[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: JOSEPH (BECK)/BLAST(PALACE)/STARLIGHT EXPRESS(STATE)

[Roy Berko]

‘JOSEPH’ AT BECK, BLAST AT THE PALACE , STARLIGHT
EXPRESS AT THE STATE

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


‘JOSEPH’ PLEASES THE AUDIENCE AT BECK

Way, way back, many years ago, Beck Center did a
production of ‘JOSEPH AND HIS AMAZING TECHNICOLOR
DREAMCOAT’ starring Rob Gibb.  The production was one
of the script’s first amateur mountings.   It was
outstanding.  Since then I’ve seen many, many
productions of the show, and the Gibb as Joseph
version is still one of the very best.

If you have been in lunar orbit and haven’t seen or
heard about the musical, it is a light version of the
biblical story of Jacob and his sons "many centuries
ago." Joseph, Jacob’s favorite, is sold into slavery
by his jealous brothers, becomes the pride-and-joy of
the Pharaoh, and is reunited with his brothers when
they come to Egypt during a famine.  It is filled with
all sorts of musical treats ranging from western to
calypso, to laments, to ballads and includes such
great songs as "Any Dream Will Do," "Poor, Poor
Joseph," "Close Every Door," and "Go Go Joseph."

The script for ‘Joseph’ has an unusual history.  It
was originally conceived by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd
Webber to be a short school skit.  Eventually it grew
into a series of songs that were sung as a concert. 
It was never intended to be a staged musical.  In
fact, there is no actual script, just a series of
songs.  There are no spoken lines and the authors have
given no directions for its staging.  Because of this,
every staging of the play has a personality all its
own.   

About every five years Beck Center, knowing that the
show will draw new and return audiences stages
‘JOSEPH.’   The last two productions have been
directed by Kevin Joseph Kelly.    Beck’s present
production, lacks some of the interpretative
creativity found in other stagings.    Kelly’s concept
for the show centers on a school group’s tour of a
museum in which a tableau of the Joseph story comes to
life.  It was a clever way of incorporating lots of
young children into the cast.  Unfortunately, the
words sung by the narrator at the start of the show
don’t really parallel to this interpretation.  The
same problem appears almost throughout the show.  
Kelly doesn’t always pay careful attention to studying
song lyrics.   For instance, in one segment there are
lyrics which relate that when the Pharaoh told a joke
the listeners chortled for days.  There is no one on
stage to mime this concept.   This seems like a minor
issue, but over and over McLaughlin missed
opportunities for delightful reactions.  Creative
staging of Joseph’s trek to Israel, getting auctioned
off, and even Jacob buying Joseph’s magnificent coat
are all overlooked.    Kelly also never gets us back
into the museum concept at the end.  

Does this mean this is a bad show?  No.  The audience
reaction was extremely positive.   And Kelley had a
secret weapon going for him in the person of Martin
Cespedes, the choreographer.  Cespedes’ work was
wonderful.  He created a coherent ensemble out of a
cast ranging from those aged 5 on up.   Many of the
cast were obviously not dancers, but under Cespedes’
creative touch, they moved with youthful enthusiasm
and carried it off well.  Using hand movements and
repetitive dance steps, Cespedes was able to create
what looked like complicated variations to fit the
mood of each change in musical style.   Very
impressive!!!

The cast was good.  Sandra Emerick as the narrator
displayed a big voice.  Pierre-Jacques Brault, though
he lacked the youthful boyishness of Joseph, has
strong stage presence and a good singing voice.  When
Max Kantor as the Young Joseph opened his mouth to
sing, many were surprised by the youth’s fine deep and
resonant voice.  Curtis L. Young did a wonderful Elvis
interpretation, though he really milked the encore to
"Song of the King."  The brothers varied in their
abilities.  Outstanding was Sean Szaller, who belted
out a mean version of "Benjamin Calypso." 

Don’t get up to leave when you think the show is over
and the curtain call starts.  The strongest part of
the production, besides the choreography was in the
"Super Finale." The audience was on its feet clapping
and dancing.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Beck Center’s ‘JOSEPH’ will
delight audiences of all ages.  This is a chance to
take young kids to see a wholesome show filled with
wonderful singing and dancing.  By the way, when THE
LION KING was in town I had my grandsons, Alex (8) and
Noah (6 1/2) review it.   The reactions were so
positive that they will be doing a review of ‘JOSEPH’
later this month. 

