By Camila Bagley ’17, Contributor

With many new factors added to this year’s Winter Musical, audiences were sure to see a show not quite like any put on by the school in recent years. A new director means a fresh view of the Theatre Department and thus a new type of musical. Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat was the first musical done by Country Day to have only singing, to contain no double casting, and to feature a children’s choir. All in all , it made for a charming show with a talented cast.

The musical begins with the four narrators setting up the story of Joseph: a biblical tale with an 80’s rock twist. The narrators (Anna Beyette ’17, Maggie Miller ’17, Annabel Forman ’19, and Ava Keller ’19) had some of the strongest performances out of the cast and enough charisma to captivate the audience. The narrators also introduce the audience to the musical’s lead, Joseph, played by David Yang ’16. His introductory song “Any Dream Will Do”, featured the children’s choir, “ an adorable addition which really pulled the show together” said Abby Maggard ’19. This number, which featured little to no dancing, was enchanting as Yang commanded the stage and showed his clear ability to be a strong lead for the production. However, the first ensemble piece, “Jacob and Sons”, was the piece to “set the tone for the rest of the musical to be energetic and light-hearted” said Cam Davis ’17. The number also proved that the strongest element of the production was its ability to pull off massive ensemble pieces featuring tumblers and the children’s choir along with the entirety of the cast. This was reiterated by the brothers Old Western piece “One More Angel In Heaven”.

The second act was slow to start, however it truly took flight along with Teja Atluri’s(’16)  standing ovation garnering performance as the Pharaoh. “It had to be everyone’s favorite part of the show. The Elvis bit was simply hilarious,” said Mrs. Dunn.   The only weakness of the show appeared to be its inability to capture the attention of younger students. Adam Evans ’22 said, “It was hard to follow through all the singing especially since it was a Bible story.” But with sold-out or near sold-out crowds at all four performances, “Joseph” was clearly a crowd-pleaser.

Image Source: @COMPUDUCATION