[NEohioPAL] Berko review: JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT @ Beck

Roy Berko royberko at gmail.com
Sun Dec 4 13:49:13 PST 2011


*Céspedes’ choreography makes Beck’s JOSEPH special*



Roy Berko



(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)



--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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



--COOLCLEVELAND.COM—



The format for JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, a version of
which is now on stage at Beck Center, makes the show unique.  In contrast
to almost all musicals, the show has no script.  There is music by Andrew
Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, but no spoken format for dialogue, no
hints on how to stage the piece.  Therefore, each production is dependent
upon the creativity of the show’s stagers.



Usually, since the show is so filled with potential great dance
opportunities, the burden falls on the choreographer.  And, in most cases,
the dance conceivers take their cues from the sounds of the music and
produce appropriate moves.  Every once in a while a show is blessed with a
super creative and talented choreographer and the production explodes into
a cacophony of visual moving bodies in dynamic movements.  This is the case
with Beck’s JOSEPH.



Beck’s JOSEPH is better than almost any production I’ve seen.  Why is this
production special?  MARTIN CÉSPEDES!  Yes, Céspedes, one of the area’s
best choreographers, has outdone himself in this show.  He threw out all of
his previous visions and created new ones.  The young kids of the chorus,
explode with precision and glee.  The older teens and adults have a ball
doing synchronized and dynamic moves.  There’s calypso, rock ‘n roll,
western, serpent dance, the dip, and the twist.  Even the action curtain
call rocks!



They are helped by bright, ever changing lighting effects created by Trad
Burns, who has also envisioned a pleasing set.



Musical Director Larry Goodpaster has reinterpreted some of the music to
make the sounds fresh.  Allison Garrigan’s costumes work well, especially
the visually beautiful coat of many colors.



The sound is problematic.  Squealing mikes and levels which are set so high
that the voices are over-amplified, squelching words.  The lack of balance
makes for uncomfortable moments.  This is not a rock concert, it is a
musical in which the words to the songs must be heard.



Matthew Ryan Thompson is “Joseph right!”  His rock ‘n roll voice adds an
up-to-date sound to songs, his phrasing patterns create meaning to the
words.  He’s a floppy haired bleached blonde charmer.  His rendition of *Close
Every Door *had a beautiful plaintive sound.



Josh Rhett Noble, he of swiveling hips and the Elvis smirk and snarl, is
point on as the Pharaoh, stopping the show with his *Song of the King*.



Tricia Tanguy has a big and trained singing voice.  Unfortunately, there
are times when she sings words rather than meanings.  She needs to go over
the words and figure out what they are saying and adjust her
interpretations accordingly.



The show has proved to be a holiday success for the theatre.  Audiences
have flocked to Lakewood every time the show is reprised.  And, it has been
reprised there a great number of times, since their production “way, way
back many centuries ago” when Rob Gibb lit up the stage as the lead in the
show.



*CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Beck’s JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT is
a delight.  Go, Go Joseph!***

JOSEPH is scheduled to run through December 31 at Beck Center for the Arts.
For tickets and information on the possibility of the run being extended,
call 216-521-2540.
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