The timeless tale of a young man and his coat of many colours will once again be taking centre stage in Timaru next week.
For their annual production, Mountainview High School MPR (musical production) students will be bringing the much-loved musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to life.
The show, told entirely through song with help of the narrator, follows the story of Jacob’s favourite son Joseph.
After being sold into slavery by his 11 jealous brothers, he goes on a journey during which he is falsely imprisoned, discovers the ability to interpret dreams and ultimately ends up as the right-hand man of the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Director Catherine Smith said that with the MPR subject’s current cohort, it was the perfect time to stage Joseph.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of boys in musical production, a real mixture of kids and there’s lots of roles with all the brothers, wives and things like that.
‘‘The cast we’ve got is pretty experienced, because a lot of them were involved in the two musicals we did last year, Mamma Mia! and Aida.
‘‘The year before that we did Evita, so a lot of them have done some pretty lofty musicals and have taken MPR right through for five years now.’’
She said the show, which featured a cast of about 65, also included students being a part of a live orchestra and running and designing all the sound and lighting themselves.
Arts captain Nathan Geerling, who plays a brother and Potiphar, said he had really enjoyed being a part of the production.
‘‘Joseph has been pretty great. There are some amazing points throughout the show with the whole of the ensemble and the leads coming in to create some amazing anthems and harmonies.
‘‘We have some phenomenal singers, the lighting and tech side of it is great and having a live orchestra allows us to push the boundaries of some songs as well, which is really amazing and adds some spice. It’s going to be an amazing show.’’
James Duncan, who will be taking on the role of the Pharaoh, said the show had been a big collaborative project.
‘‘I’ve really enjoyed working on Joseph. It’s been a great experience and since we have students from year 9 to 13 it’s been great to work with people you normally wouldn’t.
‘‘It’s been great just seeing the show come together as we worked on it more and more. As an actor I’ve really enjoyed doing numbers like Those Canaan Days, and Song of the King as they are ones where you can really try and portray your character over to the audience.’’
The show will open on Wednesday, August 20 and run each night at 7pm until Saturday, August 23.
There will also be a 1pm matinee performance on Saturday.
Tickets are available from the iTicket website and cost $10 for children under-18 and $20 for adults.
