[NEohioPAL] Review of "Joseph..." at Beck Center

[Bob Abelman]

For holidays, Beck Center gives dazzling, joyful 'Joseph' 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald on 12/10/10

 

The Beck Center for the Arts adds to its reputation for offering crowd-pleasing musical theatre with its current main stage production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  

 

Joseph was written in the late-1960s by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who were in their early-20s at the time.  Their youth and abundant inexperience are evident in every facet of this play, which is a plus.

 

Inexperienced at creating clever plots or developing intriguing storylines, Webber and Rice borrowed from the Old Testament.  Joseph is a non-religious rip-off of the Book of Genesis story of Jacob and his twelve sons, where favorite son Joseph is abruptly separated from his family, everyone encounters an assortment of trials and tribulations, and everyone is once again united. 

 

Still working on finding a distinctive musical voice to call their own, Webber and Rice fail to provide one for Joseph.  Rather, the play offers a variety of well established and highly recognizable styles including pop, country western, burlesque, reggae and Broadway razzle dazzle.

 

Not yet confident at creating dialogue, Webber and Rice don't write any.  

 

Joseph is more of a musical procession than a play-a veritable parade of one song and dance number following another, each loosely tied to and helping progress a simple and familiar story. 

 

Yet, this is one of the most produced musicals in history.  The reason can be found in the one ingredient that is clearly the best byproduct of young Webber and Rice's immaturity as artists:  unadulterated playfulness.

  

Every song, save for the occasional ballet, is full of exuberance and the ballets are full of passion.  The music is wonderfully up-beat and contains the kinds of catchy riffs you can't get out of your head for days (perhaps because some have been recycled in their popular Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita).  The lyrics are mischievous and very witty, full of forced rhymes that are groan-worthy and wordplay so clever that it catches you off guard.

 

The entire play is infused with a spirit-a persistent playfulness-that exudes from every character, permeates every on-stage antic, and is absolutely contagious.

 

What makes the Beck Center production particularly noteworthy is that it is in the hands of a creative team of man-children.  Director Scott Spence, choreographer Martín Céspedes and music director Larry Goodpaster have not only not outgrown their inner children; they have kept them well fed and eager to please.  

 

The little fellas come out to play in this production.   

 

Spence's direction is geared toward having fun and keeping the pace of this production fast and furious.  Céspedes dance movement is always playful and interesting, but he has a field day with what Webber and Rice have to offer.  He pulls out all the stops to create the perfect moving pictures that not only complement the songs, but enrich them.  The sound coming from Goodpaster and his wonderful orchestra is rich and thoroughly joyful.  

 

All of this is performed on Trad A. Burns' nicely appointed dessert-motif set, kept sparse to accommodate the play's huge cast, which includes an adorable and extremely disciplined children's choir.  The stage is saturated with LCD lighting that adds incredible brightness, color and dimension to Burns' set pieces.  Add Alison Garrigan's clever costuming and the overall visual effect is dazzling.

 

Needing no artificial incandescence is Tricia Tanguy as the play's omnipresent narrator and Conner O'Brien as Joseph.  They radiate from their own power supply, which also generates beautiful, pitch-perfect voices and passionate performances that carry this production.  It is little wonder that national tours of Joseph pad their productions with famous and accomplished performers in these roles.  No reinforcements are required here.

 

Tanguy and O'Brien are surrounded by an exceptionally talented and professional ensemble that has completely bought into the joyfulness that Spence requests from them.  Particularly striking are Alexander Arroyo, who plays Zebulon and serves as the dance captain/featured dancer for the men, and Holly Harris, who plays one of the wives and is the dance captain/featured dancer for the women.   In a production with no shortage of things to look at, it is impossible to take your eyes off of these two performers.

 

The only questionable decision in this otherwise superb production is the inclusion of an encore-an abbreviated yet seemingly endless re-mix of most of the play's musical numbers.  Sometimes inner children don't know when enough is enough.

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat runs through January 2 at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.    For tickets, which range from $10-$28, call 216-521-2540 x 10 or visit www.beckcenter.org.
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