"Joseph" - The Review

Another post from my pal Mark Hayes, who offers his review of the touring show that visited Charleston:

My lovely wife and I attended "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" last night at the Clay Center in Charleston. We also took two of our favorite performers, Sarah and Maggie. Somehow, the girls got to sit in the first balcony, while Loretta and I were relegated to the second one - but there really aren't any bad seats in the Clay Center, so we all had good views.

I thought the performance was interesting - it wasn't a "wow" performance,
but it was very entertaining and well worth seeing. The company was the same
one that performed recently in Ashland at the Paramount, so I had seen some
of the pictures that are on the Herald-Dispatch's website. The costumes were
terrific, and the final scene Joseph's coat (of many colors fame) was awesome.
It almost looked like a colorful disco ball and sparkled throughout the
building.

The Director took the show in a different direction than the
others I've seen - in this production the sets and costumes, other than
the ones that look like they were from the real Joseph's time, were more
modern looking. The Broadway show had a distinct '70s look
to a lot of the costumes, particularly the terrific dance number during "Go
Go Joseph." In this current production, the dancers during that number were
dressed as modern cheerleaders, complete with pom-poms. It wasn't better or
worse, just different and not what I expected. Perhaps that's what the
Director was seeking.

The Narrator was terrific, although the show was a bit lacking technically
because it seemed her microphone was not turned on several times until after
she had started a line of a song. The Pharaoh almost stole the show,
especially when he 'broke the fourth wall' to talk to the audience - yet
another turn I was not expecting. The remaining cast was better than
adequate, but not spectacular.

All in all, a pretty darn good show.