Family drama

QUINCY — The Biblical story of Joseph will come to life in song this weekend, as Quincy Valley Allied Arts opens “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Friday.

“(The writers) originally wrote it for a kids’ school,” Director Brian Higgins said. “You have a bunch of different genres of music. There’s a country-western song in the show. There’s a sad song. There’s a little bit of early rap elements. It’s kind of a tour through different musical genres to keep kids interested.”

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” follows a story familiar to many from the Bible. The patriarch Jacob has 12 sons, but his clear favorite is Joseph, the second-youngest, who has dreams that his destiny is to rule over his brothers. Naturally, the other 11 are not huge fans of this idea, and when Jacob gives Joseph a fancy coat of many colors, that proves too much for them and they sell him into slavery. Joseph is taken in chains to Egypt, where he is sold to a wealthy man called Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph, but when he refuses her, she accuses him of rape and has him thrown into prison, where he gains the respect of other prisoners by interpreting their dreams. Joseph’s fortunes turn around when the Pharaoh has a dream he cannot understand and sends for Joseph to explain it. Meanwhile, his brothers back home have been stricken with famine after getting rid of Joseph and come to Egypt looking for food.

The story is narrated by singers Lindsay Hintz and Kylie Youngren before a group of children.

“We’re going to introduce a very light concept of (the narrators) telling these kids a story, kind of like Sunday school,” Higgins said. “And then the actors putting on the show is the story coming to life in front of the kids.”

Joseph is ostensibly the hero, and his brothers are almost footnotes in the Biblical story. Not so in the musical, Higgins said.

“(The actors) have a different emotion for each brother,” Higgins said. “I told them, ‘I want you to be the Seven Dwarfs. I just want you to pick an emotion, and that’s your emotion. And when you’re on stage, amplify it.’

“All the brothers have their own little thing going on,” said Taggart Hodges, who plays Asher, Jacob’s eighth son. “One always has the crazy eye; one is the very macho brother … That’s what makes it fun, because they kind of feed off each other’s energy.”

Joseph is played by Ephrata High School alumnus Alec Lobe, who has performed with the Arizona Broadway Theater, including starring in “The Phantom of the Opera,” according to his social media profile.

“He’s been a hometown star,” Assistant Director Emily Duvall said. “He was incredible to watch when he was in high school, and he’s even more incredible as an adult.”

The actors are accompanied by a full orchestra of community volunteers. The script is all sung; there are no spoken lines, which means a lot of wear and tear on voices, but is also a mixed blessing, Hodges said.

“The trade-off is there’s no lines,” he said. “There’s a lot less to worry about. There’s not nearly as much blocking, so you can focus a lot more.”

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” was originally written by the legendary team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in the late 1960s as a children’s cantata, then fleshed out for a full stage musical. It opened in London’s West End in 1973 and on Broadway in 1982. A film version was released in 1999 starring Donny Osmond as Joseph.

“(Our production) has talent, like you may have seen in a professional setting,” Duvall said. “I feel like we have high-caliber vocals; our chorus sounds heavenly every time they hit their chords. I think people will be really impressed with the choreography and really impressed with the vocals.”

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’

7:30 p.m. April 17

2 and 7;30 p.m. April 18

 7:30 p.m. April 23 and 24

2 p.m. April 25

Quincy High School Performing Arts Center

403 Jackrabbit St.

www.quincy-valley-allied-arts.org

Cast

Narrators: Lindsay Hintz, Kylie Youngren

Joseph: Alec Lobe

Reuben, Dance/Various: Jeff Ames

Simeon, Dance/Various: Aaron Leavitt

Levi, Pharaoh, Dance/Various: Clark Dalton

Naphtali, Dance/Various: Grant Te Velde

Issachar/Potiphar, Dance/Various: Miles Plagerman

Asher, Dance/Various: Taggart Hodges

Dan, Dance/Chorus/Various: Lydia Harris

Zebulun, Dance/Chorus/Various: Calissa Dalton

Gad, Dance/Chorus/Various: Alicia Lasley Pineda

Benjamin, Dance/Chorus/Various: Alexis Birrueta

Judah, Dance/Various: Matthew Jamison

Jacob, Dance/Chorus/Various: Derit Watson

Baker, Dance/Chorus/Various: Corina Cervantes

Potiphar’s Wife/Featured Dancer/Chorus/Various: Kala Lewis

Featured Dancer/Chorus/Various: Lexine Forsyth

Dance/Chorus/Various: Lurdes Hodges

Dance/Chorus/Various: Keira White

Dance/Chorus/Various: Leia Watkins

Chorus/Various: Lena Stacey

Chorus/Various: Diane Thompson

    Pharaoh (Clark Dalton) has a dream he can’t figure out in the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
  

    Joseph (Alex Lobe) may be in prison, but he’s sure he has a higher destiny in the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
  

    From left: Asher (Taggart Hodges), Benjamin (Alexis Birrueta), Zebulun (Calissa Dalton) Reuben (Jeff Ames), Simeon (Aaron Leavitt) and Levi (Clark Dalton) have fallen on hard times in the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
  

    Joseph’s brothers Gad (Alicia Lasley), Dan (Lydia Harris), Judah (Matthew Jamison), Issachar (Miles Plagerman) and Naphtali (Grant Te Velde) are beginning to get a little hungry in the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
  

    Pharoah’s dreams are perplexing, but the butler (Jeff Ames) thinks he knows a guy who can help in the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”