Joseph started life as a show to be performed by kids for other kids, telling the Biblical tale of Joseph and his brothers in simple, tuneful, contemporary terms they could all understand. Through all the years of revision, expansion, and increasingly lavish productions, it remains what it always was: a simple, tuneful, contemporary retelling of a Biblical tale, and a true crowd-pleaser, impervious to critical assessment. What does it matter if Andrew Lloyd Webber first established his annoying recitative technique here, repeating a simple musical phrase endlessly until it seems that you were born with those notes inside your head? He casts the major numbers in such a variety of familiar styles -- cowboy hoedown, disco upbeat, Presleyesque rhythmic, cabaret mournful, calypso, and a couple of soulful ballads for the leading man -- that every audience member is certain to find some familiar ground.
As long as the voices are strong and the performances enthusiastic, the reaction is going to be positive. This touring production, which originated at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, is not as funny or inventive as the last tour of Joseph that came through the Twin Cities, with Donny Osmond at its head. Dallett Norris's direction is no more than efficient, and Richard Stafford's choreography is active without being especially interesting. No matter, the audience loved it, and who can argue with popularity? Patrick Cassidy is Joseph as he-man hunk. You know he's going to survive, since he's bigger and better-looking than anyone else onstage. That he is also a skilled singer and actor is an added bonus.
Deborah Gibson sings powerfully as the Narrator, but her acting choices are slick and generalized, and she never makes genuine contact with the audience or the onstage boys chorus. The Minnesota Boychoir fills the latter role admirably. Eric Martsolf does the standard Presley impersonation as the Pharaoh, and Scott Davidson, Adam Williams and Rob Russo Jr. capably fill various comic supporting roles.
For those in need of an Osmond fix, four members of "The Osmond Brothers 2nd Generation" are among Joseph's 11 siblings, and two even younger Osmond's are point men for the boys chorus. The sets and costumes are serviceable, and, being grateful for small favors, the accompaniment is not miked to the point of pain. Joseph is going to persist, and this production, especially in its leading actor, at least serves the material honorably.
