Theater Reviews

Apr 26, 2008 - For its 35th season finale the Nevada Repertory Theatre presents "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

By Jack Neal

When Gertrude Stein said, “There’s no there there!” she was referring to Oakland, California. Had Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice been writing shows when Stein was around (she died in 1946), Stein could have been commenting on “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

There’s not much there there in this fizz-light show.

Camp, kitsch, and mockery of a few Old Testament Dreamers and tough guys sums up the Nevada Repertory Theatre’s current version of Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice’s (lyrics) “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

The attempt is gallant but the show is thin, thin, thin. The only way it works is to have superlative singers, smashing dancers, terrific bodies and doll everything up with oodles of glitz. Most all those things are present in this current reincarnation, but in not enough quantity to thrill minute by minute even in the show’s short 75-minute running time (95 minutes with intermission).

Director Jim Bernardi has pulled out as many stops as he can muster for many clever inventions – a U-Haul camel who sings, a shark who sings, something that looks like a King Tut artifact that sings – but, alas, this “Joseph” isn’t gawdy enough, seductive enough, pumped enough to cover the deficiencies of the book (is there one?), music and lyrics. Horror of horrors, it sounds like early Lloyd Webber - set to early Tim Rice words.

There are worse things, and there are, of course, exceptions. “Close Every Door,” sung by Joseph from a jail cell, is heartfelt music set to genuinely despairing lyrics. Zac Rogers is the production’s Joseph. He has charm and presence but leads the way in a cast of principals without the chops to make a score of relatively weak songs sound better than they are.

As the Narrator, Hana Freeman carries most of “Joseph’s” singing burden, but a tight upper range (all the principals have a tight sound) gives her a metallic quality over-amplification doesn’t flatter. Freeman is attractive, has a formidable voice, and knows how to hold center stage - all major show-business attributes.

Art Anderson returns to the stage in Reno to choreograph the show and re-cap his triumph from years ago as Pharaoh. He brings professionalism to his performance, but not the oomph to make his big moment a show stopper. His choreography is slick and pleasant and doable by the student cast who throw themselves into everything they do with a passion that brings pleasure whenever they sing and whenever they dance. Apache dancers Ryan Berrigan and Katy Erwin generate excitement and punch during their moment in the spotlight.

Larry Walters's scenic designs are pretty much relegated to props, some of them quite happy within the framework of the piece’s youthful exuberance. Michael Fernbach’s lighting, usually scrumptious, is too ordinary for a musical that needs all the help it can get. Fernbach’s sound design needs considerable fine tuning. Michelle Spencer Davidson’s basic costumes lack a tailored look, so the add-ons – so necessary for this kind of swift-moving show – can be handsome and not just fun.

Carol House is the musical director. The on-stage orchestra of six (a trumpet was listed, but not heard) is too slight to carry the day, leaving a cast of youngsters too alone and uncomfortable.

Regardless, there are still many pleasures of the occasion. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” remains a diminished, yet still delightful send-up of the bible story for which it relies, that can bring considerable joy to those who love musical theater.

The Nevada Repertory Theatre’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” can be seen at the Redfield Proscenium Theatre, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada, April 25 (the performance reviewed), 26, 30, May 1, 2, 3, at 7:30 p.m. and May 4 (2008) at 1:30 p.m. For information call 775-784-4278, 800-225-2277 or go online at www.unr.edu/arts.