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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
style="face: georgia">Shtick adds vivacity, ambiguity to Mercury Theatre’s
re-envisioned ‘Joseph’ <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
style="face: georgia"></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
style="face: georgia">Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
style="face: georgia">Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
style="face: georgia">Member, American Theatre Critics
Association</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style='face: "Times' New roman?></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
style="face: georgia"><SPAN>“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat”</SPAN><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
</SPAN></B><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>was
written in the late-1960s by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who were
themselves in their early-20s.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
style="face: georgia"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT style="face: georgia"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">Their imprudence as young
artists gave “Joseph” an infectious </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">playfulness that helped make it one of the most enduring
shows in the American musical theater catalog.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
style="face: georgia"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT style="face: georgia"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">Director Pierre-Jacques Brault has upped the show’s
playfulness quotient in Mercury Theatre Company’s current production by setting
it in an MGM soundstage during the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
style="COLOR: #222222">Classical era of Hollywood cinema.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here, during t</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">he filming of his epic story, Joseph’s a</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">mazing
coat brings Technicolor </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">to a black and white
world populated with iconic actors, including Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and the
Marx Brothers.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT style="face: georgia"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT style="face: georgia">The soundstage concept is a
bit muddled and occasionally at odds with the show’s intentions, but it adds
layers of entertaining shtick to the storytelling and provides Brault and his
designers (Nichols Thornburg (scenic), Michael Jarett (lighting), and Katelyn
Jackson (costume)) with plenty of opportunities to engage in creative staging on
a multi-tier performance space.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT style="face: georgia"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
style='face: "Times' New roman?><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
style="COLOR: #0563c1">www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>