“JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT,” through April 9, Hale Center Theater Orem, 225 W. 400 North, Orem (801-226-8600 or haletheater.org); running time: 1 hour 40 minutes (one intermission)
OREM — If only Sunday school were this entertaining.
Hale Center Theater Orem’s latest musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” is chock-full of witty songs, bright lights, energetic dancing and that splashy rainbow of a coat.
Guiding audience members through this Bible study is the narrator, played by Angela Chatelain Avila (M/W/F cast). This demanding role keeps her onstage most of the show, explaining the details and belting her heart out at times.
But before we get in too deep, let’s turn to Genesis 37, in which this story begins.
Jacob loves Joseph, played by Zack Wilson (M/W/F), more than his other 11 sons. As a result, Joseph’s brothers, whose duds emanate One Direction meets “Fiddler on the Roof,” catch a bad case of sibling rivalry. It doesn’t help that Joseph has interesting dreams — eventual prophecies — that come off as self-promoting.
So, naturally, the brothers scheme to rid themselves of their dreamer brother. At first they plan to kill him, but they instead take a last-minute opportunity to sell him as a slave.
Despite the sad storyline, “Joseph” never stays serious for too long, even when the brothers are telling a brokenhearted Jacob, played by Ric Starnes (single cast), that his beloved son is dead (“One More Angel in Heaven”).
Joseph ends up in Egypt as a servant of the wealthy Potiphar and eventually becomes a leader in the household. One of the show’s most poignant moments is when Joseph is locked up after Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him. In a jail cell staged with dry ice and thin bars of white light, Joseph sings “Close Every Door to Me.”
The show’s constant stream of songs, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, keep the story speedy and have distinctive styles that vary from western to disco to French to calypso.
But the most chuckle-worthy number is performed by Pharaoh, played by Cleveland McKay Nicoll (single cast), who channels his inner eccentric rocker (bedazzled platform shoes and all) as he shares his baffling dreams with jailbird Joseph in hopes of garnering an interpretation.
Joseph sees the signs in Pharaoh’s dreams, pointing to seven bumper-crop years followed by famine, and is quickly appointed to guide Egypt through the looming disaster.
The colorful musical is accented by a plastic-glass stage floor that showcases almost 30,000 LED lights. There are times when the 20-plus cast members are dancing so vigorously that it seems it might collapse from the force of their footwork.
But, like the story of Jacob and his dozen sons, the floor holds strong, and the tale ends on a happy note with a boisterous dance party and disco balls to boot.
It looks like we’re out of time, er, room. If you get the chance, read the rest of the story in Genesis or experience it in all its Technicolor glory through April 9.
Content advisory: Some sultry advances from Potiphar’s wife toward Joseph are portrayed.
Emily Edmonds is an online communications instructor for BYU-Idaho. She is the former editor of BYU's Marriott Alumni Magazine. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's in mass communications from BYU.