HILLS MUSICAL THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT

Joseph and Technicolour DreamAfter seeing JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT last night, I have a dream that I won’t need Joseph to interpret.  My dream is that every table in the auditorium is filled for the next outing of this Hills Musical Theatre Company show.  As a believer in the theological concept of free will, I’m going to follow Joseph in making my dream come true by giving you a bread-basket load of reasons why you and your family should attend this wonderful night out.

Firstly, it’s a classic.  As I was waiting in the bitter cold for my friend to arrive I heard a patron add to his Box Office greetings, “You never get sick of Joseph!”  This is so true.  The show, Andrew Lloyd Webber music and Tim Rice lyrics, did have a troubled start though.  Beginning life as a 15 minute ‘pop cantata’ school performance in 1968, it had many incarnations, rewrites and false starts.

It assumed its classic status on the tailcoats of the Webber and Rice phenomenon Jesus Christ Superstar, sometimes with the implication that it was the follow-up effort.  When the show hit Broadway in 1982 to great success and Tony Awards including Best Musical, the staying power of the show in its current form was ensured.  But with those roots in school and college performances, it is a perfect fit for a family community theatre like Hills MTC.

Read the bios in the program and one can see the great wealth of experience on the stage in this large company.  Combine that with an injection of youth in this production and you have a show for all ages.  It begins with a huge bunch of young people crowding the stage and waiting patiently for the storyteller to appear.  When Kat Shaw as the Narrator sparkles into view and begins the Prologue, you know you are in for a treat.  

This Narrator is warm and enveloping and what a voice!  I could have simply enjoyed her in concert.  With superb orchestration by Musical Director Susan Brown (flawless downstrokes even with a violin under one arm!), initially Shaw stays to the earthy, breathy, lower parts of her register to give that depth and warmth to character.  But when her confidence is up and her lovely face lifts out of the open book she is carrying,  her remarkable singing soars to those clear and perfect E’s and F’s.  It’s marvellous.  So good in fact, that I could finish my list of reasons here.  But, as they say, there is more.

Jordan Anderson has quite a task.  As Joseph he needs to navigate the story arc with an emotional understanding, a hoofer’s skill and a solid tenor, while being in almost every scene.  Anderson is well up to the role.  After a slightly nervous start, perhaps not helped by somewhat static direction early on, he blossoms in both voice and acting.  He successfully shows the naïve boy becoming a powerful man and carries the show with a strong personality which pulls the audience towards him.  

This is especially on show in Close Every Door.  Here, first time director Jody Hooker has made the terrific choice to trust Anderson’s charisma and audience engagement by leaving him alone centre stage.  His recits are very good and held within his range until he perfectly nails that difficult final note.  There is a slightly awed silence before the applause breaks out.

The audience is obviously having a great time.  There are cheese boards and bottles of red wine and a little fella next to me who knows all the lines.  It’s just a fun place to be.  And the cast onstage are having fun too.  Wisely, Hooker allows that to show without allowing it to slip into sloppy self-referential work.  There is such a charm and enjoyment in watching performers love what they do.

Starting with Joseph’s Brothers, let me pass on some of the fun things that appealed to me.  Those boys know how to have a good time!  Seeing that many men enjoying themselves in the act of creation is well worth the admission price alone.  Their happy faces are matched by the both young and older chorus members who have obviously worked hard on their dance routines and songs and are infectiously enthusiastic and excitable.  The Choreography, also by Jody Hooker, is splendidly created for a mixed ability cast and so much fun.  The hoedown of One More Angel in Heaven perfectly matches the comic with the country.  Again the Musical Direction value-adds here with xylophone and glockenspiel to enhance the toe tapping.  

Jeremy Barons as Zebulun is fantastic in this scene and shows evidence of being a young man to watch. There are several other standout performances in a fun ensemble which is quite disciplined despite proud mums waving from the audience and little brothers yelling out the punchlines.  Carl Oberg as the Elvis Pharaoh is given full rein for silliness and Jonathan Barons can’t seem to help himself.  He’s hilarious whenever he appears.  There are lots of throwaway lines, cute moments (I loved the girls fighting over Joseph) and even a reprise of the hysterical cow conga.  And I felt very, very sorry for the “very last sheep”.  

“Pull back the curtain” for a moment to mention a lighting plot that was well constructed despite limited ability to throw light from the front; an excellent audio mix … you can be very proud of that in such a echoey space; costumes created by the cast with a desert feel and matching shoes no less; and a set that worked well to set a place yet give room to move.

“So let me return to the beginning” of my dream.  Hills Musical Theatre Company has created a truly enjoyable production of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT.  It is playing at the auditorium of Model Farms High School, Gooden Drive, Baulkham Hills.  It’s only on next Friday 3rd and 4th June and I highly recommend it for a terrific family night out.