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Vibrant, Colorful Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor®Dreamcoat to light up Mountain Vista's Stage Flight Theatre

Stage Flight Theatre at Mountain Vista High School is excited to present Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor ® Dreamcoat for six performances from November 12-21, 2009. The performances (on 11/12, 11/13, 11/14, 11/19 and 11/20) start at 7:00pm in the Mountain Vista Auditorium with a Saturday matinee at 2:00pm on the 21st. Tickets cost $6 for students and $9 for adults, and go on sale on Nov. 3. All performances will take place at Mountain Vista High School, located at the corner of Wildcat Reserve Parkway and Mountain Vista Ridge, about one mile north of Broadway, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Joseph is one of the most popular and most-produced musicals in the United States today. Its catchy, and fun, music and memorable melodies help bring the Biblical story of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, to life. The simple story of a man whose life is torn apart by his brother's treachery, and who has to struggle to achieve his own fulfillment, is buoyed by its universal themes and messages.

At its heart, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat is a story of redemption. And the reason that the story is effective is because that redemption happens on multiple levels. The Brothers, who conspire to rid themselves of Joseph in Act 1, are forced to confront their actions in the second act, when they are struck by famine. The song, the thrilling "Grovel, Grovel" is one of the highlights of the show. In it, the Brothers attempt to show that they have changed and that they deserve Joseph's mercy. This is all delivered with a gorgeous musical refrain that is classic Lloyd Webber at his best. But it also comes after a prolonged musical conflict that raises the stakes for everyone involved.

Joseph, too, must address his emotions, and his forced journey from pride to humility. After falling to his lowest point, he has risen to great power in Egypt, and his Brothers, unwillingly, deliver their lives into his hands. It would be easy and painless for Joseph to refuse his Brothers, but he chooses to save them, absolving them and nearly sanctifying himself in his beneficence. This is a particular struggle for Joseph, but he realizes that, despite the fulfillment of his dreams, what he wants is family and connection and the innocence that he lost. His reuniting with his father is splendid, but Joseph cannot help but ruminate upon what has happened to him ("Any Dream Will Do"). And in that regard, the redemption, which may well be more of an enlightenment, is shared with us all.

" Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat conveys the story of a man's journey - from pride to sincere humility, from riches to rags and back again, from questioning destiny to realizing it. We may each relate to it differently, yet it has the power to touch us all," says Noelle Smits, a senior, who plays one of the Brothers.

"I think that the heart of this show has sometimes been lost in the overwrought spectacle of modern productions," says Jeremy Goldson, one of the directors of the show. "We are scaling back our production to make sure that the messages clearly come across. It's fabulous, singable music and the story is very straight-forward. Most important to us is what the show says about hope, innocence, and the burden of experience and knowledge. We want to make sure that the emotional power of the show is delivered."

Still, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat is not enduring and popular just because of the heft of its emotional message. "It has the tremendous capability of being one of the most entertaining musicals ever written!" says Maja Buck, another director for Stage Flight. One unique element to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat is the fact that it has no dialogue, only music. And Andrew Lloyd Webber mixes musical genres from calypso to western to Catholic mass (if that is a genre), to appeal to all levels and musical tastes. Each musical genre helps move the story along. One of the most entertaining songs, "Song of the King," is an Elvis Presley take-off that expresses the fears of the Pharaoh, who has been having troubling dreams. The fact that he needs a full-scale, full cast production number to communicate this is pure musical pleasure.

Other musical moments are emotionally powerful as well, especially the songs for the Brothers. "I love the amazing range of the music in the show because it expresses so many of the emotions a person can have," says Derek Driggs, a junior who plays the oldest brother, Reuben.

There are, of course, many challenges with a show that has demands that the performers operate at a level of heightened emotion and energy for the entire play. "Every single cast member, no matter what role, has to be involved and have a buy-in to each moment of the plot," says Buck. This buy-in is emphasized in dramatic staging and choreography, and the cast members have to communicate the action through the exaggerated movements of song and dance. When this works, such as in Joseph's plaintive ballad, "Close Every Door To Me," the emotional impact upon both the performers and the audience is very powerful. "The biggest advantages of the fact that the show is all music is that it moves incredibly fluidly and the climaxes, both emotional and plot, are really well-crafted," says Goldson