“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is all sorts of fun at the Utah Shakespeare Festival
By Brian Passey
If you’re a fan of the beloved musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” you’ll probably enjoy the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s current production in Cedar City.
But you might not love it. It’s a faithful, well-performed take on the musical by the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber dream team. It’s fun, flamboyant, and family friendly.
It’s also short, clocking in at only one hour and 15 minutes — so it might be a good way to recover from the four hours and 25 minutes of “The Conclusion of Henry VI, Parts Two and Three” if you happen to catch them during the same USF visit.
What it’s missing is spectacle. The intimate nature of the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Randall L. Jones Theatre is part of the magic behind its wonderful productions of Elizabethan theater and contemporary plays like “Art” or “Noises Off!” It’s just not the best fit for musical theater spectacular like “Joseph.” It should be a big production, and big is not part of the USF brand. And that’s OK.
Given those limitations, director Brad Carroll and his talented cast and crew make the best of it, delivering a solid and ultimately satisfying production.
At the center of it all is Aaron Young as the superbly cast Joseph. His wide-eyed wonder is immediately endearing, and he nails every nuance of the role. And every so often, he makes an expression reminiscent of a certain smiley superstar who played the same role more than 2,000 times. Is it intentional? It’s difficult to tell, which is why it’s so enjoyable.
Yet Young’s goofiness in the role belies the gravitas he carries inside and eventually reveals in the show-stopping “Close Every Door.”
Don’t count out his brothers, though. They are a stellar ensemble and play off each other well. Alex Allred as Reuben is a particular standout as he delivers “Those Canaan Days” with perfect timing and a delectable accent.
Michael A. Harding shows up in a couple of spots as both Jacob and Potiphar. But it’s the latter role that becomes the most memorable as Harding plays it for full-tilt hilarity. Speaking of which, Russ Benton as Pharaoh is all sorts of fun as he cavorts around the retro Vegas-style set. The humor is often enhanced throughout by Christine Kellogg’s excellent choreography.
While the scenic design is also limited by the somewhat intimate venue, Jason Lajka again makes the best of those limitations with his gorgeous stained-glass window motif and the colorfully corny Egypt/Vegas venue. And a number of the props come prepped for laughs with everything from a goat to a hookah. The singing camel is classic, of course.
So while it may not be the most “spectacular” production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that you’ll ever see, it’s definitely not one that will disappoint either. Young, Allred, and Harding are particularly good and deliver Broadway-level performances. Plus, it’s a welcome break from a fairly heavy season at the festival with two Shakespeare tragedies and an epic history from the Bard. It’s nice to have a little fun with “Joseph,” “Twelfth Night,” and “The Book of Will” in the midst of the lust for blood and power in the others.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” continues through Oct. 12 in the Randall L. Jones Theatre at Southern Utah University’s Beverley Center for the Arts in Cedar City. Tickets are $32–$77. Visit bard.org or call (800) 752-9849.
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