[NEohioPAL] Review of Beck Center's "Joseph... Dreamcoat"

[Bob Abelman]

Beck's 'Joseph' encore offers less of a good thing

 Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 12/16/10

 

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat borrows heavily from the Book of Genesis, but the musical's Biblical origins had little to do with its selection as last year's Yuletide show at the Beck Center for the Arts.  It has even less to do with the show's return this season.  

 

For many theaters, holiday productions are all about the pageantry and the family-friendly fun they generate, and Joseph is flush on both accounts.  It tells the tale of Joseph's separation from his family and his trials and tribulations in Egypt and is, above all else, a delightfully playful script set to a lighthearted score.  Last year's Beck Center production exploded with vivacity.  

 

Hoping for lightening to strike twice, the original production has been revisited complete with Scott Spence's lively direction, Martín Céspedes' charming choreography, Larry Goodpaster's fluid music direction, and Trad A Burns' imaginative scenic design and LCD lighting.  Many of the same talented performers return as well, including the absolutely radiant Tricia Tanguy as the play's omnipresent narrator, Josh Noble as the dead-on Elvis-impersonating Pharaoh, and approximately half of the assorted Brothers and Wives.   

 

Unfortunately, this year's rendition is lacking that certain something that defined last year's superb production.  This Joseph is still a very entertaining piece of holiday fluff but, as witnessed during the second week of its four-week run, the show lacks spark and spontaneity.  

 

This is most apparent in the ensemble numbers.  Although there is no shortage of gifted performers on stage, only a few take this production to the level of professionalism exhibited in last year's run and expected in Beck Center musicals.  

 

Returning cast members Alex Arroyo (Zebulon), Richard Larkin (Judah), and Holly Harris (Potiphar's Wife/Wife) are spectacular dancers and vibrant performers.  They add flair, precision and passion to all that they do, which makes the rest of the ensemble appear to be walking their way through the choreography and less engaged in the play's proceedings.  

 

A last-minute cast change among the Brothers may be contributing to this disequilibrium, particularly when only 10 brothers appear in the more complicated production numbers where once there was 11.  But even the children's choir seems flat and void of amazement throughout much of the production, suggesting that what ails this show is something more systemic.   

 

Also missing from this production is a dynamic Joseph.  Matthew Ryan Thompson has a gorgeous singing voice, which is paramount in a production that is a veritable parade of song and dance numbers.  But Thompson lacks the vocal power and physical presence required to lift and carry the thin storyline, which was amply supplied last year by Conner O'Brien.  

 

This musical's Biblical origins may have had little to do with its selection, but there are lessons to be learned about encore productions from the Book of Genesis.  Although a creator can look upon all that was made in His image and conclude that it was good, reproductions rarely meet the specifications and expectations of the original.

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat runs through December 31 at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.    For tickets, which range from $10-$28, call 216-521-2540 x10 or visit www.beckcenter.org.
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