Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat
By Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Directed by Andy Blankenbuehler
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph (map)
thru April 6 | tickets: $18-$115 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Pleasant, entertaining show struggles to deserve its high ticket price
Broadway in Chicago presents
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Review by John Olson
Andrew Lloyd Webber may have just one show running on Broadway right now, but he’s had a banner year in Chicago, with seven of his musicals produced in local theaters. From the mega-hits (The Phantom of the Opera, Cats), to the less-frequently-produced (Sunset Boulevard, Evita), to the obscure (Aspects of Love) and the really obscure (Whistle down the Wind); Chicagoans have had the opportunity to pursue a Master’s in Lloyd Webber. So welcome the latest to hit the shores of Lake Michigan – a new tour of Sir Lloyd Webber’s first musical to be professionally produced, written with
The piece is almost entirely sung-through, telling Joseph’s story of being sold into slavery by his brothers and spending years imprisoned before eventually winning the favor of Egypt’s Pharaoh. He gains the Monarch’s attention through his ability to interpret dreams and predict the future, gaining his freedom and apposition of influence, which ultimately allows him to reconcile with his family many years later. Lloyd Webber and Rice created parodies of a grab-bag of then contemporary pop idioms for their version of the tale. There’s a country hoedown for the brothers’ betrayal of Joseph (“One More Angel in Heaven”), the Pharaoh as an Elvis impersonator in “Song of the King,” an Edith Piaf parody as the brothers bemoan their famine after Joseph’s departure (“Those Canaan Days”) and a calypso number (“Benjamin Calypso”) for Joseph’s testing of the brothers’ character when they encounter him after Joseph’s 12 or 13 years in captivity. Lloyd Webber and Rice’s numbers are clever enough that we can forgive them for not anticipating that the idea of a free man living twelve years as a slave would be particularly unfunny in 2014, at least for those who have seen a certain Academy-Award winning film.
So if you don’t object to bible stories sans religion or comedy about slavery and oppression, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is actually a pretty good time. Director/choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (of Broadway’s In the Heights, Bring It On and Annie, among other credits) has an athletic and thoroughly capable company doing energetic dancing for some 90 minutes of stage time. They’re led by two American Idol alums with Broadway credits, Diana DeGarmo as the narrator and Ace Young as Joseph. The two – husband and wife in real life – have easy-to-listen to pop styles that are just exactly what’s needed to help this score succeed, and they have good presences on stage, that work just fine for the sort of presentational performances the piece requires. Though Blankenbuehler has upped the sexiness quotient for adults by dressing his lean and muscular cast frequently in shirtless or halter-topped costumes, and taken the seduction of Joseph by his Egyptian employer’s wife to a point where adults will have no trouble figuring out what’s going on beneath the sheets, the show remains quite kid-friendly. It’s perfectly agreeable entertainment as the music and movement barely stop throughout the show’s 90 minutes of stage time. Blankenbuehler’s staging of “Those Canaan Days,” – with the brothers doing a sort of seated dance as they pass around empty plates for a dinner during the famine – is a clever riff on the device Tommy Tune created for the number “Favorite Son” in The Will Rogers Follies.
What the show is not, though, is a spectacle. Though the costumes are colorful and fun, the sets are really little more than some drapes hung in a semi-circle behind the playing area. Most of the visual backdrops are provided through some nice-enough projections. If you’re expecting an extravaganza along the lines of The Phantom of the Opera – as well you might, given that it carries the same ticket pricing as did the recent tour of that show – you’ll be disappointed. What you get is a thoroughly professional production of this light and enjoyable early Lloyd Webber musical, still pleasing audiences after nearly 50 years.
Rating: ★★★
Joseph… continues through April 6th at Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph (map), with performances Tuesdays-Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, Sundays 2pm. Tickets are $18-$115, and are available by phone (800-775-2000) or online through Ticketmaster.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at JosephTheMusical.com. (Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Daniel A. Swalec and Daniel Brodie
artists
cast
Diana DeGarmo (Narrator), Ace Young (Joseph), William Thomas Evans (Jacob), Brian Golub (Reuben), Christine Cornish Smith (Reuben’s wife), Vincent D’Elia (Ishmaelite, Butler, ensemble), Will Mann (Ishmaelite, Judah, ensemble), William Thomas Evans (Potiphar), Claire Camp (Mrs. Potiphar, ensemble), Patrick John Moran (Baker, ensemble), Ryan Williams (Pharaoh, ensemble), Paul Castree (Simeon, ensemble), Brandon Hudson (Benjamin, ensemble), David Rossetti (dance captain, swing), Brett Stoelker, Chip Abbott, Amanda Braun, Jonathan Burke, Richard Cerato, Lisa Finegold, Lili Froehlich, Sasha Hollinger, Mark Roland, Tricia Tanguy, Matthew Tiberl (ensemble)
orchestra
Wayne Green (music director, keyboards), Andrew Smithson (asst. music director, keyboards), Ana Flavia Zuim, Bob Sutter (keyboards), Victor Costanzi, Roberta Freier (violin), David Stambaugh (woodwind), Paul McGinely (reeds), Ralph Agresta (guitar), Michael Epperhart (bass, librarian), Mark Pardy (drums, percussion, band tech), Talitha Fehr (music coordinator), Stuart Andrews (keyboard programmer)
behind the scenes
Andy Blankenbuehler (director, choreographer), Christopher Windom (associate director), Jennifer Caprio (costume designer), Dave Bova, J. Jared Janas, Rob Greene (wig design), Beowulf Boritt (scenic design), David Kreppel (musical supervisor), Wayne Green (music director), Talitha Fehr (music coordinator), John Cameron (orchestrations), David Kreppel, Simon Lee, Nigel Wright (additional orchestrations), Daniel Brodie (video & projection designer), Howell Binkley (lighting designer), John Shivers & David Patridge (sound designers), Ryan J. Bell (production stage manager), Michael Balderrama (associate choreographer), T.J. King (technical director), Joy Dewing (casting), Daniel A. Swalec, Daniel Brodie (photos)
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