Product: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 4.0
If you couldn't see the play, this is the next best thing.
I guess, overall, I found "Joseph..." very enjoyable. Currently I am performing in a community theatre production at Lakeshore Players Theatre in Minnesota. After seeing the DVD, I am jealous.Donny made a flawless performance of Joe. Even though the Narrator was breathy and (at times) weak in the vocal department, I was pleased with her. She had a very cool "aire" about her that made the character fabulous. If she had played the narrator on stage, I would have been less pleased, he weaker voice worked fine for the video. Bravo to the 11 brothers for masterful performances. Their random facial experssions and spuratic movements were hillarious, along with their voices. My hat's off to Pharoah as well... it was all in the eyes, and it was great. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time... GREAT facial expressions, obviously this man was at one time a stage actor. The character who did "Benjamin's Calypso" was an inspiration, especially because that is my song in the production I am doing. He was excellent, even though if something wasn't quite right... (yay for color-blind casting!)My favorite scene is probably Potiphar. I loved the perceptions... Joan Collins is beautiful, and the costumes (although risque) were perfect.... however, I found it interesting that in this version, Joseph actually started to LIKE the "free love" he experienced with Mrs. Potiphar. The other major change I saw was during the Butler/Baker scene... the line changed from "...both in the dog house FOR doing their thing..." in the b-way production to "... both in the dog house WERE doing their thing..." in the video. This change, along with the facial expression given by the narrator, incinuated the men were homosexual (if you couldn't tell by looking at them). I absolutely do not have a problem with that, it was just an interesting take on a Bible story... bravo for the 21st century!Although the camera work was poor with constant mis-matches between shots (which way was that chicken wing facing?), and the audio mixing was less than perfect (how do you sync sound with the lips of an entire chorus?), I found the colorful and cartoonish sets more than compensated. They were wonderful! Email me with your response to my review...