Way, way back many centuries ago (read: in 1999), Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” was released as a direct-to-VHS film. Since then, the quintessentially campy ‘70s musical has become a nostalgic (and low-key erotic) favorite among the queer community and youth drama instructors alike. But what does this genre-defying Genesis retelling mean to the Jewish community today?
Hey Alma team members have always been stans of “Joseph” — we’d even argue that it deserves a place alongside Jewish cinematic greats like “The Prince of Egypt” — and knew we couldn’t possibly be alone in our feelings. So we polled you, our audience, to collectively answer the question: “What makes ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ a true work of art?”
So, so, so many of you responded. Thank you for validating our feelings that we most certainly are not alone when it comes to our feelings about “Joseph.” Read on to reveal some of our favorite thoughts from the Hey Alma community.
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HOT DONNY OSMOND:
“HYPERFIXATED on the 1999 Donny Osmond movie growing up — my grandma had it on VHS so naturally I watched it weekly at her house. Shirtless Donny sent me into a TIZZY.” — 27, Chicago
“I truly believe that Donny Osmond’s performance in this movie was my sexual awakening. The scene where Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him and takes off his shirt was so confusing and so exciting to me at the same time. I remember watching it at home with my babysitter in the other room, and being so scared that she would walk into the room and witness me watching this scene. Growing up in a conservative Jewish home, my family loved this movie because it taught a biblical story and inspired an interest in the Torah. I doubt my parents would’ve let me watch movies with similar scenes and inappropriate jokes starting at age 3, but they seemed to overlook this one!” —28, Philadelphia
HOT MARIA FRIEDMAN:
“The narrator was my blueprint for the divine feminine.” —26, Connecticut
“I want Maria Friedman to narrate my life as a musical.” —23, Israel
HOT ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS:
“Mrs. Potiphar was my queer awakening. When she steps on Joseph’s chest with that long cigarette holder and the opera gloves… 👌 I dressed up as her one year for Halloween.” —28, Kansas
“The apache dancer in ‘Those Canaan Days’ was a significant player in my bisexual awakening.” —18, New Jersey
THE COLORS:
“I was in three different productions of ‘Joseph’ between the ages of six and 10, and all the colors are deeply embedded in my psyche.” —34, New York
“I’m well over 50 and I still know all the colors of Joseph’s coat in order, thanks to performing this with my sister in our living room in Leeds.” —58, North London
THE WAY IT MAKES TORAH LEARNING FUN:
“I was in this show in fifth grade, and every time the Seder came around for the 7+ years afterwards, my dad asked me to sing songs from the show to start off our retelling of the story of Passover. He would lead with the question ‘How DID the Jews end up in Egypt in the first place?’ and give me a very pointed look.” —26, Chicago
“I used the song ‘Jacob and Sons’ to memorize all the names of the tribes for a Judaic Studies test.” —27, New Jersey
ITS JEWISHNESS, IN GENERAL:
“I really feel like [Andrew Lloyd Webber] came through for the Jews. King saw how rough we had it with no campy 1970s-esque Jewish bible story musical to call our own and said, ‘If I can make Jesus Christ a superstar, I can make Joseph a technicolor dreamcoat.’ He also probably thought, ‘I will make a killing on royalties off of this from religious schools forever and ever,’ which was also true.” —26, Baltimore
“The line in ‘Close Every Door’ (‘Just give me a number instead of my name’) [and its] Holocaust association makes me weep every time. The whole show makes me feel so Jewish, through tears and the absolute joy of ‘Go Go Go Joseph’ and all the silly little moments. Weeping and giggling and taking the ridiculous very seriously? Very Jewish.” —33, California
THE CAMP OF IT ALL:
“Prophetic dreams, golden child syndrome, faking a death, VINDICATION against those awful brothers, the attempted seduction from Potiphar’s wife; the telenovela level of DRAMA!!!!” —33, Toronto
“The raw sexual energy of the narrator, hot young Donny Osmond, the children randomly chiming in during the songs, the end reveal that the characters are all people who work in the school. I have literally no notes — the show is perfection.” —28, New York
