Bible Story Comes to Life on Stage
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Concord First Assembly Church in Concord, North Carolina. Community theatre tends to have the reputation of being “amateur theatre”, but this show was far from amateur.

First Assembly has its own established community theatre organization, called InTune School of the Arts. Their mission, according to their website, is “to enrich the community and empower students of all ages through quality and affordable arts education.”
The organization offers small group classes based on theatre, dance, and music, and they put on many community productions with their summer camps and yearly main-stage productions.

What I loved most about their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is that they sought out children of all experience levels and brought them together to be involved in a really fun and informative show (if you are into the Bible).
The lead of Joseph was played by Joshua Little, who is a recent college grad and music teacher at CFA Academy and was also the music director for the production. His singing was out of this world and I found myself making the face of the ghost emoji when he sang “Close Every Door”.
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, for those who may not know, is an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical based on the story of Joseph in the Bible. It’s a cute, elementary show with humor that any age will understand and music that will keep you tapping your feet the whole way through. There are a lot of creative turns that a director can take with this show, and director Jerry Skaggs did a wonderful job staging this show and making the Bible story come to life.
Flash backward about five years ago, I went to the Blumenthal and saw the 2014 National Tour production of Joseph. The staging was great, as was the orchestra, but I must admit, I think I preferred the CFA production because it was genuine, full of local talent, and made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Tweet: If you’re interested in seeing a show at CFA, stay up to date on the high school arts page, or the Intune School of the Arts page.
