"Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Bass Hall

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
ply program

The Travelling Toe and a friend attended the Sunday matinee performance of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" present by Performing Arts Fort Worth at Bass Hall.


Bass Hall


If you remember the story of Joseph from your Sunday School days then you will know the story. Here is a short overview of it to refresh your memory.  Joseph had 11 brothers who were all jealous of him because Joseph was the favorite son of their father, Jacob.  The brothers plot to get rid of Joseph and his dreams by killing him but then decide to sell him to some travelling Ishmaelites instead.  Joseph is sold as a slave in Egypt and through no fault of his own, he lands up in jail.  There he becomes famous for interpreting dreams when his translations come true.  Meanwhile, the Pharaoh has been having troubling dreams but no one can tell him what they mean. Then his butler tells him about Joseph. The Pharaoh sends for Joseph and tells him about the strange dreams he is having each night.  Joseph is able to interpret the dreams and warns Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of bumper crops followed by 7 lean years.  The Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his #2 and puts him in charge of building storehouses for the bumper crops to help get them through the lean years.  

Back in Canaan, the 11 brothers and their families are starving and decide to go to Egypt where they hear there is food to be had.  When they arrive, begging for food, Joseph recognizes them but they do not recognize him.  After some trickery, he finally tells them who he really is.  Jacob is excited to see his son once again.

Happy Ending for all.

The musical was written by the creative team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.  The play tells the story of Joseph very well and has wonderful songs of different styles.  

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Tim Rice

The brothers sing a C&W type song, "One More Angel in Heaven",  to tell Jacob that Joseph is dead.  Then when they are starving they sing "Those Canaan Days" in a French cabaret style including berets.

The actor who played Joseph, JC McCann, had a good voice and did justice to his big songs of "Close Every Door" and "Any Dream Will Do".  One other favorite character was Pharaoh, who always enters as a king...well the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis style, with screaming and fainting girls due to his hip action!

JC McCann as
Joseph

The Travelling Toe has seen this musical many times but really enjoyed this performance.  The use of digital projection set design to enhance the stage setting was very well done. It seems that more touring shows are turning to this method more often than not so that multiple large sets do not have to be dismantled and moved from town to town. The singing and dancing by the entire ensemble was impressive and fun. All in all an excellent production!