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One song is a bit country-western, while another is more rock and another is calypso. There’s also a ballad or two.
The blend of musical genres is just part of what has made the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” a stage staple across the world for over five decades. And Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts is bringing it back to their stage for the first show of their 70th anniversary season.
For this production, Kira Avolio is the narrator and Ethan Worsham is Joseph. While it’s Avolio’s first time in a production of “Joseph,” Worsham has been in a production of it previously, playing a brother at his community theater in Amarillo, Texas, when he was in high school.
“Actually, I didn’t really know the show at all until I was cast,” Avolio said, acknowledging everyone is usually surprised when she tells them that. “I don’t know. It just never came across my desk.”
Now that she’s familiar with it, she said it’s really awesome.
“It’s just such a surprise because every single number is different. They had told us, on the very first day, that this was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s thesis, so that’s why every song is different. He was covering all the bases, so that makes a lot of sense to contextualize going into it. That’s why it feels kind of like crazy, but it really is so much fun,” Avolio said.
Worsham agreed the show is a “blast to do. It is such a high energy, fast-paced musical. So, getting to see it from a different perspective, not the ensemble, has been really eye-opening because they do so much work. It is, like I said, fast-paced the entire time. Super high-energy.”
Both agreed that their favorite song in the show is “Those Canaan Days.”
“That’s a song that neither of us are in,” Worsham stated. “It is such a spotlight for the ensemble.”
“The brothers are really the stealing the show, especially with that number. It’s like this tango-like style, ballad yearning song, and it’s just hilarious,” Avolio said.
The musical is a reimagining of the Biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, his 11 brothers and the coat of many colors.
With a show so well known and so high-energy, there’s a little bit of pressure on the actors to perform at their very best, but they’re finding their footing.
Avolio said her character never stops singing except for a couple “brother” numbers she’s not in.
“So, going into it, I was having some stress dreams, but now we’ve gone through it so many times. Even the first two days, we sang through the entire score, so I feel so much more confidant now. The process has been really great, letting me really find my footing in this kind of weird track” she said.
Worsham said, “We also have such an amazingly talented cast that really do most of the heavy lifting in the show, so it’s nice to have that support and know that no matter what I do, they are just absolutely killing it, crushing it throughout the entire piece.”
Avolio said a lot of their blocking is like traffic patterns.
“We’re usually just circling around, trying to figure out our way through the ensemble, just dancing all over the place,” Worsham stated.
One of the most well-known performances of Joseph was by Donny Osmond. Worsham said one of his mom’s biggest celebrity crushes was Osmond, “so that added its own layer of pressure, but it’s just so awesome to get to know the legacy of this character and all the awesome people that have played it and getting to add my own twist to it is really, really nice.”
Being in the first show of a milestone anniversary year is really fun, Avolio said.
“I feel very honored to be here. This is my first professional job, especially being right out of college, so there’s such a familiar-like vibe here, and to know that a lot of people in the community are looking forward to this, like sure it’s pressure but it’s also nice to know that there’s such a supportive community that this theater has been running for 70 years. It’s incredible and so important,” she stated.
Worsham said it’s awesome to be a part of the theater’s 70th anniversary year.
“It’s just so exciting. There could be pressure to it, but the fun and energy completely outweigh the pressure to where, honestly, I just am ready for the audience to get to come see (the show),” he said.
While the 70th year is Avolio’s first season at the Wagon Wheel, it’s Worsham’s second. Audiences may remember Worsham as Gaston from “Beauty & The Beast” last year or Sammy from “The Wedding Singer.” Avolio will be at the Wagon Wheel for the entire summer, while Worsham is only here for the first three shows.
“What makes me love Wagon Wheel so much is the staff that works here and supports us, and it’s just such a professional but loving environment. And as soon as I got the call from (Artistic Director) Scott (Michaels) to come be a part of the season, I knew immediately that I was saying yes. There was just no doubt in my mind. I wanted to come back and work again,” Worsham stated.
Avolio had never done theater in the round before coming to Warsaw.
“So there’s definitely been a learning curve, but you feel so immersed in it. And that is not an experience I’ve had before. When you’re in the proscenium setting, you feel a little bit detached, but here there’s actually nowhere to hide, so it’s taken a little bit of getting used to, but Scott has so many tools to help and he stages the show so brilliantly in the round, so it’s like he sets you up for success, which is awesome,” she said.
Avolio originally is from Athens, Ga. She just went to the Boston Conservatory for college, graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater as well as en emphasis in directing. She’s excited and nervous about entering the professional world, and is looking for places in New York.
“We’ll see what the future holds,” she stated.
Worsham, originally from Amarillo, just graduated with his BFA from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.
“It’s a really great job to have right out of college, and it’s really setting us up for success, I believe, for the professional world,” he said.
He’s also planning to move to New York as soon as he possibly can.
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts from Thursday until June 14. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, 2515 E. Center St., Warsaw; by phone at 574-267-8041; or online at wagonwheelcenter.org.
“I think it’s a super unique show that is unlike anything in musical theater cannon because it is so gentrified in every single number. One second we’re doing a ballad, the next second we’re doing a reggae dance number. So it just keeps the audience enthralled and keeps them on their toes, and it tells a story that almost everyone knows and loves,” Worsham said.
Avolio agreed that it’s a unique show and Wagon Wheel’s production of it is also very unique.
“We have tweaked some things, we have changed some things, made some references for the kids but also for the adults, so there really is just nuggets for every single person in the audience that will make you laugh, that will make you snicker. It’s going to be fun,” she stated.
