Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
A Synopsis by Cat Ortiz-White
This story taken from the Old Testament of the Bible is told in a very fun and light hearted way being set to light hearted pop tunes. There is a narrator who tells the story of Joseph and his "Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." The story starts with Jacob who lived in the land known as Canaan and he had twelve sons. The oldest, Joseph was his favorite son. Joseph was the son of his first wife who had died and he reminded Jacob of her. Jacob wanted to show the world how much he loved his eldest son Joseph and he bought him a multicolored coat.
Joseph was also different from his brothers in that he was a dreamer and he had dreams of one day becoming something great. Joseph told some of his dreams to his brothers, such as his brothers having eleven sheaves of corn that turned and bowed to his and that he saw eleven stars, the sun, moon and sky bowing down before his star.
Needless to say, this was not the kind of thing his brothers liked to hear. The brothers became jealous and envious of Joseph. They plan to murder their brother. However, the day they ambushed Joseph, some traveling merchants headed for Egypt pass by and they instead sell him to be a slave. They destroy Joseph's beautiful coat and tell their father that he had been killed - wrestling with a goat!
Joseph is then taken to Egypt in chains where the wealthy and powerful Potiphar buys him. Joseph is a hard worker and so Potipar makes him head of the servants in the house. It doesn't take too long for Photipar's beautiful but unfaithful wife notices the handsome Joseph. One day, while Joseph is cleaning her bedroom, she rips off her clothes and seduces Joseph. Her husband walks in and she pretends that Joseph is attacking her and Joseph is thrown in jail.
While in jail Joseph becomes very depressed and wishes for his own death in the lovely haunting song "Close Every Door." But then fate comes to the rescue.
Joseph is soon joined by two servants of the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. One is a butler and the other a baker. They are both having dreams and ask Joseph to interprete them. The butler dreamed that he crushed some grapes to wine and gave it to Pharaoh who drank from the cup. Joseph was happy to tell the butler that he would soon be set free. The baker then told Joseph his dream. He dreamed he had a basket full of bread when suddenly every slice was eaten by birds. Joseph was sad and reluctant to tell him that the Pharaoh had it in for him and that his execution date had been set.
In the meantime, The King (Pharaoh, who is portrayed as the King of rock, Elvis Presley) is also having very strange dreams that are bothering him. His butler, the one that was released from prison, tells Pharaoh about Joseph and his gift of explaining the meaning of dreams. The Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him to tell him is dream. He dreamed that he saw seven fat cows followed by seven thin cows, then all of a sudden the fat cows are eaten by the thin cows.
Joseph said that the fat cows meant seven years of good crops and that the thin cows represented seven bad years of famine and despair to follow. Joseph suggested to store food supplies during the good years to be ready for the seven bad years that will follow. The Pharaoh is so grateful and impressed with Joseph that he puts him in charge of the rationing of food for the famine and says "You are my number two, baby." When the famine hits, Egypt does well while other neighboring states are not doing very well.
Back in Canaan Joseph's brothers were caught off guard by the famine and were starving to death. They decided to travel to Egypt when they hear of the plentiful supply of food. The brothers wind up before Joseph's feet, begging him for something to eat. They no longer recognize their brother but Joseph does recognize them! Joseph now wants to know if they are now repentant for their crime and decides to see if they have changed their evil ways.
Joseph gives each brother a sack of food but then smuggles a precious golden cup into his brother Benjamin's sack. When the crime is discovered, Joseph orders Benjamin to be thrown into jail. All of the brothers fall to their knees and beg Joseph to show him some mercy. Each one of them pleads to have Joseph throw them in jail instead of their brother. Joseph then knew that his brothers were now honest and truthful men that put their brother before themselves. Joseph told them who he was and they all celebrate a joyful reunion and even bring their father Jacob with Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph closes the show by singing about his coat and his dreams, letting the audience know that they should also try to full fill their own dreams too, no matter what anybody else has to say about them.
