Pine-Richland thespians gear up to bring 'Dreamcoat' musical to life
The stage at Pine-Richland High School will be full of color and light with the spring musical production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
The show opens March 10 in the high school auditorium, with senior Jake Pedersen in the title role.
“There's a lot of singing, dancing and color,” said director Sarah McGraw Krushinski. “We have these fabulous moving lights that are going to put a lot of color on stage.”
McGraw Krushinski is new to the musical team this year, but has 30 years of experience as a professional musical theater performer. Most recently, she's been teaching at Wexford Acting Studio.
After holding auditions this year, McGraw Krushinski said she knew “Joseph” was the right show for the cast with a lot of strong male performers and a talented ensemble.
This year's production features 56 cast members, 35 crew and 22 in the pit orchestra.
“Joseph” is based on the Biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors from the book of Genesis. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, the story follows Joseph, the favorite of Jacob's 12 sons, along his journey after being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.
“There are moments of levity, there are moments of poignancy,” McGraw Krushinski said. “It has everything. It's a real story of humanity.”
Pedersen said playing the arrogant and ambitious Joseph is not easy, but it's enjoyable to play around with different emotions as his character goes through his journey to redemption.
Pedersen played the title role in the 2015 production of “Pippin” and was a member of the quartet in last year's “Music Man.” He plans to pursue musical theater in college.
“I'm so honored and excited,” he said, of playing his final high school role. “I'm having such a great time so far.”
“Joseph” is a family-friendly show with a variety of musical styles and dancing. Senior Audrey Nigh, who plays one of Joseph's brothers, said this show's music is one of her favorites.
Playing a male character has been challenging for Nigh, who has had to change the way she walks, sings and holds herself. But it's been fun to be “one of the guys” and wear a beard as part of her costume, she said.
Because the whole show is sung – there's no dialogue – it has a lot of energy throughout, Nigh said. With the lights, colorful costumes and dance numbers, she said it's a fun show for everyone.
“It'll be really entertaining for audiences,” she said.
Rachel Farkas is a Tribune-Review contributor.
