Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was the second musical theatre show written by the team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. (The first was "The Likes of Us", a show which was written in 1965 but which did not receive its first stage performance until 2005).
Based on the story of Joseph from the Bible, this light-hearted show was first presented as a cantata at the Colet Court school in London on March 1, 1968 and lasted twenty minutes. Both the orchestra and the singers consisted of pupils of Colet Court, whose head of music had commissioned the work. The second performance, also by Colet Court boys, was on 12 May 1968 at Central Hall, Westminster. This was picked up by a review in the Sunday Times. The third performance was at St Paul's Cathedral on 9 November 1968. It had by then been expanded. Due to its success, Rice and Lloyd Webber decided to release a small album of the show in 1969. The album didn't do well until Lloyd Webber and Rice released their second musical album, Jesus Christ Superstar, an immediate hit. The original recording then enjoyed 3 months in the US charts. Joseph was finally produced at a professional level in 1972 by Frank Dunlop and its success transferred it to bigger theatres and wider audiences. It was finally produced on Broadway on January 27, 1982 at the Royale Theatre where it remained for 747 performances.
Credited to its family friendly storyline, universal themes, and catchy music Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is one of the most dependably profitable titles in musical theatre history, particularly when producers feature a headlining star. It is often successfully mounted by amateur groups, and according to the Really Useful Group, it has been mounted by over 20,000 local schools and amateur theaters. According to Broadway World News Desk the current Top Three ranked audience drawing stars in the world in the title Joseph character are Donny Osmond, Patrick Cassidy, and Rikki Lee Travolta. All three hail from well known entertainment families. Other top ranking stars include Jason Donovan, Michael Damian, Darren Day, Sam Harris, Ian Watkins, Stephen Gately, Jon Secada, and original Broadway star Bill Hutton[link]. In addition, young Andy Gibb played Joseph on Broadway, but died of heart failure following the show's run.
Plot
The story is based on the Biblical story of Joseph, found in the book of Genesis. It is set in a frame in which a narrator is telling a story to children, encouraging them to dream. She then tells the story of Joseph, another dreamer ("Prologue," "Any Dream Will Do").In the beginning of the main story [Jacob] and his 12 sons are introduced ("Jacob and Sons"). The brothers are jealous of Joseph for his beautiful coat, which is a symbol of their father's preference of him ("Joseph's Coat"). Moreover, Joseph has dreams which makes it very clear that he is destined to rule over them ("Joseph's Dreams"). To get rid of him and make the dreams not come true, they sell him as a slave to some passing Ishmaelites ("Poor, Poor Joseph"), who in turn bring him to Egypt.
Back home, Reuben and the other brothers, accompanied by their wives, break the news to Jacob that Joseph has been killed. They show his tattered coat smeared with his blood (really goat's blood) to their father as proof that what they say is true ("One More Angel in Heaven").
In Egypt, Joseph is the slave of Potiphar, an Egyptian millionaire. Joseph rises through the ranks of slaves and servants until he is running Potiphar's house. However, Potiphar's wife advances on Joseph, who spurns her. Potiphar hears them and barges in, seeing the two together. He throws Joseph in jail as punishment ("Potiphar").
In prison, Joseph feels dejected ("Close Every Door"), but uses his ability to interpret dreams to help his other prisoners, revealing that one, the Baker, will be executed, while the other, the Butler, will go free ("Go, Go, Go Joseph").
At this point the story moves back to the frame story, and the Narrator talks about the impending change in Joseph's fortunes ("A Pharaoh Story") because the Pharaoh is having dreams that no one can interpret. The Butler tells Pharaoh--who resembles an ancient Egyptian Elvis--of Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams ("Poor, Poor Pharaoh"). Joseph is brought to Pharaoh and the king tells Joseph his dream involving seven fat cows, seven skinny cows, seven healthy ears of corn, and seven dead ears of corn ("Song of the King"). Joseph then interprets the dream as seven plentiful years being followed by seven years of famine ("Pharaoh's Dreams Explained"). Pharaoh, astonished by the interpretation, puts Joseph in charge of carrying out the preparations needed to endure the impending famine, and Joseph becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt ("Stone the Crows").
