Alia-801's Joseph fanpage

html> Alia-801's Joseph fanpage

I only saw this show done professionally for the first time in April 2000. (Previously I'd seen it done by an amateur group, but it's a different thing entirely). Since I used to provide first aid cover at the theatres, I got to see a lot of shows, but some stood out from the rest. And this is one of them. I've since seen it a total of 14 times - 7 at the Regent, twice in Darlington and once each in Manchester, Wolverhampton, Cheltenham, Stoke again, as well as Chichester.

While I'd like to create a whole page about Joseph and how great it is, I fear I've been beaten to it! And rather than go into competition I thought it would be easier for me to just link to the other site here and now... It belongs to my great friend Tanith, and it has everything you'd ever want to know about Joseph (especially the UK touring production). It's updated regularly, and well worth a look if you're even remotely interested in the show!
So, here you go - a link to Tanith's Joseph Site

The one thing I feel I can do without too much duplication is give my version of the story... everyone seems to have their own, so here's mine.

The Dreamer

Jacob (also known as Israel) has 12 sons, the youngest of whom is called Joseph. Jacob loves Joseph more than any of his other sons, since he was born to him in his old age, something which the other 11 brothers aren't to happy about since it means that they get neglected. To show Joseph how much he cares for him, Jaacob buys him a special coat. Joseph, of course, is delighted and shows it off, while his brothers are less than impressed. Joseph, blind to any problems he may be causing for himself, tells his brothers about the dreams he's been having of late - dreams which suggest that he's going to do a lot better than they are in the future. This proves to be the final straw and the brothers decide to get rid of him for good.

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The Betrayal

The next day, while out in the fields minding their sheep, the brothers settle on a plan. They grab Joseph, tear off his new coat and throw him in a pit. Initially they plan to just leave him there to die, but then they see a group of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt and another idea develops. They sell Joseph as a slave. As he's being dragged off, the brothers kill a goat and dip his coat in the blood. They go home and tell their father that Joseph is dead, killed by a wild animal.

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The Slave

Meanwhile, Joseph has finally reached Egypt, and is sold as a slave to a Captain of the Guard called Potiphar. He works hard for his new master, and is made head of the household staff. However, his new found luck doesn't last long. Potiphar's wife takes a shine to Joseph, and tries to seduce him. Our hero, of course, won't have any of it, but eventually, annoyed, Potiphar's wife sets him up - Potiphar sees them together and assumes that Joseph was to blame. He has him thrown into jail, with little possibility of release.

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The Prisoner

In jail, Joseph manages to get on well with the guards, but even so, it looks like he's stuck there for good. Other prisoners come and go, among them members of the King's staff: his baker and his butler. Both have been troubled by dreams since their arrest, and they tell their story to Joseph. Joseph manages to interpret the dreams, and as he predicts, the baker is executed and the butler is freed.

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The Seer

Things don't seem to be getting better, until Pharaoh, the King, starts having bad dreams. Everyone at court tries to decipher the strange stories of cows and corn, but noone succeeds. Finally, the butler remembers that Joseph, still in jail, seemed to have a knack with dreams, and pharaoh has him brought to the palace. Of course, Joseph manages to explain what all the farmyard imagery signifies - seven excellent years for the land, followed by seven years of drought. Pharaoh, impressed and relieved to finally know what the cryptic dreams mean, makes Joseph his second-in-command.

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The Prince

As predicted, seven years are great - Egypt grows far more food than it can eat, so under Joseph's careful supervision much of it is stored away. Seven years later and the weather changes. In Egypt, the storerooms are broken open and there's plenty of food to go round. It's a different story in Canaan, where Joseph's family still live - there's nothing to be eaten at all. In despair the brothers set off for Egypt to buy food.

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The Test

Once there they meet a prince, who initially refuses to give them anything as he suspects that they are spies. Eventually they grovel and beg, never once suspecting that the prince they are bowing to is their long lost brother - fulfilling the dreams he had back at the beginning of the story. Eventually he relents and gives them sacks of food. But, still unimpressed at what they did to him (and not really without reason!) he decided to test them to see if they've changed. He plants a gold cup in the sack of Benjamin, his full brother (the others are half-brothers). He 'discovers' the theft just as they are leaving, and orders Benjamin arrested.

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The Reunion

The brothers, it seems, have learned their lesson - they refuse to let Benjamin be blamed for the theft, and beg Joseph to imprison them instead. Finally Joseph decided that enough is enough, and reveals to them who he really is. A joyous reunion follows, made complete when Jacob comes to Egypt and is reunited with the son he thought dead.

The musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat" is based on the bible story of Joseph, which can be found in Genesis, chapters 35 to 46. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

There are several 'Joseph' sites on the web, but the best I've found are:

Tanith's Joseph Site which has info on the UK touring production, as well as loads of other info,
and of course, The Official Joseph site on the Really Useful Group Homepage

® Technicolor is the registered trademark of the Technicolor Group of Companies

Last updated 25 Dec 2007 Page designed by: alia-801
Image use policy: All images on this site are copyright alia-801, unless indicated otherwise. You may use images from this site for non-commercial purposes, so long as credit is given to A. Ford. Please email me if you have any queries - alia_801 [at] planet-save . com