Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently my daughter Emily and I were able to go and see a local production of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (JATATD).  I have seen a Broadway ( Toronto) production of Joseph before and it was absolutely fantastic!  We were fortunate enough to see the production starring Donny Osmond as Joseph and Deborah Gibson as the Narrator. (I was a huge Debbie Gibson fan in my, ahem, younger days)  Anyone who is a fan of JATATD can tell you that to follow in Donny’s shoes you had better be good.   I was really looking forward to seeing if his wonderful stage presence and powerful voice could be duplicated in this rendition.  I was not disappointed.

Just to backtrack a bit, this local production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, with lyrics by Tim Rice, has been viewed in my home in the movie version many times.  Both of my kids, the ten year old and the four year old, have sung and danced to “Go Go Joseph” more times then I can count and I have to admit my toes tap a bit to.   It is a feel good show based on a biblical parable with strong messages open to your own interpretation.  Some like it and some don’t, but you can not help clapping and singing along with the abundance of performers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

This performance was presented by the Brampton Music Theatre (BMT) to celebrate their 50th Anniversay, at The Rose Theatre in Brampton, Ontario (my hometown)   They could not have picked a better show.  The cast included a whopping 52 adults and 20 children, all singing, dancing and entertaining us non-stop.  The BMT infused just enough “Canadiana” to keep us laughing ( loved when the hockey sticks came out for a quick game amongst the brothers ) and knew when to curtail it ( not once did I hear “eh?” uttered).  The show was played in its entirety ( with a short intermission it was just about two hours)  with several interludes covered by the talented orchestra.  Many times I had to remind not only Emily, but myself as well, to not sing out loud.

 

 

 

 

 

The cast of Joseph was comprised of artists new to Brampton Music Theatre and many veterans.  The great thing about BMT is that it is open to anyone who cares to try out.  You do not have to be the next Nathan Lane or Bernadette Peters to audition for a Brampton Music Theatre production.  They have a Youth Troupe as well which preforms several times a year.  I could honestly not find fault with any of the actors in this show.  Now granted I am not a professional theatre critic, but I do enjoy Broadway shows, musicals in particular and I would definitely go see this one again.

The lead role of Joseph was played by Roger Feng and from what I can ascertain, JATATD was not his first time preforming with BMT.  Although a program is handed out at all the shows, unlike traditional programs these do not include a synopsis of the actor’s career.  Perhaps this is because they are technically amateurs and thus not unionized paid actors.  I am not sure.  Regardless, I see many programs in Roger’s future and they will be filled with his accomplishments.  This man has quite the vocal range and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

The Narrator was played by Lumena Daniel.  I could find little on Lumena ( those darn programs!), but feel confident in stating she is extremely talented vocally.  You know when you hear a voice and immediately get chills or a lump in your throat?  That is what happened to me when I listened to Lumena open the show.  She was just lovely.  These two lead actors worked very well together on stage and I hope to see more of them in the future.

The rest of the cast was just as talented and the entire production was a true pleasure to witness.  From the lighting and stage crew, the choreographers and costume designers to the sweet children who preformed through out the show, we were treated to a production worthy of any Broadway stage.  There was one young man, who I daresay was no older than seven years, that stole the show more then once!  He would dance along with the other children, but always to the beat of his own drummer.  He was priceless to watch.   I wish I could urge you to go out and purchase tickets to see JATATD preformed by the Brampton Music Theatre, but alas it only ran for a short three days.  Remember, as talented as these folks are this is not their day job.  However, if I have sparked your interest you can always become a patron of BMT or The Rose Theatre and see a future production.  For all my Disney loving friends their Youth Troupe will be putting on “Little Mermaid Jr.” this coming May!  Check out the links for more information.

I would love to hear about any production you have seen at The Rose Theatre or put on by Brampton Music Theatre and see what you thought of it.  There is definitely going to be more shows in my future.

FT&PD

Suz