In the titular role, Parra surely left a fantastic impression on the audience with his beautiful voice and innocent portrayal of the role. In this performance of Joseph, I was particularly impressed with performances of Joseph's brothers (all of whom are listed below this review). Each of their numbers was a showstopper and at times, I felt as if they walked away with the entire show. Cast members that I must mention in this review are Ivan Cano (Photiphar/Issachar), Kevin P. Mullin (Jacob), and Jean-Andre Moore (Pharoah/Dan), who were all perfectly cast and had many moments that allowed them to shine throughout the show.
The director, Gregory L. Taylor, and the entire creative team for this production put their absolute everything into this production and it shows. The blocking was just as stunning to look at as Mike Spence's glorious sets. One of the most effective pieces of blocking in the show was how Joseph's eleven brothers moved as a unit. It is so simple, but every time they used that motif, I was obsessed with it. An aspect of the direction that I greatly appreciated is how the spectacle of the show never felt too over the top. I have seen certain productions of Joseph that tend to unintentionally favor choreography and spectacle over the story, but this production found an admirable balance between all three elements
Also infusing the show with joyous life was choreographer, Lisa Lopez, who had the ensemble dancing for their lives and Jaime Barba, whose costumes were fun to look at and defined the characters very well. Another element of the show that genuinely impressed me was the exuberant lighting design by Mike Spence and Scott Weir. Overall, the Dinner Theatre's production of Joseph was top notch in essentially every way imaginable. I feel as if I was equally impressed with every single element of the show.
I am aware that people come to this blog for critiques, but I really loved everything about this production. I found that the entire show was pure theatre magic. In fact, had the first act finale gone on any longer, I likely would have started crying because that is how overjoyed I was at this production. This has probably been the most "fan girly" I have ever been in a review, but considering the quality and entertainment value of this production, it is called for. I give the UTEP Dinner Theatre's Production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat an A+.
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The UTEP Dinner Theatre's Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT was directed by Gregory L. Taylor and the cast consisted of:
Narrator- TANISHA LEWIS
Joseph- RICARDO PARRA
Photipar- IVAN CANO
Mrs. Photiphar- MARIA HART
Pharoah- JEAN-ANDRE MOORE
Jacob- KEVIN P. MULLIN
Butler- JOHN LEVICK
Baker- ETHAN BARRERA
The Brothers:
Ruben- AJITH KUMAR
Simeon- SCOTT FRANKLIN
Levi- JOHN LEVICK
Naphtali- EVAN BRUCE
Issachar- IVAN CANO
Asher- RAUL HERNANDEZ
Dan- JEAN-ANDRE MOORE
Zebulan- ZAID OSWALDO ZAVALA
Gad- CONNOR DICKEY
Benjamin- OCTAVIO RAMIREZ CARDENAS
Judah- JAYDEN RODRIGUEZ
Wives & Women of Egypt- ISABELLA CANDELARIA, MARIA HART, EMMA MONTES, ALONDRA MORALES, ARAZELIA PEREZ, REILLY ROBINS, BAILEE RODRIGUEZ, EURYDICE SAUCEDO, MARISOL TERRAZAS
Performance Reviewed: May 2, 2018 (7:00 PM)
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