Real Kato Blog: Theater: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Meh. Fun but not memorable.

I went with my dear and beautiful friend Ann to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" tonight. Like most of my other theater dates lately, Ann is married. Interestingly, most of the husbands of these married women don't mind at all that I take their wives out on these dates. So I think my new slogan is this: "The Real Kato: Taking Your Wife To The Theater So You Don't Have To. Since 1994."

The show was surprisingly enjoyable... once I stopped trying to think of it as a serious musical, and started thinking of it as a parody. I mean, it's such a goofball show, full of deliberate anachronisms like an Elvis character representing the Pharoah of Egypt, or a mod-squad group of go-go dancers representing... well, I'm not sure what they were supposed to represent. But they looked good up there, and it seemed like they were having fun.

Sheena Easton was adequate in the role of the announcer, though not as impressive as I was hoping for, given all the hype. Ray Walker, a familiar face at the North Carolina Theater, showed a lot of vocal talent, but sometimes it seemed like he was half-assing the acting performance. I guess that's to be expected, because the original script for this show is downright abysmal. Good thing the producers put in some fun twists to the show, including a little bit of local flavor and topical humor.

It's really not worth talking about all the acting performances, because this show is not exactly an actor's showcase. It's more a feel-good, have-a-good-time kind of spectacle, the kind of thing you'd expect to see performed six times a day at the auditorium of an amusement park. And I will say, it was a good time. But you know, at fifty bucks per ticket, I expect just a little bit more.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

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Posted by Ken in: reviews, theater

Comments

Comment #1 from Sonja (Guest)
2005 Jul 18 - 11:09 am : #

I made my husband go with me to Joseph. We saw it Sunday. I liked it. But I'm generally easily impressed with musicals.

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