Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s retelling of the biblical story of the ‘coat of many colours’, initially a cantata for schools, later expanded into a longer musical, remains a relatively short, simple storytelling piece, with a score which parodies a wide range of popular music genres.

Engadine Musical Society has staged a happy, energetic production.

Joseph is an ideal choice when you want to involve lots of kids as an ensemble, and the kids’ cast I saw (there are two) thoroughly enjoyed themselves, infectiously, as always, for the audience.

In the title role, Andrew Fabris is a boyishly good-looking, personable Joseph, with a terrific voice.

A livelier bunch of onstage reprobates you couldn’t wish for than the eleven brothers Engadine has assembled for Joseph. As a group, they’re just the type of animated, confident young men that it takes to make this show work. All establish individual characters, while generating terrific chemistry as a group.

The choreography seemed to have been kept extremely simple when the brothers were working as a group by themselves, but when the dance-talented female ensemble joined the action, they stepped up to the mark as strong partners, in tight, energetic routines. Choreographer Kirstie Bell marshaled her adult and child forces particularly effectively in a couple of big, whole company numbers too.

Two narrators, Tanya Boyle and Rebecca Gordon, shared a role originally designed for one performer. Both performed well in their own right, and harmonized effectively, but the choice to divide the role often split the focus of the narration.

Cameo roles, all sung, perhaps call for more performers with vocal assurance and projection than most companies can muster. These smaller roles were delivered with varied degrees of confidence, with the strongest very impressive, while, as is often the case in community theatre, they provided a great testing ground and experience for promising young performers.

A single set is the only way to go for the Sutherland stage, and three structures comprised of stairs and platforms, work well, providing effective levels throughout.

A handful of just-too-lengthy blackouts between some numbers slowed the pace at times. Either some sort of musical interludes, or a staging solution which eliminated the blackouts, seemed necessary.

Initially I wondered if the show’s much-anticipated mega–mix finale was going to work. It seemed a little subdued as it began, with mostly male ensemble and non-dancing principals.  As had been the case elsewhere in the evening though, the injection of the dancing talents of the female ensemble lifted the energy, ensuring a bright lively end to proceedings.

A bright, family friendly show, for performers and audiences of all ages.

Neil Litchfield