Red…yellow…green…brown…scarlet…black…don’t tempt me. I know all 29 colors by heart— Sara Bosworth of Lansdowne Middle School ensured that every kid in that production could say, sing, spell, and recite in order the colors of Joseph’s coat in the spring of 1998. I’ve been married to this production for almost as many years as the coat has colors. And seeing my umpteenth production from church basements to national touring houses and everywhere in-between— Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, or JATATD or Joey & The Crayon Coat or Joseph &… or whatever and however you refer to it, there’s always something a little special, a little sentimental, a little ridiculous, a little wonderful, a little fun. And this present production at Other Voices Theatre in Frederick, as directed by Stephen Knapp with musical direction by Sarah Meyers and choreography by Breton Stailey, has a little bit of all of that going on. It’s a charming little production with a lot of little personalized touches and that’s one of the most beautiful things you can do for a production of Joseph.
There’s a team of five— Chris Levy & Maggi McGrath as scenic artists, Narcy Klag, Walt Dutton, and Harry Neidig as set construction— who really create this grandiose backdrop for the production. You actually start out in front of a banal stage curtain with the rainbow drop lights (by way of director Stephen Knapp) doing their thing to prime the audience for the musical roller coaster that is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph. If you think about it— for someone who doesn’t know the show, who has never seen the show, or doesn’t know much about musicals in theatre, Joseph is sort of a wild card anomaly that has all these zany styles of cinematic music— there’s a go-go number, a country western, a calypso, and a whole bunch of other stuff mingled in the mix. And the quintet of crafts-people working on the set are serving up ‘big energy’ to match what Rice and Webber have created in this show. The hieroglyphics that are painted across the top-back wall really give you the feel of ancient, biblical Egypt. And the sandstone detailing on the pyramid stairs and general set structure is impressive; so too is the reverse side of those stairs, which serve as the café scene for “Those Canaan Days.” And there’s a lot of Stephen Knapp’s lighting which works really well throughout the different numbers; lots of rainbow components, lots of intentional-mood lighting.
Dress blacks seem to be the overriding fashion for the show’s sartorial selection, with elements of popping color or location woven here and there into the mix by costume designer Ashley Hall. You do get the shiny gold lamé and ‘Egyptian brights’ once we’re fully in Pharoah’s realm, and the regal purple and gold for Pharoah Man himself is pretty spiffy. Hall deserves props for her ‘Signature Scarf’ which is some posh purple gossamer fabric, bejazzled with a ‘P’ (for Pharoah) and she’s made them in spades…as at each performance such a splendid keepsake will make its way out into the audience as a cherished memento for one lucky audience member! The coat, which is the bench-standard by which all productions of Joseph are measured in the fashion department, is sublime. Subtle but sparkly, fabricated delectably, and includes at least half of the 29 different colors mentioned in the song.
Joseph has a plethora of built-in opportunities for some seriously choreographed dance routines and dance breaks. Choreographer Breton Stailey, in a truly uplifting community theatre fashion, recognizes what’s being worked with and addresses these opportunities accordingly. The choreography is extremely simple but that’s not a dirty word, a bad word, or a less-than phrasing. It’s a match to the levels and a hone-in on featured talent— you get a few performers who really know their steps and who can execute some vigorously athletic gymnastic style moves to help enhance some of these moments in dance. I cannot recall a time in a production where the party-vibe amongst the cast was so strong that regardless of what the choreography looked like you just wanted to fly out of your seat, jump up on the stage, and join them. Stailey gets clever in the approach to some of the musical numbers’ dance breaks too. Rather than try to figure out who’s doing paired routines for “Those Canaan Days” there’s a Jean Valjean re-enactment where the brothers and three French café girls all take turns playing at choreographed chaos, stealing a loaf of bread. It’s pretty epic. And thoroughly enjoyable.
