Give someone another golden clay .. .

'Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat'

M

y father often used the
phrase, "They didn't
miss a trick." Had he
been with me at the Ma-
sonic Temple Theatre for Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat last Thursday
evening, he would have found a
new meaning in that phrase.
Joseph didn't miss
any theatrical trick
known to man, Broad-
way, Las Vegas or the
Follies Bergere. There
were even three fi-
nales, the last of them
featuring Joseph rising
directly above the au-
dience up to the Ma-
sonic ceiling trailing a
coattail of many colors.

majestic sand castles . .
sparkling waters .. .
another chance.

Singing in Technicolor:
Abbott Middle School,
Greenfield Elementary
School and Roeper School
choir groups perform with
Donny Osmond.

Blood Services
Southeastern Michigan Region

THE WARP dF OZ

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Oz...

Find laughter, merry music and thrilling adventure!

0

on

Group

Liy ‘' o t
Rates
st op, • Available

Saturdays - 2:30 p.m.
12/9, 12/16, 12/23, 12/30

Sundays - 2:30 p.m.
12/10, 12/17, 12/31

Tues.-Fri.-2:30p.m.-12/26 thru 12/29

*reserved seating for 20 or more.
*We'll sing "Happy B'Day" - let us know at
the Box Office before the show.

Tickets at the door or phone in advance

(810) 349-8110

•

135 Main III Northville

4=10

PH OTOS BY GLEN N TRI EST

+ American Red Cross

fa/s
c.771 ea t?- e
Presents

choreographer Anthony Van
Laast, set and costume design-
er Mark Thompson, lighting de-
signer Andrew Bridge,
sound designer Martin
Levan, musical super-
visor Michael Reed, and
orchestrations by John Cameron.
If they worked for our space pro-

Go, Go, Go Donny—as
Joseph, he scolds his
brothers about those
Canaan days.

Please give blood.

Northville's
Historic

Merman were hiding in his
shorts; Donna Kane, as the Nar-
rator, carried the show from pit
stop to musical number and
back again with aplomb
and a soprano that any
leading lady would kill for;
Wayne State and Stratford alum-
nus Gary Krawford was dandy as

045 6rd

INN

NOVI

GREAT
RIBS
AND
SEAFOOD
LIVE
JAZZ

FRIDAY & SATURDAY
FEATURING
MIKE FLEMMING
7 PM - 10 PM

OPEN FOR LUNCH TUES.-FRI. 11-4
OPEN EVENINGS TUES.-SUN.
43317 East Grand River
(Just East of Novi Road)
(810) 305-5856

That was the invitation to the au-
dience, thrice-given, thrice-tak-
en, to rise to its feet in praise of
Joseph.
Now, it may be heartless to
carp, but as critics must, so I
must. I will say it just once, then
get on to the good news:
Performing Joseph — a small
work, originally a cantata for
children, a parable for trusting
in dreams — as a blockbuster
mega-musical is like setting
Emily Dickinson's poems to
Berlioz's music and performing
them at the Met.
But if this is what we've got,
then looking on the bright side,
how good is it?
It is blessed with a cast of
singers who know how to sell
songs with Andrew Lloyd Web-
ber's music and Tim Rice's lyrics:
Donny Osmond, looking as buff
as the production, sings a swell
ballad, belting out the reprise
"Close Every Door" as if Ethel

Jacob/Potiphar/Guru; and John-
ny Seaton, playing the Pharaoh
as Elvis Presley, was one of the
evening's highlights.
The cast of young singers and
dancers was every inch as good
as the last extravagant musical
pastiche to play here, Crazy For
You. But the most savvy casting
of all is that of the children's
choirs.
These kids open the show and
are commentators, narrators, by-
standers to the action; their voic-
es, followed by their arms and
legs, are lifted in song, and they
are sensational. They come from
Abbott Middle School Choir,
Bethesda Youth Choir, Birming-
ham Greenfield Chorale and the
Roeper School Theatre Choir.
The canny notion of putting
local kids on stage is another one
of those tricks not missed. This
production has the benefit of An-
drew Lloyd Webber's "creative
team": director Steven Plimlott,

gram, we'd be on Mars setting
up Webberland right now.
If there can be one star among
this stellar group, then I nomi-
nate Mark Thompson for a set
that is a major character. The
palette of colors makes one
swoon. Catch the brightly hued
sheep in Act I. Even more so, his
costumes of endless variety and
style — from a Pharaoh's court
comprised of rock-singer back-
ups to a Carnaby Street revisit-
ed number in Act I —
demonstrate a witty intellect and
the eye of a fine graphic artist.
They should be selling • his
cheeky blue-suede shoes in the
lobby — I'd buy a pair in an in-
stant.
Children will like this show,
though the Bible-study group
may find the glosses on a sacred
story displeasing. Parents will
find more than enough to enjoy
in the pastiche of popular music
from Apache to calypso to tango.
The show will be here until the
end of January and, given its his-
tory of repeating itself for return
engagements in other venues,
probably many times in the fu-
ture. 3 out of 4 bagels

—Michael H. Margolin

