Classic musical stories

Talented dancers, singers and comics make TUTS fun.

The play is called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. However, it was clearly the cast of the Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) production that showed off their multiple true colors.

The biblical story of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, and his 11 jealous brothers was made famous by Andrew Lloyd Webber's music and Tim Rice's sript. And while many a cast and crew have offered their best efforts in showing off Webber's and Rice's work, few have offered as much magic, talent and entertainment as this year's TUTS group.

Directed by Jeff Hyslop, who starred in the Canadian version of The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph featured a variety of talented performers, who each brought their own forte, be it singing, dancing or a little bit of both to the production.
Throughout the show the performers, led by Zeyn Ali, who played Joseph, and Gemma Nichol Hyslop, who played the narrator, added some personal touches to their characters. This was most prevalent among the cast members who played Joseph's brothers – adding their own sense of humor to some already quirky musical scenes, such as the the French style "Those Canaan Days" or the western song "One More Angel."

There are several young Jewish stars in Joseph, including Jordan Field and Jeff Irving, who play Joseph's brother Asher, Paul Meisner as Joseph's brother Dan and one of Joseph's bosses, Potiphar, and Matthew Rossoff as the brother Zebulan.

The children's choir, which brought adorable "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the audience, also featured Landon Braverman, Franki Katz and Alissa Keogh and Ryan Keogh.

– Kyle Berger

Classic brought to life

Based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, Kiss Me, Kate is one of my favorite musicals, despite its women-should-listen-to-their-men "moral." Cole Porter's musical score is one of the show's highlights and this summer's Theatre Under the Stars production does justice to the 1948 classic.

Inspired by the real-life, offstage drama of American theatre actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Kiss Me, Kate was written by Samuel and Bella Spewack. The story is pretty simple: boy had girl, boy lost girl, boy gets girl back (after he "tames" her). But there is an ample supply of witty one-liners and enough comedic situations that the musical is very entertaining.

As well, there are so many famous songs in Kiss Me, Kate that throughout the production you will find yourself thinking, "Oh, that's where that song comes from!" To name a few: "So in Love," "Too Darn Hot" and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Then there are the songs that you may not have heard before but will go home humming. To this day – I saw Kiss Me, Kate on July 18 – I find myself singing the chorus of "Always True to You (in My Fashion)," which is sung wonderfully by Jayme Armstrong (Lois Lane/Bianca).

Armstrong was one of the strongest performers of a very skilful cast. The leads – Donald Cant as Fred Graham (Petruchio) and Jennifer Poole as Lilli Vanessi (Kate) – do a great job of being barely civil divorcés who fall in love with each other all over again while working together on Graham's adaptation of Taming of the Shrew.

Emilio Salituro and Gordon Doerkson provide much comic relief as the dim-witted gangsters trying to collect a gambling debt they think is owed to their boss by Graham. Chanz Perry (Paul) as the lead singer/dancer in the "Too Darn Hot" scene is fantastic. And the Kiss Me, Kate ensemble – which includes Jewish community members Shai Bregman, Adam Braverman, Gillian Hunter and Jordana Jackson – adds to the overall high quality of the performance.

– Cynthia Ramsay

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Kiss Me, Kate play alternate evenings at Stanley Park's Malkin Bowl until Aug. 18. For more information, call 604-687-0174.

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