THE EARWORMS:
“The lyrics pop up sometimes without warning, like in an art history class where we’re discussing ancient Egypt and someone says the name Ramses… half an hour later, I’m wondering why the Narrator’s voice is in my head.” —28, Boston
“I cannot turn it off. My brain, without prompting, goes: ‘It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and gold and azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and BLUE’ (and yes, I just typed that all out and did not copy and paste the lyrics).” —22, New York
THE WAY IT MADE US LOVE THEATER:
“My mother is Israeli, and I grew up listening to the album in Hebrew. I remember putting on giant clip-on dangling earrings and a leotard and dancing to ‘Go Go Go Joseph’ (it was the same in Hebrew) in my grandparent’s bedroom when I was 5. It’s a very happy memory, and is probably responsible, at least in-part, for my lifelong love of theater.” —38, New York City
“’Joseph’ was my very first introduction to the world of theater. I got the role of Gad in my camp production (complete costume was a white t-shirt with the letter ‘G’ on it) and had so much fun, I made acting my entire personality… I even founded a Jewish Theater Student Group in college. My professional career might be in biotech, but I still get a job now and then as a paid extra in films and it all started with ‘Joseph.’” —31, Boston
THE NOSTALGIA:
“My Bubbe ז״ל took me to see the traveling cast downtown when I was in middle school, and it remains one of my warmest memories. We had a special dinner beforehand, snuck candy into the theater, and the whole night felt magical. I can still sing the entire musical by heart, and the soundtrack has become my go-to whenever I need a mood boost.” —33, Cleveland
“I was literally born to Joseph. My mom was feeling quite nervous and sick as she was having a C-section, and the doctor asked if he could put on some music to help her feel better. His only cassette tape? The ‘Joseph’ original Canadian cast recording. We like to say that my origin story is that I burst through the womb screaming ‘GO GO GO JOOOOSEPH.’” —30, New York City
THE WAY IT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER:
“For me, Joseph is the stage equivalent of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ (1998). Both are musical masterpieces that cover iconic stories from the Torah (or for Christians, the Bible), that mean a lot to Jewish people and many Christians, too! In college I had a roommate [who was] raised as an evangelical Christian, and we bonded over knowing all the lyrics to ‘Joseph,’ among other [unexpectedly shared] religious media experiences.” —22, Minneapolis
“My roommate in college listened to a lot of Pearl Jam and Neil Young, and I listened to a lot of Billy Joel and Bette Midler, and the only thing that was in the middle of our music Venn Diagram was the ‘Joseph’ soundtrack.” —48, Cleveland
THE WAY IT BAFFLES US:
“We watched it on VHS so much as a kid! I didn’t know that Christians knew that story too — I thought it was just for us Jews. Although my little brother named Judah was confused why his namesake was Jamaican…” —26, New York
“‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ was so ingrained in my brain at such a young age that when I first discovered Elvis, my reaction was, ‘Oh, he’s like the Pharaoh,” and not the other way around.” —27, Los Angeles
READERS’ HOPES FOR FUTURE PRODUCTIONS:
“The middle school in my town did ‘Joseph’ every year and we would walk over to see it. My favorite choice of theirs was that they would cast a girl to play Dina (Jacob’s daughter who has her own pretty dark character arc in the ~scripture~). Anyway, I think that should be a common practice and ALW should write a new song for her to sing like he did with Taylor Swift in ‘Cats.’” —25, New York
“Waiting for the day we are finally ready to talk about the portrayal of women in this story. Also, need a ‘Wicked’-type Rosencrantz/Guildenstern behind-the-scenes for Potiphar’s wife!” —38, Massachusetts
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ABOUT “JOSEPH” FROM OUR READERS:
“Rewatching it as an adult, [you realize] how absolutely batshit crazy the entire production is. It’s definitely a fun one to watch with your non-Jewish friends who never experienced the magic as children, and to see the horrified looks on their faces as they question everything they ever thought about you.” —28, United Kingdom
“‘Joseph’ was and still is my entire personality.” —28, Portsmouth, UK
