An Over-Stuffed Coat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Gammage Auditorium
** (out of *****)
Mark S.P. Turvin
(w) 965-1021  (h) 894-5443
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@asu.edu

	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . Is it art? Is 
it spectacle? Does it matter if this is your Big Night Out? If 
you're going to shell out forty five bucks, you want something 
with the visuals of Sunset Boulevard, the potency of  Les 
Miserables, and the ear-splitting volume of Phantom of the Opera. 
When looking for that show, though, this one would never come to 
mind. Unless you're Andrew Lloyd Webber, and feel that everything, 
with the right packaging and processing, can be turned into a box 
office lollapalooza. 
	Way, way back, many decades ago, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd 
Webber went to the same exclusive public school in England 
together. They became friends, and decided to write a pleasant 
little play for their senior class based on the Old Testament 
story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. It was cute. It was 
sweet. It was clever, for a couple of fifteen year olds. Tim Rice 
even played the part of the Pharoh in their high school 
production. Oh, and it was forty minutes long. That was that. They 
went to college, and became collaborators.
	Later came Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. By 1982, they 
were an  unstoppable force, save for the fact that they were 
growing apart. Unable to collaborate for long stretches of time, 
but expected to top their past mega-successes, they looked back in 
their archives, and remembered their cute, sweet, short play. It's 
been growing over the past thirteen years, and for each spurt in 
growth, it's lost some of its cuteness, and some of its sweetness, 
and a lot of it's shortness. As an English production and concept 
album, it was wonderful. As a Broadway production a decade ago, it 
was very good. As a revival and a touring show, it's loud, it's 
packaged, and it's long. 
	Despite its humble beginnings, it has evolved into what is 
being offered now. The Really Useful Company, Webber's production 
house, has put together a show that is replete with impressive 
costumes, impressive sets, impressive talent, and impressive 
ticket prices. It simply forgot what I consider the most important 
thing...heart. 
	For people who desire only spectacle, and will see Phantom of 
the Opera for the flashpots, trapdoors and menacing chandelliers, 
then this show will suit them. The production, designed by Mark 
Thompson, with lighting design by Andrew Bridge, is lavish and 
lovely. I was always impressed by the new set pieces that came on, 
and the magnificient lighting creations that enhanced it.
	For people desiring great talent, like the fans of Patti 
Lupone and Michael Crawford, then there's plenty here for them. 
The two leads, Sam Harris as the titled character and Kristine 
Fraelich as the Narrator, are absolutely wonderful talents. Ms. 
Fraelich, especially, has the needed ability to articulate her 
songs, a talent sorely missing from the rest of the cast. The rest 
of the cast is musically powerful and dance up a storm. Anthony 
Van Laast's choreography is superb. They take this slight 
material, and almost manage to make the audience forget about the 
problems inherent in the production. 
	And for those who want showstopping numbers, then this 
production is crammed full of them. In fact, somehow, this show 
has become nothing but showstopping tunes. Curious, since the 
original productions seemed a little more balanced, a little less 
premeditated. But even fans of all these aspects will probably be 
unable to avoid the hollowness that haunts the drawn out song 
endings and repetitious reprises.
	There is something unnatural about this production. It's a 
pity, too. Some clever packaging ideas and concepts went into its 
creation. The use of the local Children's Choirs (The Saints Simon 
and Jude School Choir and the Gilbert Fine Arts Children's Choir) 
is a perfect touch. Not only does it breathe what little life 
there actually is in the show, but it sets up a guaranteed 
subscription base of parents, relatives and friends. Heartfelt and 
lucrative.
	The biggest of sins is the fact that, despite whatever work 
has been done by Webber, director Steven Pimlott, and orchestrator 
John Cameron, it is, after all, a forty minute show. That it has 
become a two hour and fifteen minute spectacle is nothing short of 
criminal. 
	This show, as well as the others that dominate this genre, 
will continue to tour the country. It will bring joy to the people 
who want sets, lights, thin plots and well-sung songs. And, it 
will continue to make money for those who craftily package what 
these audiences are looking for, wrapping it just so and putting 
everything neatly into place. Opening night audiences gave the 
twenty minute curtain call a standing ovation. Bottom line, even 
if it's missing heart, everyone seems to be getting what they 
want. 

Production Details:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice & Andrew 
Lloyd Webber
Xerox Valley Broadway Series
Grady Gammage Auditorium, Tempe
965-3434
$27.50 to $45
June 20-July 2

-30-