THEATRE REVIEW

MAY 2025 | Volume 251

 

I debated whether to write this review because a dead car battery made me half an hour late to see the show. So I missed most of Act One: Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams; his father’s favouritism towards him, giving him the coat of many colours; Joseph’s jealous brothers selling him into slavery in Egypt and telling their father he was dead. But because I’d seen Joseph a number of times before, I knew what happened. And I’d read the press release, so I understood why Joseph and his family and the Pharaoh and chorus were all in 1970s dress.

Without having seen the entire production, then, here’s my review of the three-quarters I did see.

Director Christopher King has set Joseph not in the biblical Middle East but in a 1970s TV variety show where the character called The Narrator (Ivania Delgado) hosts Joseph (Argel Monte de Ramos) to musically tell his story. I’m not sure if this makes the story any more accessible or logical, because Webber & Rice’s pop score full of musical and theatrical ironies already has a contemporary feel. But it does give designer Erin Gravelle great latitude for her ‘70s-style costumes.

From my previous experiences of the show, two things stand out: the Narrator is almost always more interesting a character than Joseph himself, and the really dynamic energy comes in the form of the chorus. Both proved true for me again here.

Monte de Ramos is a charming Joseph with a fine voice. But Joseph is a relatively passive character. The Narrator has a lot more to do in helping to tell his story, and Delgado looks and sounds great in the role.

The other star of the show is the ensemble, dancing to Shelley Stuart Hunt’s infectious choreography and singing the keynote songs: the country-style “One More Angel in Heaven,” the rockin’ “Go, Go, Go Joseph,” the chanson-style “Those Canaan Days,” “Benjamin’s Calypso,” and the perennial audience fave, “Song of the King,” sung by Pharaoh (Matt Ramer) in pelvis-twisting Elvis style with the help of the chorus. I loved the energy of these kids and their obvious joy in being part of the theatrical magic.

Jenaya Baker’s tight six-piece band and King’s direction keeps this confection moving along at a nice clip. A fine production of an enjoyable musical.

 

 

 

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