Seven Fat Cows, Seven Ears of Corn, but Joseph for the Ninth Time

1. This marks the third time I’ve written about my favorite play, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and hopefully it won’t be the last.

Last night, we had the chance to watch the North Penn High School production of the play, and it was phenomenal.

I believe it was our (my wife and I) ninth time to see the play, and we have now seen it at every level imaginable – grade school (St. Thomas Good Counsel), middle school (Keith Valley), college (Villanova), church school (St. Davids), summer theater school (Raleigh), regional theater (Media Theater), and national tours (two separate tours in Philadelphia, 2006 and 2015). This doesn’t count the movie version of the play, starring Donny Osmond, which we’ve also watched. (I also just found out that Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the original creators of the play, and Elton John are teaming up to create an animated, big screen version of the movie.)

One of my favorite things about the play is that it includes multiple musical genres, including parodies of French ballads (“Those Canaan Days”), Elvis-inspired rock and roll (“Song of the King”), western (“One More Angel In Heaven”), 1920s Charleston (“Potiphar”), and Calypso (“Benjamin Calypso”).

It’s also just a great story (although there is virtually no dialogue, the entire play is essentially sung) about believing in your dreams, forgiveness, redemption, and the powerful bonds that unite families.

I also like the fact that each time we see it is a little different, with the director and the actors adding their own little tweaks to the performance. Last night, for example, was the first time I saw the role of narrator split among three singers, each of whom had beautiful voices. Last night’s show also featured some amazing choreography, among the best I have seen.

So congratulations to the members of the North Penn High School Theater Group for an outstanding performance.

In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my eyes open for wherever the next performance will be.

Hey New York or London – any plans for Joseph over the next year?