Review: JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at Broadway Palm

I must confess I am not a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber (I'm a Sondheim kinda gal), so I had never seen Joseph and the Amazing Technical Dreamcoat before going to Broadway Palm for its current production. What I found was an Old Testament Jesus Christ Superstar.

A pastiche show in the hands of Sondheim, such as Follies, is an elegant homage to various musical styles. In Lloyd Webber's hands it is parody after parody. Or maybe it's just my bias showing. That said, the youthful cast is talented enough to pull it off.

Numbers range from soft shoe to reggae to rock and roll to Busby Berkeley. We get a glimpse of the band of brothers as a West Side Story-esque gang when they aren't cowpokes. Even Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson drift by at one point as does Elvis.

Max Cervantes as the aforesaid King, er...Pharaoh, is fun to watch as he gyrates to the shrieks of the chorus girls. The same can be said of Taye Martin as he leads the sprightly calypso number. Libby Anderson as the Narrator gets plenty of chances to show off her strong voice. The eponymous Joseph has some power behind his voice too, in contrast to his presence. He is written as such a naïf most of the time he reminded me of Big Bang's Sheldon Cooper, bragging about his dream interpretation rather than his intellect.

It goes without saying that any musical directed by Amy Marie McCleary will be packed with inventive choreography. This show plays to her strengths. In addition, the costumes by John P. White and special effects on the video wall by Chris McCleary are dazzling. If spectacles are your thing, you'll love this production.

Joseph runs through February 11. For tickets, call 239.278.4422.

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