Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
A Review by Lawrence Williams, BFS Upper School Librarian
BFS has been known to put on wonderful shows. It is one of the great attributes of the Performing Arts Department. With the November 2011 production of Joseph by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice, they have outdone themselves.
This is the first production directed by Lorna Jordan at BFS. She and veteran musical director Russell Marsh have done an outstanding job. There is a spirit of joyous fun and mischief that makes the show irresistible. For those of you unfamiliar with the Bible, the play tells the story of young Joseph being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers to the Egyptian Pharoah. He has a gift of prophisizing dreams and this is what frees him from servitude when he interprets Pharoah’s dreams and the rest as they say is history. He becomes second only to Pharoah as the most powerful man in Egypt.
Joseph was played with great dash and flair by Jacob G, who had a fine command of the role. He has great stage presence and sings well. Olabanji S, as Joseph’s father brings warmth and humor to the role. The evil pharoah as played by Dylan M is a hip swinging, lothario who has the girls swooning.
The genius of the show is that it mixes musical genres – calypso,country,rock and roll and broadway musical music. This was Weber and Rice’s first musical and they took big risks. It is a show that is made for fine singing and BFS’s students did not disappoint.
The narrators superbly sung by Julia C, Victoria L and Grace I, were magical.They had some of the finest voices in this great cast. Kevin R as Simeon brought an absurdist style of humor and a devil may care sophistication to the role. Kevin danced with great zest and abandon. As Judah, Amara G has a sweet soaring soprano that greatly moved the audience. Leneil R, easily won plaudits with his over the top performance as Levi and Potiphar. Madelyn V was very entertaining and humorously seductive as Mrs. Potiphar. Her scenes were highlight in a show that had many, many highlights. Bianca L brought energy and verve to her role of Reuben. Kudos must also be given to the ensemble composed of Mimi G, Mia B, Grace G and Valerie M. The entire cast was first rate.
The colorful show was made even more colorful by the costumes designed by Romy S. She was ably assisted by Asia K, Maya K, and Kathryn I.
If you missed this show, you missed a fine evening of entertainment.
Director Lorna Jordan summed it up as "an extraordinary experience. -- I was blown away by what the students did. Their talent, dedication and enthusiasm for the work completely shined through on stage and seeing that made the experience complete.”