Back home, though, the brothers are caught in the midst of the famine and express regret at selling Joseph and deceiving their father ("Those Canaan Days"). Hearing that Egypt has food, they decide to go and beg the powers that be there for food, not realizing that it is their own brother that they are asking for help from ("The Brothers Come to Egypt"). Joseph gives them food and sends them on their way, but plants a golden cup into the sack of his brother Benjamin ("Grovel, Grovel"). When the brothers try to leave, Joseph stops them, asking about the "stolen cup." Each brother empties his sack, and it is revealed that Benjamin has the cup. Joseph accuses Benjaim of robbery ("Who's the Thief?"). The other brothers, though, beg for mercy for Benjamin, imploring that Joseph take them as a prisoner and set Benjaim free ("Benjamin Calypso").
Joseph, seeing their unselfishness and pentience, reveals himself ("Joseph All the Time") and sends for his father Jacob. The two are reunited ("Jacob in Egypt") for a happy ending. The show ends with two reprises ("Finale: Any Dream Will Do/Give Me My Colored Coat").
Commentary
The story is completely sung through and there is no spoken dialogue in the entire script. There is no intermission, although many groups do add one in after "Go, Go, Go Joseph." The entire story runs about ninety minutes without an intermission.Although based on the Bible, the story does not come off as religious in any way. God is never mentioned, and the tone is almost always kept up as playful and light.
Musical Numbers
The songs in the show are:- Prologue
- Any Dream Will Do
- Jacob and Sons
- Joseph's Coat
- Joseph's Dreams
- Poor, Poor Joseph
- One More Angel in Heaven
- Potiphar
- Close Every Door
- Go, Go, Go Joseph
- A Pharaoh's Story
- Poor, Poor Pharaoh
- Song of the King (Seven Fat Cows)
- Pharaoh's Dreams Explained
- Stone the Crows
- Those Canaan Days
- The Brothers Come To Egypt / Grovel, Grovel
- Who's the Thief?
- Benjamin Calypso
- Joseph All the Time
- Jacob in Egypt
- Finale: Any Dream Will Do / Give Me My Colored Coat
Recordings
Numerous recordings exist of the final show represented by the song list above. A roughly 30-minute version was released shortly after the success of Jesus Christ Superstar that omits several of the numbers listed above (Prologue, Any Dream Will Do (at the beginning), One More Angel in Heaven, Those Canaan Days, Benjamin Calypso) and rearranges many of the others into the cantata format originally used for the Colet School performances. Because this recorded version is longer than the Colet School performance, it must represent the 1969 version before the show arrived on Broadway.1991 London
This musical was revived in London by Steven Pimlott and two recordings debuted. These two recordings are the ones most likely found on store shelves today. They are entitled “Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of…”At the start of this run, Joseph was played by the then popular music singer and pin-up Jason Donovan [link].
The orchestral credits, cover art, and running time are almost exactly the same, leading one to believe that the various casts recorded their vocals over the same prerecorded orchestral tracks. The difference between these recordings is the singers and the narrator. These productions also includes the "Joseph Remix" (also known as the "Joseph Megamix"), a nine-minute medley of themes arranged with a heavy beat.
1992 Canada
The white cover is the 1992 Canadian revival recording with Donny Osmond in the title role, Joseph, and Janet Metz as the narrator. Donny Osmond was chosen for the 1999 video production.
1993 Los Angeles
The black cover is the 1993 Los Angeles revival recording staring Michael Damian as Joseph and Kelli Rabke the narrator, with Robert Torti as Pharaoh
Video/DVD
It has also been made into video and DVD in 1999, starring Donny Osmond as Joseph, Maria Friedman as Narrator, and Richard Attenborough as Jacob.In popular culture
In The Simpsons episode We're on the Road to D'ohwhere (Episode HABF04) the devoutly Christian Ned Flanders is heard singing the ending of "Coat of Many Colors" when he finds his record of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Marge's yard sale.In the Seinfeld episode "The Wig Master," Cosmo Kramer is seen wearing this coat, which he borrowed from the Broadway production's wig master.
In the Family Guy Episode P-TV, Meg is in a play called God and his super amazing rainbow suspenders.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company has been known to mock the show during their performances, on one occasion suggesting that murdering an audience as they watched a performance of Dreamcoat would be an act of mercy killing.
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