By Unsie Zuege
Maybe it was the musical, maybe it was the company I was in, maybe it was because it was opening night, but seeing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last Friday night felt exuberant, celebratory, and excuse the comparison, like being at a baseball game on a really great night when the hometeam is winning and the crowd, buoyed by the team’s energy, becomes as much a part of the game as the action on the field.
Well, whatever it was, it worked for me.
To be honest, I’ve never been a Joseph groupie. I never saw it or heard the music until Chanhassen Dinner Theatres brought it to the main stage nearly a year and a half ago. After seeing it, I decided I liked it. It had the polish, wit, and talent that CDT is known for. Unfamiliar with the show, I loved the all the anachronistic touches sprinkled throughout. Having grown up on Rocky and Bullwinkle’s Fractured Fairy Tales, I loved how the creators turned a rather nasty story of fratricide, well-suited for cable TV’s Forensic Files into a goofy comic tale about mercy and forgiveness. And that Technicolor dreamcoat at the end was terrific eye candy as was Brendan Bujold as Joseph. And, who can resist the Pharaoh re-imagined as The King, Elvis, thank you very much?
Still, I just didn’t get why so many people LOVE this show.
And then came last Friday night. Frankly, I was lukewarm on seeing the show again. Maybe it would help if I saw the show with some friends who love it and the music. At least they would have a good time, and maybe I’d catch some of their enthusiasm. And selfishly, I thought I’d be able to harvest some of their feedback for a review of the show. Even more selfishly, I love this group of women and a night out with them would be a treat.
Joseph, a go go
Earlier in the week, I’d spoken to Kris Howland, director of public relations at CDT. Howland said that part of the discussion CDT had about bringing back Joseph so soon after its Fall 2007-08 run was that its feel-good message was something that audiences are looking for now. In a world of pink slips, unpaid furloughs, shrinking investments and record foreclosures, people are seeking ways to feel good and to have some fun.
Her comments came back to me as I watched the show with my friends, and the rest of the audience. I felt the mood of the room rise as the musical progressed. At different points in the show, my friends were hooting and hollering, singing along to the songs, and pointing out details like the cowboy chaps on one of Joseph’s brothers during the country-tinged “One More Angel in Heaven.” At a certain point in the show, I realized that not only were my friends enjoying the show, they were part of the show.
Seated in the director’s box, up above the audience, I saw that the rest of the house was reacting in the same way. And, for me, it felt like I was seeing a whole different show this time.
My friend Lisa saw the touring Broadway production with Donny Osmond and has seen church and community theater productions over the years. What she noticed about CDT’s show was how snappy and seamless the show moved from scene to scene, from one musical genre to another, from number to number.
Afterwards, I mentioned this to Howland. Seems Lisa’s instincts were on the money.  
While the show is exactly as it was a year and a half ago, Artistic Director Michael Brindisi gave the show a few tweaks including upping the tempo slightly. What a difference. It propels the story, the comic effects, and music to a different energy level. And during these economic and political times, it’s the emotional escape that I crave right now, and from the reaction of the audience I observed, one that others want, too.
The original cast is back including Brendan Bujold as the endearing and so loveable you want to kill him ‘Joseph’, Jody Carmeli as the ‘Narrator’ and Keith Rice as the bombastic show stopping ‘Pharoah’.
Now if you asked me about “Joseph?” Yeah. You could say I LOVE it.
The cast also includes two local children, Ryan Hoffa of Chanhassen and Abe Stauber of Chaska, who share the role of ‘The Boy’. As before, this production of Joseph has a lottery before each show, drawing the names of a boy and a girl between the ages of 8-12 to join the cast on stage.

   Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  Created by: Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by: Michael Brindisi
  Where: At the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres
When: Currently playing through September 23, 2009
How: For details and reservations, call box office at (952) 934-1525 or go online at www.ChanhassenDT.com.
  Summer specials:
* Kids-in-Free: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Buy one full-priced adult ticket, get one kid’s (age 5-16) free.
* Kids-on-Stage: two children (ages 8-12) are chosen from every audience to appear onstage.
* Feast or Famine Food Drive: monetary donations collected after each show to benefit Second Harvest.