Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1998 · Sophie Leschin Theatre / Jacksonville Theatre Guild
In the summer of 1998, Ken Bradbury directed the Jacksonville Theatre Guild's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's exuberant retelling of the Genesis story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. Staged at the Sophie Leschin Theatre, the show featured an adult company alongside a children's choir seated outside the proscenium — an idea suggested by set designer Chuck West, who built the production around a scale model he carried to Ken's house himself.
Ken kept a journal through the making of the show, "A Joseph Story," that captures the whole anxious, joyful arc of the production: the first nervous auditions at vocal director Julie Hood's house, the late-night crew meetings where costume mistress Janet Long turned up with a real cow's head bound for the meat locker, the relief when pianist Mary Wilson — "the pro" — agreed to play, and the agony of cutting friends after callbacks. "Auditions are like a root canal before a round-the-world cruise," he wrote. By the first rehearsal in the stifling basement of Grace church, he had what he called the "Dreamcast."
In his director's note, Ken dedicated the show to the people who first taught him scripture: "Most of us learn our first Bible stories at someone's knee. I learned mine at my Grandma Orr's… Joseph is a musical cartoon lovingly dedicated to all those dedicated kin, friends, and Sunday School teachers who brought us our first knowledge of the scriptures."
Musical Numbers
Act I
- Prologue — The Narrator & Children's Choir
- Any Dream Will Do — Joseph, Children, Narrator
- Jacob & Sons / Joseph's Coat — Joseph, Narrator, Children, Brothers, Jacob & Wives, Sheep
- Joseph's Dreams — Joseph, Brothers, Narrator
- Poor, Poor Joseph — Narrator, Brothers, Ishmaelites
- One More Angel in Heaven — Narrator, Jacob, Judah, Dan, Brothers & their wives
- Flight to Egypt — Narrator, Children
- Potiphar's Song — Potiphar, Narrator, Joseph, Mrs. Potiphar
- Close Every Door — Jailers, Joseph, Children's Choir
- Go, Go, Go Joseph — Narrator, The Butler, The Baker, Joseph & Company
Act II
- Pharaoh Story — Narrator, Children
- Poor, Poor Pharaoh / Song of the King — Joseph, Narrator, Pharaoh & Company
- Pharaoh's Dream Explained — Joseph, Pharaoh, Narrator & Company
- Stone the Crows — Pharaoh, Joseph, Narrator, Female Ensemble
- Those Canaan Days — Reuben, Jacob & The Brothers
- The Brothers Come to Egypt / Grovel, Grovel — Joseph, Narrator, Brothers & Company
- Who's the Thief? — Joseph, Narrator, Brothers & Company
- Benjamin Calypso — Zebulun, The Brothers & Company
- Joseph All the Time — Joseph, Narrator, Brothers & Company
- Jacob in Egypt — Narrator & Company
- Finale: Any Dream Will Do / Give Me My Colored Coat — Joseph, Narrator & Company
Cast
- Joseph — Rick Barger
- The Narrator — Phyllis Pruitt
- Jacob / Off-Stage Singer — James Mungai
- Levi / Pharaoh — Nathan Carls
- Mrs. Potiphar / Female Ensemble / Choreographer — Tammy Zink
- Simeon / Potiphar — Doug Raffa
- Reuben — Brad Barnes
- Zebulun — Scott Tobin
- Asher — Brad Manker
- Gad / Baker — Chris Walters
- Benjamin / Butler — Gene Hicks
- Dan / Egyptian Guard — Doug Bradbury
- Judah — Joe Schenck
- Issachar / Egyptian Guard — Jon Malone
- Naphtali / Egyptian — Dane Vincent
- Female Ensemble — Kristin Clinton
Production Notes
- Director: Ken Bradbury
- Vocal Director: Julie Hood
- Tech & Set Director: Chuck West
- Production Coordinator: Linda Van Aken
- Choreographer: Tammy Zink
- Director of Children's Choir: Christine Smith
- Orchestra Director: Bill Cox
- Costume Design: Janet Long, Geri Ryan, Patty Clinton
- Scenic Design: Steve Varble, assisted by Jennifer Mallory-Welch and Jennifer Bible
- Rehearsal Pianist: Mary Wilson
- Assistant to the Director: Katie Phelps
- Orchestra: Bill Cox, Kurt Heller, Justin Tippe, Mary Wilson, Chris Ritzo
Rehearsals began June 7 at Grace church before moving to the theatre, with the orchestra joining for full run-throughs in early July ahead of a late-July and early-August run. Many in the cast were juggling other summer shows at once — Phyllis Pruitt and Gene Hicks were also appearing in Fiddler on the Roof at the Springfield Muni, and several actors were performing in the Bradbury/Crowe musical Abraham! at Lincoln's New Salem the same weeks.
The program also preserves one of Ken's signature touches: a page of gleefully fake reviews from invented critics at Variety, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Martha Stewart Living, and the National Enquirer, all riffing on the show, the Cajun desserts served at Sophie's, and his cast of friends.