Go, Go, Go Joseph!

Ken and I attended last night's performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Greensboro Coliseum. While I had never seen the show before, I quickly realized I was familiar with some of the music. (Courtesy of several Andrew Lloyd Webber compilation CDs.)

The big musical numbers were wonderful with their crashes of drums and flashes of light. The cast was full of cowboy and cheerleading energy. The show closed with the Joseph Megamix, a rock/disco medley of most of the major numbers. (I believe this number inspired Jamie to dance-up his curtain calls.) I was highly impressed with the music and choreography. The actual story....well, not so much.

I'm no Bible scholar, so on the way home Ken and I discussed what I thought were flaws in the story:

1.) Preferential treatment by Jacob - I mean, who among us can really blame the brothers for their jealousy? It's easy to understand how sibling rivalry could get out of hand, especially since Joseph was the only one to get the "coat of many colors". Jacob could just as easily made 12 coats, each in a different color. (By the way, the word "technicolor" is never uttered in the show.)
2.) Joseph mouths off - Dreams about "my star being bigger than yours" and "you will bow before me". Hello? The brothers roughing Joseph up and throwing him into the pit, totally understandable. (Selling Joseph into slavery, not so much. Claiming Joseph is dead and celebrating, ok, a little extreme.)
3.) The Golden Cup - When Joseph jumps off the throne and secretly places his golden cup in Benjamin's sack, I thought Joseph was making sure his brothers are well taken care of; after the food runs out they could sell the golden cup for more food. Imagine my surprise when Joseph jumps off the throne a second time to accuse someone of stealing his cup! He searches each bag, knowing full well where he placed the cup. Was this really a test for the brothers to display their unselfishness and penitence? Or was it revenge?

We enjoyed the energetic performance and Ken and I had a fun time discussing the show's ambiguous message. And I'm not embarrassed to admit to dancing around my kitchen this morning pretending my (pink) robe was a (techicolor) dreamcoat.