A dramatic production six months in the making finally reached the stage of Chatelech Secondary School on Feb. 28. A further three performances of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat — a community performance involving nearly 50 volunteer singers and instrumentalists — are scheduled to take place this weekend.
The rendition of the work by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice represents the first attempt by Coast Music Theatre to join adult performers with teenaged members of School District 46’s musical theatre ensemble. Director Sara Douglas, collaborating with choreographer Sylvain Brochu and music director Tom Kellough, rehearsed each group separately before uniting them during a weeks-long countdown to the show’s debut.
Last weekend’s trio of performances packed the 200-seat theatre, culminating in a sellout crowd for its Sunday matinee.
Spectators issued an audible gasp when Derry Oshust, portraying the starry-eyed Joseph with a voice trained at the Canadian College of the Performing Arts, exchanged his prison rags for the raiment of an Egyptian prince. A howl of adulation heralded the appearance of Joshua Boyd in his guise as Pharaoh, a rhinestoned pantsuit and prodigious pompadour, as he evokes Elvis Presley with hip-rocking bluster.
“Before I started practicing all this, I didn’t strut,” admitted Boyd. “But I went to get a snack from the fridge the other day and I noticed myself strutting.”
Ruth Shell, an erstwhile chorister and improv practitioner who embodies a voluptuous Egyptian femme fatale, dallies playfully with audience members before training her gaze on the ascendant Joseph.
During Sunday’s performance, as sons of the Biblical patriarch Jacob (played by Allan Reid) lamented their straitened circumstances in a melancholy French ballad, an infant in the auditorium’s front row heaved a sympathetic sob.
“The biggest challenge is the variety of genres and musical styles,” observed Kellough, who serves as keyboardist and conductor for the six-member pit orchestra. “And the fact that it’s straight through: there’s no break. There’s no pause. You’ve got to change gears really fast.”
Many of the show’s leads are returnees from Coast Music Theatre’s inaugural project in 2024, The Pirates of Penzance — some with significantly increased responsibilities. Ro Zubeck, who shares the ubiquitous narrator’s role with Jen MacInnes, seized the opportunity to strengthen her skills. “I feel my voice and the way I sing have significantly improved,” she said. “I find I sing a lot healthier now than I did even six months ago, and I’m excited to see what other improvements I can make with my voice.”
Others, like Reid (also a Pirates alumnus and a member of the Suncoast Phoenix Choir) have embraced solo roles for the first time. “I find the story enlightening,” said Reid, “especially in these troubled times. It’s kind of a relief to come and put positive things out into our community.”
Cast member Lydia Watson, who sings with the Coastal Lights Choir, experienced impromptu mentorship through the rehearsal process. “I’ve learned so much from Sara and the crew,” she reflected. “I’ve learned about focusing, and grown and grown.”
Fittingly for a score written by an adolescent Lloyd Weber (he was only 17 when he began collaborating with lyricist Rice), Joseph radiates youthful energy. “I think I’ve grown a lot as a performer throughout the show, especially in my confidence,” said Riley Butler, a Grade 12 student at Chatelech. “I’m planning to go to college next year for acting, and this has really helped me find who I am as a performer.”
“Rather than sitting around at home,” added Grade Eight student Lulu Murphy, “I have friends to be with and people to communicate with.”
A group of Grade 10 technicians overseen by stage manager Jenny Margueratt acquired skills on the school’s newly-installed lighting and sound equipment on a straitened timeframe: Brooke Olsen, Sara Margueratt, and Trinity Proust.
“Getting to work with so many different age ranges and types of singing and dancing levels, it’s just been amazing,” said Olivia Rose, a 17-year-old in her first musical theatre role. “I love to see how everything kind of clicks together.”
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues with performances at Chatelech Secondary School on March 7 and 8 (at 7 p.m.) and March 9 (at 2 p.m.). Tickets are available at Sew Easy in Sechelt and One Flower One Leaf Gallery in Gibsons.
Disclosure: the Coast Reporter’s arts reporter is embedded in the show under layers of makeup.
