"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

My pal Dave Lavender filed an excellent story in today's Herald-Dispatch about "Joseph" - you can read it right here:

King James may have the lock-down on the Bible's definitive print version, but when it comes to juicing up the Bible's stories with a little pop-rocked razzle dazzle, nobody's kicked up that Middle Eastern historical sand like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

This weekend, Jeslyn Performing Arts Center, 1030 4th Ave., dials the time machine back a couple thousand years for Webber and Rice's gloriously rollicking musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Put on by the new theater group Curtains Up Players (formerly known as the Pullman Plaza Players), "Joseph" runs 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 20-21 and May 27-28. Weekend matinee performances will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22.

Tickets are $15 and $12 for children.

Paul Neace, one of the founders of Curtains Up Players, said they scoured a long list of musical shows to do, but settled on Webber and Rice's first collaboration, the campy and musically diverse, "Joseph," which they debuted in 1967, a few years before they struck the big-time with Jesus Christ Superstar.

Armed with Bradley Leonard, who played the lead role of Seymour in their production of Little Shop of Horrors, last fall, Curtains Up has drawn in a wide array of regional talent put together by veteran director, Danny Ray, who is joined by musical director, Steve Burnett; assistant director, Clara Adkins; choreographer, Jessica Fox; and producers, Shayne Gue and Michael Gore.

Todd Preston, who helped start the Curtains Up Players, said the production benefits from a strong cast (that includes such actors as Angela Hunt (who will be going to the University of Colorado to purse a Ph.D. in acting), Shayne Gue and Nancy Jackson) as well as some folks like Charleston resident Alan Pennington, and theater veteran, Rhett Pennell, who just moved into the area.

"I think one of the interesting things about this cast is that there are a lot of people who've not been seen in this community theater scene," Preston said.

A new face to the scene is Pennell, who plays Simeon. He has added a personal touch to the show with a seasoned stage presence and he designed an array of colorful, movable animal props for the set from a serpent and a scorpion to a flock of sheep.

A professional toy designer who moved to the Tri-State from New Jersey last year, Pennell said while as a young adult he'd been an equity actor in New York and did national theater tours, he'd put his acting on hold for his art career, drawing and designing toys for large companies.

Pennell said he couldn't resist auditioning when he saw the Facebook post for "Joseph," the first effort by Webber and Rice, who went on to write Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita together.

"This is a great release and gets my butt from out in front of a computer all day," Pennell said. "You can't say no to 'Joseph.' I've loved doing this for 20 years."

Neace said the show that runs the gamut from Elvisy rock 'n' roll to hand-clapping, western swinging country music to sheer Broadway pop hadn't been done for a while and is just a great show for all ages since it only runs about an hour and 30 minutes.

Neace said they hope "Joseph" is just the first of many more Curtains Up Players' productions to come at Jeslyn Performing Arts Center, the former Camelot movie theater that was turned into a dance academy and arts venue by local dance teacher, Jessica Fox.

He credits two Curtains Up Players' board members, Danny Ray and Clara Adkins, for suggesting Jeslyn, which seats about 350 or so, as a possible theater home for the troupe.

"Our board and her board wanted to give this new-found relationship a try, and so we've decided to try this on a trial run for the first year or so to see if it will work for both parties," said Neace, whose theater group initially formed at Pullman Plaza Hotel in the fall of 2010. "The bottom line is that it seems to make sense for everybody. Jessica and her husband and staff couldn't be nicer and more supportive. We want it to work for them as much as we want it to work for us. I truly think this will be a fabulous relationship and the talents that we can bring to them and that they can add to us are going to create something unlike anything this town has seen."

If you go

WHAT: Curtains Up Players presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

WHERE: Jeslyn Performing Arts Center, 1030 4th Ave., Huntington

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 20-21 and May 27-28. Weekend matinee performances will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22.

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $15 and $12 for children

GET TIX: For tickets, call 304-634-9605. You can also follow Curtains Up on Twitter at twitter@CUPofTheatreWV and the Facebook Page is Curtain's Up Players.

THE CAST: Nancy Jackson, Bradley Leonard, Alan Pennington, Michael Gore, Diane Slater, Rhett Pennell, Lindsay Calhoun, Christopher Sunderland, Kristen Pennington, Andrew Surber, Leslie Collins, Jacob Jarvis, Elaine Adkins, Shayne Gue, Angela Hunt, Jonathan Lamp, Holly Maynard, Ethan Terry, Rachel Geiger, Max Wilson, Alex O'Donnell, Luc Adkins, Maggie Donahoe, Julie Hoss. Children's Choir: Will Hunt, Ethan Hunt, Ben Hunt, Braedyn Clagg, Laura Clagg, Ella Wilburn, Hannah Tussy, Dylan Herrmann-Holt, Haylee Winters, Colby Winters, Sydney Winters, Samuel Collins and Leela Jackson