Director Stephen Knapp cultivates a bunch of little easter-egg moments throughout the production which makes it really cheeky, fun and clever, and wholly entertaining. Several of which self-actualize the show, giving it a self-awareness that is just delightful. The actor playing Issachar during “Those Canaan Days” does a bit with catching and eating a fly (they’re all meant to be starving in that number) and one of the brothers mutters at them, “we should have sold you instead of Joseph.” It’s hysterical. The actor playing Pharoah is also doubled up as a brother, Levi, and comes late to that same number (just after the first verse) and lumbers in all fashionably late (clearly for the elaborate costume change) with an utterance of “Le Sigh.” And Issachar asks, point blank, “Where were you?” and rather than respond verbally, Levi just looks at him and does the Pharoah-Elvis hip bobble. And it’s uproarious. There’s a cheeky flirtation between Potiphar and one of his male servants and then with Joseph (that poor, poor Joseph got the whole Potiphar household chasing him down!) and a lot of ‘Scooby-doo’ style chases across the top deck of the set. But my personal favorite is the scenery chewing nonsense that’s happening up on that same top deck during “One More Angel in Heaven.” In the previous scene— because Tim Rice was ahead of his time— they ‘…attack a passing goat…’ (which is done hysterically with Caroline Smithhisler as the goat and her rippable, detachable limbs)— so when The Angel (Lily Mae Brown with a heavenly, rafter-soaring soprano sound) appears up top to sing her solo call during that number…so to does the goat!!! And the goat keeps trying to sidle up to the angel…and the angel is having none of it. It becomes this ludicrous comedy bit that will leave you in stitches. And the production is filled with little moments like that, which just own, slay, and eat, as the kids would say. Knapp also does a solid job of keeping the show tight. It’s meant to be a show under two hours, and even with the intermission it comes in tightly so thanks to Knapp’s pacing.
Musically the show is somewhat of a mixed bag but every one of the performers is giving it their all. There are some pitch issues, here and there, and a few instances of songs sitting right at the break-point or range-break of different performers but for the most part they manage. There’s also some interesting aesthetic in the casting choices (mainly some of the brothers looking old enough to be the father of the actor playing Jacob but that said the actors who are in those roles are serving up some fabulous moments as their respective brothers and it’s hard to imagine them being done any other way once they’ve been visualized.) Some odd blocking choices, like the background voices in “Close Every Door” that are never seen (I’ve seen it done all ways— people on stage around Joseph, Joseph solo alone on stage with the backing voices piped in off stage, and some combination of the two…but for whatever reason this particular execution just felt a little off) and the way the steps get spun and moved around more than the cast do during the “Megamix”, if you can put those aside (and for the most part, you can) it’s a pretty solid production. And the enthusiasm pouring out of the performers is great, very infectious, and very giving.
You’ve got a women’s ensemble— Jodi DeMay, Anna Lynch, Vivian Whited, Apatcha Chong, Maya Evans, Carly Shearer, Rebecca Perez, Lily Mae Brown, Clementine Grant, Sveva Larson, Hayley Crouse, Caroline Smithhisler— who are featured all over, but particularly during “Song of the King.” Many of the aforementioned women have named parts— like Hayley Crouse and Caroline Smithhisler, who play the Barker and Butler respectively, during “Go, Go, Go, Joseph” and who are showcasing tremendous soprano skill, right alongside Lily Mae Brown, who serves as the Angel during “One More Angel in Heaven.” Carly Shearer should be noted for her extremely impressive dance routine during “Potiphar”, it’s giving Fosse dancer vibes (and the put-upon mirroring that she gets Joseph to do there is hilarious.)
While I so desperately wanted just a hint more of costuming for our Narrator (she does get a really cool headdress and sparkle-jacket in the second act), Elaine Gleaton is giving up some strong vocal presentations when she’s singing a lot of her solo moments during the production. “Pharoah’s Story” comes immediately to mind, she really nails that penultimate push and sustain in that number and has a bright disposition when singing the more narrative components of the story. It’s a tricky role, Narrator, being with Joseph and among the characters while still bearing the burden of anecdotal docent; it’s one that Gleaton manages just fine. And there’s a sentimental working camaraderie between her and Joseph that you catch these little inspiring glimpses of all throughout the performance that drives home the dynamic of their relationship, almost like she could be a lost sister of the prodigal son.
