|
By Donald H. Harrison
 ESCONDIDO, California — I have a recommendation for grandparents who want to expose elementary school-aged children to the joys of professional theatre over the summer. The Welk Resort Theatre, showing Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through August 30 , is the place for you. It is both child-friendly and senior-citizen friendly.
The lady sitting on my right nodded at my grandson, Shor, 8, on my left, and confided during intermission that she trusts the Welk Resort Theatre to offer wholesome entertainment – the kind fit for a youngster. Nowadays, she shuddered, some of the plays one can see at other theaters are raunchy, nothing you’d want kids to see. But not at the Welk, a resort founded and named for the late television band leader Lawrence Welk. Here, she said, the plays are G-rated, meant to entertain and not to shock.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t a bit of sexual by-play in Joseph – the script after all calls for Joseph (Richard Bermudez) to be unsuccessfully stalked by Potiphar’s wife (Kara Lynne Liotta). And Weber’s pharaoh is an Elvis Presley clone played with signature pelvis thrusting by Carlos Martin. But as directed by Ray Limon, none of these scenes were particularly lewd—nothing that would cause discomfort either for the 8-year-old-boy or for the possibly 80-year-old women sitting near me.
The set was a two-level affair, and depending on the spotlights, actors could use this arrangement to either command the audience’s attention, or to fade into the background. There were also two spaces not much bigger than wardrobe closets on the wings of the stage, adding to the visual variety of the set. We met Potiphar (David Allen Jones, who also plays Jacob) counting his money in one of the wardrobes—labeled as an Egyptian Express office.
The play gave me an opportunity to teach a new vocabulary word to Shor – “anachronistic” – because the biblical story is populated with more modern-day allusions. Not only is the pharaoh Elvis, but the brothers, who usually wear overalls with their initial on the front, dance a western hoe-down as well as a Calypso number unbeknownst in the time of Genesis. Near the beginning of the play, when the brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites –who transport him as a slave to his destiny in Egypt – one of the brothers pulls out a portable credit card machine to seal the deal.
From the get-go, narrator Anne Fraser Thomas’s strong vocals captivated the audience. She is considered the co-star of the production, subordinate only to the title character. From my point of view, Thomas is a stronger singer than Bermudez, but her role is less demanding physically. Both deserved the appreciative applause they received when Shor and I saw the production yesterday (Tuesday, July 7)
Other standout performances among the brothers were those of Levi (Eric McEwen) who led the singing of “One More Angel in Heaven” by which the sons fabricated a story to Jacob about Joseph’s supposed death; Reuben (Chanlon Jay Kaufman) whose comic “Those Canaan Days” was aided by his ability to hold a note far longer than the other actors on stage; and that of Napthali (Rovin Jay), who led the “Benjamin Calypso.”
Go to top of right column
| |
For my grandson, this was his third occasion to see a stage show of Joseph –the two previous productions having been presented by amateur youth theaters. In contrast, the Actors Equity cast at the Welk Resort Theatre gave a polished production, seemingly effortless. Confirming this point of view, Shor pronounced that this “Joseph” was the best he had seen.
During the 20-minute intermission, Shor and I went out in the lobby to inspect the Lawrence Welk memorabilia—including a champagne glass that stands higher than a basketball player. Most of the other people in the audience – save for about a dozen grandchildren—were senior citizens and I was surprised to see that most of them did not budge from their seats. Although both Shor and I tend to get shpilkes -- and therefore welcomed the stretch – apparently for many of the elderly, the seating was too comfortable and the between-acts schmoozing was too enjoyable to warrant getting up.
Welk Resort Theatre tickets range between $29 and $47 for performances, and can be upgraded to $35 to $63 if one wants a buffet dinner at the resort prior to the performance. There are special children’s shows, without meals, for $10 for ages 3-15. More information may be obtained from the box office at (888) 802-7649, or through the website, www.WelkTheatreSanDiego.com
|
