Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

| Synopsis |

Glenn appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium theatre. He performed the role of Asher; he was also the understudy for the part of Joseph, and played that role in 1993. Music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics are by Tim Rice. It was directed by Steven Pimlott. The story is based on the Old Testament (Genesis:37,39-46).

In 1968, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice had been commissioned to create an original musical piece for the Colet Court School in London. The result was the early version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; it was fifteen minutes long. Over the years the musical was expanded, and it has been performed to sold-out houses on Broadway, the West End, and on tour. It opened at the London Palladium on June 12, 1991.

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Any Dream Will Do.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a colourful, bouncing, light-hearted pop extravaganza; it is punctuated with lively choreography and contagious melodies and lyrics that implant themselves in the minds of the audience. As Act One opens, the story is told by a Narrator, speaking to a group of children. Characters in colourful costumes come to life to act out the story. In the tale, Jacob is the patriarch of a large family that includes twelve sons. Joseph is his favourite son, and Archer and the other sons are jealous of him. Joseph inspires envy because his father lavishes him with attention, and has given him a gorgeous coat of many colours. Joseph is also a dreamer and gifted interpreter of dreams. He further invokes fear and ire among his brothers by recounting a dream about sheaves of wheat ("Joseph's Dream"), which he interprets as a premonition that he will rule over his brothers and they will bow down in homage to him. In a scene portrayed as comedy rather than drama, the naughty brothers carry out a scheme to get rid of their irksome sibling, "this dreamer has to go." They first try to drown him in a well, but have a change of heart and spare his life; they sell him into slavery instead. They smear his coat of many colours with the blood of a goat, take it back to their father, and tell him that it is Joseph's blood. It is apparently proof that his most beloved son is dead; they sing "One More Angel in Heaven."

In the meantime, Joseph has been taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, a steward to the Pharaoh. Potiphar's wife tries to seduce the handsome, young Joseph, but he repulses her advances. The "woman scorned" wreaks revenge upon him; her husband assumes that Joseph is the guilty party in the attempted seduction, and throws him into prison. In his cell, Joseph sings a touching song about his loneliness and abandonment, "Close Every Door." He receives spirited and energetic encouragement from other prisoners in "Go, Go, Go Joseph"; he advances his reputation as an interpreter of dreams by analysing the dreams of two of the Pharaoh's servants. In Act Two, the Pharaoh is tormented by his disturbing dreams. His servants call Joseph to interpret them. Joseph sagely recognizes that the dreams foretell seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. He becomes a favoured member of the court, and oversees the storage and rationing of grain to guide Egypt through the famine.

Back at Jacob's camp, the brothers are suffering from hunger. They are nostalgic for their happier days with Joseph, dancing and singing "Those Canaan Days." They travel to Egypt and plead for food to Joseph ("Grovel, Grovel"); but they do not recognize this official of the Pharaoh as their long lost brother. Joseph feeds them. In order to test and torment his brothers (for whom he still feels nagging resentment because of the attempted fratricide), Joseph hides a valuable golden cup in the luggage of his younger brother, Benjamin. He then accuses the brothers of theft, and threatens Benjamin with dire punishment. The brothers redeem themselves in Joseph's eyes by singing the engaging "Benjamin Calypso" and offering to sacrifice themselves in place of Benjamin. Joseph is reconciled with his brothers and reunited with his ailing father. Joseph, the brothers, the Narrator, Jacob, the Children, and Ensemble bring the audience to their feet by closing with the rousing "Any Dream Will Do."

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