I’ve seen a lot of double-casting done in many a production of Joseph. Hell, I myself was of such double casting in spring of 1998 as brother Gad and Potiphar (we didn’t have boys come out for drama much in middle school and the two or three that did had to be the titular character and Pharoah…who actually ended being played by the computer teacher, Mr. Klonsky, because the kid who was playing the king dropped out the week of!) But the double-casting in this production, particularly with Pharoah-Levi, is so on point! Michael Abendshein teeters between serving up Elvis-as-Pharoah and just trying to be Elvis, which is great. And I’m not just saying that because I now own a signature eggplant-colored-shimmer-scarf. He’s got the lip— and if you’ve ever seen Elvis, you know exactly what I’m talking about— but he’s got that lip quiver down to an exact science. He’s got the attitude, the vocality, and the presence. And it’s all there for “Song of the King.” Which is made exponentially more enjoyable when he has his little bro-vs-bro with Issachar when they get back to the brothers in Canaan. Ed Gabb, who plays Reuben, also doubles up as Potiphar. And his Potiphar is sassy, effeminate, and makes cheeky little flirtatious passes at Christopher Holden (the lead household servant prior to Joseph’s arrival, he also doubles up as Asher) and it too becomes a humorous little bit.
As for our lead-singing brothers… we start off with Simeon (Harry Neidig III) who literally draws the ‘short straw’ when it comes to the brothers duking it out over who’s going to tell Jacob (Matt Withers, who does a superb job of intentionally overacting the hell out of his ‘grief’) of the ‘current situation’ involving Joseph. (Knapp has them goofing off with actual straws, it’s great!) And Neidig III has a real cowpoke attitude about the way he approaches the song. Great enthusiasm and he even gets his cowboy high-kicks in gear. Jacob Rudland, who plays Issachar, is sarcastic, mouthy, and does a beautifully passible French accent for “Those Canaan Days” and leads a whole bunch of previously mentioned antics and shenanigans all during that number and scene. And then there’s the effervescently boisterous Greg Segala, as Dan, who leads “Benjamin Calypso”— featuring poor little Benjamin (Demetri Silva) in the most adorable of ways. These three lead-singer-brothers have firm handles on their respective solo features and really rally the remaining brothers— Ed Gabb as Reuben, Michael Abendshein as Levi, Stephen Saul as Naphtali, Christopher Holden as Asher, Jess Sorrell as Zebulun, Andy King as Gad, Mikhail Evans as Judah, Demetri Silva as Benjamin— during all the big brotherly numbers like “Joseph’s Coat”, “Joseph’s Dreams” and “Grovel, Grovel.”
Clean vocals, firm stage presence, and a few cheeky glances here and there, with a nice smile, good physicality and consistent pitch and clarity. That’s what Scott Robert is bringing to the table as Joseph. If anything, he’s giving a straight-forward textbook Joe while the rest of the cast is self-actualizing and ironically enough the balance works really well. He’s doing what I’m sure Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber were expecting, the brothers and supporting cast are creating their own magic, and together you’ve got Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He’s got the prowess and the push for “Close Every Door” and the plotting nefarious approach to “Grovel, Grovel.” And he moves well, especially in the put-upon dance routine that Mrs. Potipher foists in his direction during “Potiphar.” Robert makes for a solid Joseph.
It’s a fun show. This bunch is giving it their all and they’re having palpable, discernable fun, which is felt readily and heartily, radiating out to those of watching. So— go, go, go, {to see} Joseph at Other Voices Theatre through August 9th and help them close their 2025/2026 season strong!
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes with one intermission
Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat plays through August 9th 2026 with Other Voices Theatre Other Voices Theatre at The Performance Factory— 244-B South Jefferson Street in Frederick, MD. Tickets are available by calling the box office at (301) 662-3722 or by purchasing them in advance online.
