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Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival
Presented by the Redlands Community Music Association, Inc.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s colorful musical “Joseph” comes to Redlands Bowl
It’s Broadway musical time at the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival, and this season, the annual tradition of morphing a bare stage and local performers into a dazzling fully-staged production continues with the presentation of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 21, 22, and 23, with an open dress rehearsal on Tuesday, July 19. All performances start at 8:15 p.m.
Particularly well-suited for a large stage and big audiences, “Joseph” features a barrage of bouncy, lyric-rich songs and blistering dance production numbers as it re-tells the Biblical story of Jacob’s charming son, Joseph, and eleven jealous brothers. Envious of Joseph’s preferential treatment from their father, who has bestowed on Joseph a very colorful coat, the brothers plot to do him in. They sell him into slavery, convince their father that Joseph has met with an unfortunate accident, and settle back to enjoy their father’s attention.
Fate intervenes. Joseph, who ended up in prison in Egypt, endears himself to the Pharaoh, and becomes a powerful man. Back at home, the brothers’ prosperity turns to famine-induced dust. When they go to Egypt to seek help, they find, of course, their dispensed brother. Joseph, gracious and magnanimous after playing briefly with the brothers’ minds, shows why their father liked him best.
First created in 1968 by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice as a class assignment during their Colet Court School studies, “Joseph” has been produced professionally since 1972, and remains a favorite production for local and regional theater groups.
“Putting on any production in this Bowl is a challenge,” said T. Joel Fairley, producer/director for the show. “It’s such an immense size, we need to make things big enough to fill the stage.” Fairley explained that he meets this challenge with the right set designer, Larry Pirkle, who has received awards all over the Inland Empire for his set designs.
“The other factor is that the Bowl stage itself is quite lovely, and I hate the thought of messing up such a beautiful thing,” he said. With Pirkle, Fairley has created what he calls a Bowl-friendly set with many levels, so as much of the Bowl as possible can be seen and used. “The set really illuminates the immensity and structure of the Bowl.”
According to Fairley, Joseph’s story is driven by the music and the dancing, both of which demand extremely talented performers.
“We have two of the best leads you can find in the Inland Empire,” he said. The Storyteller is played by Debbie Prutsman, a local resident and popular regional performer. Adam Price of Corona plays Joseph. “I’ve worked with him many times before, and he will be a delightful addition to the Redlands family of performers,” said Fairley, who has performed in four Bowl productions, including “My Fair Lady,” “Sound of Music,” “Music Man,” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Jeffrey H. Rickard, conductor/music director, will direct the full orchestra for the show.
On Saturday, July 23, Fairley will present the Children’s Summer Festival Workshop at 10 a.m. at the Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia in Redlands. Free and open to all children ages 4 – 10, this workshop will teach the children about stage storytelling.
This concert is co-sponsored by the Physicians of Beaver Medical Group.
Like all Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival performances, it is free of charge, and a free-will offering will be collected at intermission.
The ushers are different for each performance: July 19, representatives from the Zonta Club of Redlands and the Coldwell Banker Realty Center; July 21, representatives from Trinity Episcopal Church and First Lutheran Church; July 22, representatives from Christ the King Lutheran Church; the Professional Women of Redlands, an auxiliary of Assistance League; and American Red Cross Inland Empire Chapter; July 23, representatives from Loma Linda Lopers and First Presbyterian Church of Redlands.
The intermission speakers will be different for each performance: July 19, Sheila Cannon, owner of Coldwell Banker Realty Center and RCMA board member; July 21, Jon Harrison, Redlands City Council member; July 22, Jeff Waldron, Mission Gables Bowl House Project Manager and RCMA board member; July 23, Elaine Brubacher, biology professor, University of Redlands.
The Redlands Bowl is located on Eureka Street just south of Brookside Avenue in Redlands. For information and directions, call (909) 793-7316 or visit the Web site at www.redlandsbowl.org.
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