‘JOSEPH’ runs through January 4 at the Beck Center for
the Arts.  For tickets, call 216-521-2540 or go on
line to www.beckcenter.org. 

‘BLAST’ A TOTAL BLAST AT PALACE

Recently, the streets around the Palace Theatre were
lined with so many school buses that the area looked
liked a large school parking lot.  What the band
members of all those schools came to see was the
revisit of the musical extravaganza ‘BLAST,’ the
winner of the 2001 Tony Award for "Best Special
Theatrical Event." 

There is no way to capsulize the show other than to
say it is an exciting, fascinating, involving,
delightful, polished, creative, masterful, compelling,
dynamic, encompassing celebration of movement and
music.  It features a cast of 42 males and females,
ranging in age from 18 to 31, who have college degrees
in music, dance and/or theatre.  They have been in
marching bands, drum corps, and winter guards.  They
can all dance and play instruments with precision. 
There are 61 brass instruments, 25 didgerydoos, and
234 percussion instruments played during the
production.  Flags, swords, rifles, and glow sticks
flash and slash across the stage with creative
accuracy.

The audience started clapping, screaming and yelling
at the sound of the solo drum at the rise of the
curtain, continued through the ad lib drum show by
four cast members in the lobby at intermission, and
stopped only when the lights came up following the
final act.  

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: If you missed ‘BLAST’ in its recent
visit, you missed a major entertainment event.  If the
show ever comes back to the area, march right down and
see it.  You won’t be sorry!

‘STARLIGHT EXPRESS’ FALLS OFF ITS TRACK AT THE STATE

As I approached a friend at intermission of ‘STARLIGHT
EXPRESS’ he said, "So what’s  the big deal?"   His
wife said, "I really don’t like this." Their comments
seemed to be echoing all around the lobby.  The flow
toward the exit doors was considerable.  Okay, I
thought, it will get better in the second act.  Nope!

The local reaction to ‘STARLIGHT EXPRESS’ isn’t
universal.   Second only to ‘CATS’ as the longest
running musical in British theatre history, the London
production of the show ran over 6000 performances. The
Broadway production ran for 761 performances.  Part of
the attraction to the show was its sheer marvel.  In
London, a theatre was totally redone to accommodate
the show.  The hi-tech spectacle on roller skates
featured a 5.5 ton steel suspension bridge and a
gigantic set constructed of 6 miles of timber, 2.5
acres of sheetwood and 60 tons of steel.  The cast
encircled the stage and the audience as they skated
and raced.  The show cost 2.25 million British pounds
when originally mounted in London.  This was not the
set or the show seen in Cleveland.  

The spectacular flying leaps and gravity game
excitement was not present on the State theatre’s
single center stage ramp.  Substituted were a series
of films in which the audience was instructed to wear
their safety goggles.  In reality, they were 3-D
glasses handed out with the programs.  The first race
scene might have been fun with this gimmick.  By the
time we got to the third viewing, it was a tired
gimmick.

Because of the set and the small stage size, the
spectacular effect of dancing and moving quickly on
skates was lost.  Not lost was the use of smoke,
pyrotechnics, laser lights, the over 1400 colored
lights, and a few very spectacular high-flying skating
flips.

‘STARLIGHT EXPRESS’ was originally conceived by Andrew
Lloyd Webber in 1973 as an animated television series
loosely based on the children’s story "The Little
Engine That Could."   The story revolves around a
battered steam engine named Rusty who is encouraged to
race a flashy diesel locomotive.  In the story the
little engine wins against all odds and encourages
children to set high goals, no matter their perceived
weakness and be to steady to the task.  

The present production was supposedly a "new" version
with additional songs by Webber and Tony Award winner
John Napier, his new lyricist.   The additional songs
added little.  The score itself lacks any great music,
though there is good variety.  Rock, do-wop, ballads,
blues, rap, country, and gospel are all present.  The
strong song is the theme music, "Starlight Sequence,"
commonly called "Only You."

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: ‘STARLIGHT EXPRESS’ is a
disappointing part of the McDonald Financial Group’s
Broadway Series at Playhouse Square Center.  The
highlight of the series is yet to come.  Looking
forward to the wonderful ‘URINETOWN.’

For tickets to any production in the Broadway series
call 216-241-6000, 1-800-766-6048, go to the tickets
outlet at Tops Friendly Markets or go on-line to
www.playhousesquare.com.


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