Have you ever wanted to rewind a show you are watching because of how good it is?
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical adaptation of the well-known Bible story Joseph, most beloved of Jacob’s sons, who is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous of Jacob’s gift to Joseph–a resplendent coat of many colors–the brothers seize him and sell him to a party of Ishmaelites, or Midianites, who carry him to Egypt.
The play had the crowd cheering and chuckling throughout the production.
“This play brought a magical experience to the theatre. It was a new and innovative approach by imposing several music pieces to keep the story going,” Gabriel Álvarez, sophomore, said.
The onstage orchestra brought life to the play. Just like the audience, the musicians seemed to enjoy the interactive combination of the music and the acting. Heads turned as actors came from different directions while holding their notes and maneuvering through the audience to the stage.
“All the shows I’ve been in were amazing in their own way, but this one really touched me because it is different playing onstage with musicians and having the actors onstage. We are usually separate entities, and today we collaborated, and it was really good. We need to do more collaborations like this,” Ryon Johnson, senior and French horn player, said.
TJ Baker, senior, played Joseph and started the show on roller skates. One would have not believed that Baker only started learning to skate a couple of weeks prior to opening night. With the help of a friend, Baker had the skating down, and the acting came flawlessly.
“This was a lot of fun. This is my favorite musical in the world, and getting to do this as my last show as a student here was rad,” Baker exclaimed.
Aryahna Tryee, junior and resident choreographer, really had their work cut out for them. With having to act in multiple roles in the play Tyree had to make sure that people had their dance moves right. They had around four weeks to work on everything, but they finished choreographing everything a week before the show opened, and the last week of rehearsals there was a lot of cramming and hustling.
“I just feel so proud of everyone. I really can’t express how proud I am of everyone. It’s so fun working with everyone. I’m sad that this is the last one of the year. There are really amazing seniors in the show, but I’m just really proud of everyone,” Tyree said.
So many enjoyed being in the play. Gage Shelton, junior, said that it was a ton of fun with a lot of movement and singing. He added that it was everything that makes theatre magical.
The Iron Blade’s very own Dave Campbell, advisor, tore up the stage. When you thought he was just a great professor and musician he showed the audience that has the voice, the dance moves, and, you know, just the occasional acting skills in his back pocket. Campbell played the role of Pharaoh with other minor roles.
“Its really been cool, and the thing that’s nice is that we have so many talented people here on this campus for being such a small school. We are overflowing with talent. And being able to work with people (Director) like Emily Blankenship-Tucker and (Stage Manager) Rebecca Crocker who are just a consummate professionals is really an honor,” Campbell articulated.
Baker said that this was one of the easier plays they had performed in which they thoroughly enjoyed. This won’t be the last we see of Baker before they graduate. They want people to come out and watch their senior project that will be April 26-28. It is titled, “A Play of Changes To Whom it May Concern”, and it’s an historical look at John Cage.
“A musical is a lot. This one was a little easier than most because it is only songs. If we had to learn dialogue and songs that’s a lot. It is like learning a straight play except you’re singing everything, which actually makes it easier to learn the words,” Baker said.
