''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a 1999 British

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

film version of the 1972

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

musical of the same name. It is a

sung-through A sung-through (also through-sung) musical, musical film, opera, or other work of performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for e ...

musical film.

Plot

The film depicts ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. ...

'' being performed to a primary school assembly hall, where the children become the chorus of the musical while the teachers and staff become its characters. The audience are introduced to

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...

and his twelve sons. Jacob favours his second-youngest

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

, which he shows by giving him a '' coat of many colours''. The jealousy of Joseph's brothers is only fulfilled by Joseph's interpretation of his own dreams that he is destined to rule over them. They try to kill Joseph, but decide to sell him into slavery instead. They smear his coat in goat's blood and tell Jacob that Joseph is dead. Meanwhile, Joseph is purchased in Egypt. As he rises through the ranks, his master's Mrs takes a liking to Joseph. After he refuses her advances, she has Joseph charged with rape and imprisoned. In prison, Joseph interprets the dreams of two fellow prisoners, both former servants to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh himself has been having some confusing dreams. Upon hearing about Joseph, Pharaoh calls him to interpret his dreams, which Joseph interprets as seven plentiful years followed by seven years of famine. Impressed, Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of planning for the famine, and he rises to

Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

of Egypt. Back in Canaan, Joseph's family are suffering in the famine, and his brothers begin to regret their actions. They travel to Egypt and beg Joseph for supplies, not recognising him. He tests them by setting up the youngest, Benjamin, to accuse him of theft, and the brothers beg Joseph to let him go. Seeing their change of heart, Joseph reveals his identity, and is joyously reunited with his family.

Cast

Musical numbers

Act One

Act Two

Release

The film was originally shot as a feature film, but ended up being released directly to video. It was shot over three weeks in July/August 1999 on three sound stages at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The release of the film was advertised by a brief series of sing-along performances that Osmond starred in as a Fathom Event. The film was released by

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. In the United States, the film was shown as an episode of

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

''.

Reception

Reviews of the film were generally positive." The film has been described by PBS as being a "lively interpretation." Michael Dequina, online film critic for "TheMovieReport.com", described the film as a "sweet, candy-colored confection for the entire family."

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , title = Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice , list = {{Lloyd Webber and Rice {{Andrew Lloyd Webber {{Tim Rice 1999 direct-to-video films 1999 films Films about Christianity Films about religion Films based on adaptations Films based on musicals Cultural depictions of Joseph (Genesis) PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Sung-through musical films Universal Pictures direct-to-video films Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber 1990s English-language films