'Joseph' was amazing!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice.

REVIEW OF JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

By Mr. Jeffrey Hackler
Feb. 29, 2012

When I attend the opera, I anticipate that one or two professional singers will sing well, while the others will make me cringe. I had the same foreboding when I learned that our spring musical was sung from start to finish. Faculty members told me not to worry, that Austyn Lee '14, playing Joseph, has a fine voice. What an understatement. Austyn has an outstanding, pure, beautiful tenor. Toward the end of Act One, when he is sitting in his cell, his solo was powerful. He grasps the essence of the song by coloring it with emotions that were appropriate for the scene. It melted my heart and brought forth some tears.

But I wondered about the rest of the cast. You will be happily, joyously pleased to know that every voice is glorious, from the two narrators, Brooke Alcuran '14 and Summer Scott '14, who sing intermittently throughout the show, to the 11 brothers, who sing and dance with gusto in both acts, to the ensemble of Upper and Lower School performers. Standouts include Evan Chinn '12 with his Southern accent, Jarret Lin '13 with his French accent and Riley Sakamoto '15 with his Calypso song. What a pleasant surprise to see Scott Tan '12 as the father and Josh Hannum '12 as both a gangster and as Elvis "the Pharaoh" Presley.

The cast is huge (click HERE for the full list). At one time, 58 students are on stage, performing with high energy. They confidently and naturally find their places on stage, dance superbly -- great choreography -- and sing their hearts out.

Let's not forget the 21 musicians who play for nearly the entire 90 minutes, minus a short intermission. Their sound is professional -- in tune and up-beat. The crew (the 18-paged, full-color program noted 61 names) does an excellent job of running the stage and moving props on and off, including a huge camel. As I left the theatre, I was happy to see faculty and adults helping students understand the finer technical aspects of the lighting and sound systems.

This musical is already in full stride. While Wednesday's performance was identified as a "dress rehearsal," my wife and I noticed few if any choreography or singing glitches. What we saw was a lot of energetic, talented actors having fun on stage and that energy rubbed off on us. I smiled my way through many of the musical numbers. I am sure you will also.

None of this could happen without Robert Duval's direction and his fantastic team, including John Alexander, vocal director and accompanist, Manny Dayao '97, musical director and conductor, and Katherine Jones '93, choreographer. They, and many other faculty, staff and parents, spent countless hours preparing the students for this weekend. What impressed me was that all the actors looked confident -- that they belonged on the stage of Hawai’i Theatre.

And you belong in the theatre seats.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the show starts at 7 p.m. and runs for approximately 90 minutes. Buy your tickets ... NOW!

Photos from a rehearsal on Feb. 27: