Theatre Tuscaloosa will end its 2009-2010 season with a musical that explores the trials and errors of the biblical character Joseph.
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, will open July 16 and run through July 25.
Joseph is one of 12 sons of Jacob and is given a coat of many colors because he is the favored son, said John Paul Snead, a UA sophomore majoring in theater who will play Joseph.
The musical involves hardly any spoken words and contains all types of music, from country to the ’60s, Elvis and rock, he said.
“It’s a beautiful story of Joseph’s life,” Snead said. “He’s constantly being tested, but eventually overcomes it all.”
The musical will begin with a mother reading a child a bedtime story in which the musical is the child’s dream, said executive producer Tina Turley, who has been with Theatre Tuscaloosa for 15 years.
Turley has never produced this musical in Tuscaloosa.
“There’s a good message here,” she said. “It’s a good family show.”
She said this will be the first time it has been performed at Bean-Brown Theatre in Tuscaloosa. The story was originally written for a school to teach the lesson of Joseph and the multicolored coat in 1968.
“It’s a fun show,” Turley said. “It’s been around a long time. There’s something constantly going on with this musical.”
Turley said they have been rehearsing for the upcoming event for seven weeks and have tried to make it very playful so all ages would enjoy it. It has period costumes with a contemporary flare, she said.
The story is told through group music, Snead said. It’s a long story of Joseph’s rises and falls, from being sold to slavery and set up for a crime to being a very powerful man in Egypt during a famine, he said.
“It’s a fantastic show,” Snead said. “It’s a huge show with group members. The ensemble plays just as important a part as Joseph and the narrators.”
Snead said the two narrators, Kate Gates and Karen Killion, tell the story with their incredible vocals. There are approximately 40 cast members ranging from children to adults.
“It’s a great cast,” he said. “The cast has to be so strong because there is so much going on.”
Bryant Henderson, a spring 2010 UA graduate with a degree in dance, choreographed the musical, and Leslie Poss is the musical director.
“All the staff put together makes for a very fun show to see,” Turley said. “[The audience] will be surprised at how much fun they’ll have.”
Ticket prices are $22 for adults, $17 for seniors 60 and older, and $10 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased online at theatretusc.com or by calling 205-391-2277. No cameras will be allowed in the theatre.
