The bottom line: You may need to do a little explaining about the Pharaoh’s wife and have a chat about sibling jealousy and slavery, but once that’s done, Taproot Theatre’s staging of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is a camp-load of fun for kids age 10 and up and their designated adults.
More than s’mores
I walked into the theater on Greenwood Avenue wondering how Taproot could possibly set this 1968 musical in a performing arts summer camp. I mean, it’s an Old Testament story, pulled from the book of Genesis, about a Nile Delta boy-then-man. Desert landscapes and the Great Pyramids are pretty much the go-to visual shorthand for this show, along with palm trees and a sphinx or two.
But in marched the campers and their counselors in the opening scenes of this show. They settle in as the narrator (in the form of the head camp counselor) leads, and the counselors act out the story. Turns out, camp is a perfect setting, helped by having real kids playing the listening campers. The imaginative set also makes this production feel more accessible to a younger audience than I remember the show being — Joseph’s tale really feels like it’s unfolding around a campfire and between bunks. You can almost smell the s’mores (ingredients of which make for a hilarious tease in the second act).
Along the way and through its many campy (no pun intended) numbers (lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber), the production tackles a laundry list of tough issues — parent favoritism, sibling jealousy, slavery, determination, forgiveness and redemption, and, ultimately, the power of family love. And did I mention lying to parents?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found humor to be a terrific gateway for deeper discussions with my kids. This show has humor in spades as it dishes out its meaty lessons.
CJ Lorentz as Joseph in Taproot’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Photo by Giao Nguyen).
The story
Joseph is one of the elderly Jacob’s twelve sons — and the clear favorite. The father doesn’t even try to hide his unbalanced adoration. Instead, he makes it stand out by giving the boy an elaborate, colorful coat far beyond anything his 11 brothers own. Between the coat, Joseph’s self-assured strutting, and his habit of describing his dreams — many of which include the brothers bowing down to him — jealousy wins out. At first the brothers plot to kill Joseph by tossing him in a hole in the ground and leaving him there. Instead, they decide to sell him to traders headed for Egypt, where he will be sold as a slave. Perhaps a discussion with kids before your go that start with: “Slavery has a long and sordid presence throughout human history..” The brothers tell their father Joseph was taken by a wild animal.
Joseph becomes a slave in Potiphar’s household where he earns his master’s trust through hard work, only to lose it overnight when Potiphar’s wife accuses him of sexual impropriety when he refuses her advances (good scene to explain to those 10-year-olds beforehand, parents).
Joseph is thrown into prison, where his knack for reading dreams is noticed first by a jailed baker and butler, then by the ruler of Egypt himself — Pharaoh.
Joseph tells Pharaoh what his dreams mean: Eygypt will have good harvests for seven years, then seven lean years. In response, Pharaoh puts him in charge of preparing the country for those hard years. When the famine finally arrives, Joseph’s family suffers, and his brothers go to Egypt to ask for food, not recognizing the brother they once sold. As Pharaoh’s right-hand man and director of food distribution, Joseph tests whether the brothers have changed their ways before he reveals who he is. The story ends not in revenge but in a reunion for the whole family.
Themes and lessons
Forgiveness is certainly a theme here. But beneath the sibling rivalry and the dazzling coat, Joseph’s story offers a quiet lesson to viewers of all ages: forgiveness matters, but so does holding onto your character when life treats you unfairly, and trusting that hard seasons don’t have to define who you become. In a story that starts with favoritism blowing up a family, it’s also a rare, gentle case study in what repair actually looks like.
Hannah Schuerman’s Simeon, center, shines as a French chanteuse (Photo by Giao Nguyen)
A unique show into which community is literally sewn in
The cast for Taproot’s “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat” is, in a word, stellar. Funny, irreverent, full of energy. Stand-out performances include Cassi Q Kohl as the narrator, CJ Lorentz as Joseph, and a show-stealing Hannah Schuerman as brother Simeon in the second act’s “Those Canaan Days.” Expect to laugh til you cry. The tweens in front of us were practically hysterical, as was I. But I have to say the enthusiasm and striped knee socks of the cast’s youngest members carried the heart of the show.
As part of Taproot’s 50th anniversary season, this “Joseph” also has a true community element. Earlier this year, Taproot asked the public to send in their hopes and dreams for the future. A portion of those submissions was incorporated into the design of the dreamcoat worn onstage. Director Bretteney Beverly has described the goal plainly: she wants the coat to carry real pieces of the community inside it, so that what audiences see under the stage lights isn’t just a costume but fifty years of other people’s wishes stitched together.
The Details
What: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Age recommendation: Suggested 10 and up. No children under age 5, including infants, will be allowed in.
Where: Taproot’s Jewell Mainstage Theatre, 204 N 85th St, Seattle
When: Through August 29. A Pay What You Can performance will be held July 15, and a closed-captioned show on August 5.
Tickets: $35 to $74 before fees, with reduced pricing for students, seniors, military members, patrons 25 and under, and TeenTix holders. Go to taproottheatre.org/joseph or call 206-781-9707
Length: Expect about two hours of show time, including a 20-minute intermission.
