Packed Opening Night Crowd “Amazed” by Joseph

December 1, 2012 / Union Street Players / 3 Comments

Joseph (Tom Palmer) is mobbed by adoring girls in “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

The Joan Kuyper Farver Auditorium in the Pella Community Center was packed last night for the opening of Union Street Players‘ production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. After the show, many audience members were heard mentioning that they were planning to return next weekend to see the performance. One audience member posted this review on Facebook this morning:

From the moment those brightly costumed kids dashed out on stage and filled the space with song (no timid vocals here) we knew this Technicolor Friday night on Union St. would take us to an amazing biblical tale rocking with dreams, angels, and song.

I mean the stage shook with choreography so synchronous, joyous, rambunctious that somewhere Twyla Tharp feels an itch she can’t scratch. I mean in that small stage space, I was waiting for someone to come flying out over the audience. This was not Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney putting on a show in a garage where we smile at the effort and follow with polite applause as we check the watch.

No, I’m telling you this was Broadway quality stuff, and I am no broadcasting homer who sees the team effort in a halo beaming from self-interest. The French scene was so comically dolorous that if Maurice Chevalier, Marcel Marceau, and Jerry Lewis had been cast, it would not have been funnier. I have a loud laugh but you could not hear it because the place was San Francisco in 1906. And the statuesque pharaoh (Tom Vander Well) be-wiggly wigged as an Elvis whose hips wiped out stage left and stage right was The King! I thought his screaming fans would rush the stage. Elvis is really alive.

And the Cowboy, Calypso, and Stone the Crows numbers snapped, crackled and popped, nobody held back waiting for the leads to lead. Joseph’s (Tom Palmer) beautiful voice in this crazy quilted version of an Old Testament story perfectly echoed the emotions of an ancient desire to get back home. Directors Pat Moriarity and Wendy Vander Well and the fantastic set crew will have to add another wing to the theatre just to have enough tickets for next weekend. – Marty Feeney

Tickets are going fast for remaining performances. You can purchase your tickets on-line to ensure you get a seat. Here are the number of remaining seats as of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 1:

Sat Dec 1 at 7:00 p.m.: 65
Sun Dec 2 at 2:00 p.m.: 55

Thu Dec 6 at 7:00 p.m.: 212
Fri Dec 7 at 7:00 p.m.: 151

Sat Dec 8 at 7:00 p.m.: 131