Having obtained an extension of its lease, the West End Dinner Theatre is back offering a full schedule of dinner theater performances. The new evening show is the sprightly lightweight musical that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice concocted out of the biblical story of Jacob’s son Joseph and his "Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat." This tuneful pastiche serves up nearly two dozen songs in a range of styles from pop rock to ballad to country western to calypso in a quick succession of scenes.
Mark Minnick, who has twice been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for his choreography at the West End, both directs and choreographs this production. He approaches the shows he directs with a dancer’s eye for movement and ear for rhythm. He keeps the story moving quickly along, punctuating each song or scene. His work is most satisfying in the big production numbers where he can deploy the dozen sons of Jacob in tap or stomp or slap syncopations, and the show is the most fun at those moments.
The narrator of the story is Janine Gulisano, herself a two-time Helen Hayes nominee. She sets up each of the scenes and either participates or observes along with the audience as Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, becomes known for his ability to interpret dreams, is consulted by the Pharaoh and rises to be Egypt’s "No. 2." She has a magnetism and star quality, filling the hall with both her voice and her smile. Her Joseph is Jeffrey S. Shankle, well-known to West End regulars for his work in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “West Side Story” and “Brigadoon.” His is an uneven performance, but he has a number of highlights, including the concluding "Any Dream Will Do."
The lyrics of Tim Rice fit Andrew Lloyd Webber’s inventive melodies better than those of many of Sir Andrew’s later collaborators. They are continuously ingenious and consistently fun, sparkling with the anachronisms at which he excels. Only Tim Rice would have Joseph sing of his appearance in the multicolored coat his father gave him, "I look handsome, I look smart, I am a walking work of art" or even call the coat itself "Technicolor," knowing it meant that the title of the play would always have to sport a trade mark registered "r" because of the demands of the Hollywood film processing company.
Together Rice and Webber came up with songs using a variety of styles, all fitting together through tongue-in-cheek humor. There is a country western tune given a properly exaggerated rendition by the chorus of brothers led by Mat Conner. There is a faux disco number and a rhythm and blues song that gets an Elvis Presley take-off, performed with hip swiveling energy but too much Southern slur by Darren McDonnell. There is a calypso number, which Minnick stages with the brothers going under a limbo pole while the lead singer goes over it.
The show would have benefited from a central costume design (the costumes are credited to W. E. Design, a cute way to say everyone was responsible for his own getup) and from a more extravagant set. The designs here are workable, but "Joseph" is a show-designer’s showcase, and more might have been expected.
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" continues through the spring with evening performances Tuesday–Sunday and matinees on Sundays and selected Wednesdays. Tickets, including full dinner, range from $32 to $37. Call 703-370-2500.