Just for the sheer fun of seeing Elvis pop up smack dab in the middle of a Bible story is worth the time to travel to New Canaan. But there is so much more!
When composers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were mere teenagers, they collaborated on a truly delightful musical that has withstood the test of time and held up splendidly. You have the opportunity to journey to the land of Canaan, by way of New Canaan, to attend the joyful unto the Lord musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
The Summer Theatre of New Canaan has set up a glorious tent on the grounds of lovely Waveny Park until Sunday, August 5 to unveil this outstanding production suitable for the whole family.
The Biblical tale of Joseph and his eleven brothers is narrated by a harmoniously blessed Corrine C. Broadbent who helps the story come to life. All does not bode well when the father of the clan, Jacob (Brian Silliman) singles out one son, Joseph, a gifted lad in the hands of Christopher De Rosa, as being superior among his siblings. Green eyed jealousy consumes the neglected eleven: Dru Serkes, Adam Hill, Richard Hartley Weidlich, Kenneth Linsley, Johann Michael George, Bobby Godas, Nick Giuliani, Christian Libonati, Chase Jansen, Benjamin Edward Simpson and John Galas.
Things change when two events occur: Joseph boasts of his superiority when he interprets dreams where his brothers bow down to him and Jacob presents Joseph with a most beautiful coat of rainbow hues. To rid themselves of Joseph, the lads sell him off as a slave to a band of traders traveling to Egypt and tell a brokenhearted father that his favored son is dead.
How Joseph lands on his feet, becomes a slave and escapes the clutches of his owner’s wife (Grace Hardin) and becomes indispensable to the Pharoah, a gyrating William Hammons, is beautifully told and sung through a series of great songs that spin from country western to rock and roll, calypso and ballads, and even acquire a French accent along the merry way. Each of the almost two dozen songs is a gem.
The choreography by Doug Shankman is over-the-top grand, on a clever tiered set designed by Charles Pavarini III, with a trunk full of costumes created by Arthur Oliver, all lit magically and mysteriously by Devon Allen. The wonderful cast is assisted by an eager-to-please chorus of sixteen children, all orchestrated beautifully by director Melody Meitrott Libonati.
For tickets ($30 and up), call STONC at 203-966-4634 or online at www.stonc.org. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Follow the favored son as he learns being singled out as special can be greatly dangerous and dangerously great.
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