What is your definitive ranking of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals that you have seen?  That was the topic of conversation in our car as we drove through the southeast community of Newport News and pulled into the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center, where this year’s show is “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.  This was also our first musical in a while (we have been to six eligible shows, all plays, since we saw “How to Succeed in Business…” at LTVB back in mid-November), so we were excited to shimmy in our seats to some fun songs again.

And we were certainly not disappointed on that front.  The live band, led by music director Sherrod Brown, brings this extremely fun score to life, and the actors match the energy perfectly.  Nicolas Rakes plays the titular Joseph, and his singing is worth the price of admission – Rakes’s voice is smooth, blending with the ensemble, and then explodes into another tier as he comes to the forefront of the sound.  This is especially evident in the most chill-inducing song of the night, “Close Every Door”, which comes at the point of the show where Joseph is at his lowest, but Rakes is at his best. 

The sound in “Close Every Door” (and much of the show) is filled out by an ensemble of children – always a risky move.  However, the group at Downing-Gross did a really nice job of keeping them engaged and active all night through a series of smart staging choices.  First of all, the part of the Narrator was split into three, shared by a trio of strong singers in Sheila Jones (in the red shirt), Joye Frazier Thompkins (in blue), and Allison Aheart (in green), who were then also tasked with shepherding the kids around, but because there were three of them, it was more subtle and not distracting to the story.  Secondly, they kept the children engaged with some simple but entertaining choreography, full of jazz squares and grapevines, which is adorable to watch (and honestly, executed rather well).  Third, and our favorite, was that the crew at Downing-Gross came up with many fun props, which the kids kept toting across the stage at the appropriate moments, and which were surprisingly effective at placemaking (with very little scenery to speak of).  This kept the children involved and part of moving the plot forward, while not slowing down the feel of the show, all while being quite amusing.  We especially loved the camel (my wife said, and I quote, “you cannot talk about the camel enough in your review”), the goats, and the stars and moon props.  And, there is one (well, two) moments where an angel prop is walked – no, strutted – across the stage, we believe by the sassy Baylor Leary, who absolutely steals the show in that moment.

The fun does not stop with the children.  We also get HRACT Award nominated director Dillon Bates, stepping onto the stage this time as the Elvis-inspired Pharaoh, who fully commits to the bit as he hilariously jumps down into the crowd, and crushes the last few notes of his song, before doing an equally rousing planned encore.  Kiara Noble is a dynamic dancer in her role as the sultry Mrs. Potiphar.  And Derrion La’Zachan, nominated for an ACT-y last year for his supporting role in “The Color Purple”, returns to the stage at the Ella Fitzgerald Theater to bring the audience to its feet for his performance of the song “Benjamin Calypso”, where his voice is strong but his charisma and dance moves really shine.  Future directors, take note – the people want to see Derrion in a leading role soon!

Mainly, this is a really good time, from Joseph’s brothers’ kick-line and over-the-top grieving and groveling, to the cheerleading children trying to bring Joseph back from the brink of wavering faith.  You will be humming one of the many catchy tunes on the way home.  And – let’s find a way to get that camel into every show from here on out, a la that rubber chicken at Smithfield Little Theatre (see page three here).  Love that guy.