We had the distinct pleasure of seeing Performance Now's recent production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat a couple of Friday nights ago. And I'm serious...it was a pleasure.First, the venue: the Lakewood Cultural Center has a seriously nifty little theater. We were up in the balcony, but still very close to the stage. I imagine the orchestra level would be just as intimate, probably more so really. Nice sized stage with plenty of wing and backstage space (an obvious hot button of mine!). But it was the sound that was truly smokin'. They managed to put out some serious sound in volume, without being nasty loud or distorted. The final number of Joseph is designed to rock...and they shaked, rattled and rolled. It was definitely a treat.
As for the performance, it was solid. Last year, we saw it at DCPA with Patrick Cassidy as the lead. That particular performance was uninspired at best. But here's a kid (a senior in Accounting & Finance at UNC Greeley) who could seriously sing and had very good charisma w/the audience. Not quite as good as the guy from all the years at the Arvada Center, but darn close. The narrator was weak at first, and I thought "uh-oh..." but she came on str
ong and by Jacob and Sons, my fears were completely abated. Not as cute as the Arvada Center girl, but an excellent singer, vastly superior to the DCPA version. The two (Joseph & the Narrator) didn't display any sort of relationship with each other, perhaps by direction. The Arvada Center production always had them exchanging glances and the like and I thought that was nice. They had a good, if not uninspiring group of brothers, with Those Canaan Days being the weakest of the three "brother" numbers. Their Pharoah was good, although I'm beginning to wonder if the whole Elvis as Pharoah schtick is losing some of it's identity. This kid (while doing a fine job) seemed like he was doing an impression of an impression of someone who once saw Elvis...and that's probably the truth.Nice sets...I was impressed by their design and I really liked their main stairway for Pharoah to descend to the stage. It had to be about 15 feet tall and steep.... Lighting was nice, not obtrusive and the few set pieces worked great. Costumes were good too. I thought the School's multicolored coat was better, and made by a senior in high school to boot! They did a couple of little mini-interludes with hand puppets, a lamb in Angel In Heaven and a monkey in Potiphar and a snake in Pharoah. They were more like little asides...but were very cute. They also stopped for Pharoah to work the audience before the finale of his big song. I also liked how the went to all black costumes for Go Go Joseph at the finale.
While it doesn't hold a candle to the School's production of Joseph (a little biased here), they certainly did a great job...and showcased that room.