From The Desk of Deacon Judy

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Last week I enjoyed the delightful performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery. I saw the Reverend Drew Breslin of Ascension Montgomery there with the church’s Youth Director and a crowd of their young people engaging with the show. Several other youth camps were there as well as older folks like me and my old friends from Columbiana.

What a fun way to tell a beloved Bible story! A narrator with a gorgeous voice guides the details of the story. Each scene is filled with song and action to reveal Joseph’s gift of dreams and dream interpretation, his brother’s betrayal, his time in Egypt from slavery, prison, to high responsibility, and the ultimate reconciliation with his family. In a song encouraging Joseph to remain hopeful in the midst of his despair, one of my favorite lines is “Don’t give up, Joseph, we’ve read the Book and we know how it ends.”

The Bible does give us enduring human stories, of dysfunctional families, of power and oppression, and of eternal hope of reconciliation and renewal.

This is a musical so be prepared for traditional melodies and the surprise of country-western, calypso, and Elvis-rock numbers.

If you have a moment, take time to enjoy this uplifting play at ASF, your State Theatre. There are matinee and evening performances until August 11. https://asf.net/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat

Pentecost Blessings,

Judy Q+