This is the seventh time that the Arvada Center has staged this show, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and the first time in several years. It was also the first time I’ve ever seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice musical.
First, it should be understood that this is a musical entertainment, with only the thinnest narrative threads giving an excuse to the rock opera singing, or to switch genres from rock to Country-Western, Caribbean, or a handful of other musical genres. JatATD is frothy.
It’s also a lot of fun, the music is enjoyable (as one would expect of a Webber/Rice collaboration), and the Arvada cast was, as always, quite strong, including excellent pipes on both Sarah Rex as the Narrator, and Aaron Young as Joseph. Everyone else’s singing and dancing talent was nothing to sneeze at, either.
I can see why some folk would not consider it a compelling evening, more a highly staged musical dinner show. That’s somewhat understandable, given its history being stretched from a 35 minute “pop cantata” to its current two-act full-length production. But if you accept that going in, there’s plenty of entertainment in JatATD, especially as strong a production as Arvada’s.
The show runs there through 23 December. Highly recommended.
https://arvadacenter.org/about-the-center/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat-2