Playcrafters presents ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year is one of the most engaging family musicals of all time: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Set on a backdrop depicting the Egyptian desert, the two-act musical masterpiece of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice brings to life the Biblical story in Genesis of Joseph and his father Jacob along with his brothers. The enduring show has been produced over 20,000 times and has gone through a number of transformations over the years beginning as a 20-minute pop cantata before becoming a mega-hit around the globe, including a Broadway run in 1982 where it swept the Tonys and a film starring Donny Osmond in 1999.

The splashy performance is narrated in song by Lindsay Kulp, and the entire show is a vocalized portrait of favored son Joseph (played by Schyler Marsh), who is hated by his 11 brothers (played by Joshua Calderone, Nicholas Gahman,Sean Collins, Chris Donahue, Joseph Billetta, Jeffrey Frost, Roie Gat, Max Gorman, Theo Koederitz, Mark Urmson, and Clark Van Hekken) when they become jealous of the gift his father Jacob (played by Joe Welsh) gives him — a fancy coat of many colors. They make plans to do away with him and he ends up sold into slavery.

In Egypt, Joseph becomes the slave of an Egyptian millionaire named Potiphar (played by Ken Uller). He has an encounter with the millionaire’s flirtatious wife (played by Rachel Sweeney) and is later thrown in jail. His jail mates are the Baker (played by Nancy Kadwill-Brand) and the Butler (played by Judy Winship), both are former servants of the Pharaoh.

Joseph is gifted with the ability to interpret dreams and becomes a trusted asset to the Pharaoh (played by Joshua Calderon). When a famine hits his homeland, his starving brothers trek to Egypt and plead for mercy where they find Joseph, now a prince and they don’t recognize him as the brother they betrayed.

In the end, Joseph does something wonderful and things end on a celebratory note.

“The performance is about two hours with intermission. A live orchestra is on stage,” said co-producer Cathy Carroll. “The music is great,” said Cathy.

The ensemble is: Laura Cohn, Amanda Deo, Liz Eliff, Florence Wydra-Gat, Lucy Fletcher, Nancy Kadwill-Brand, Rachel Sweeney, and Judy Winship.

If you love musicals, this rousing and visually dynamic presentation is sure to please.