JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote this lovely piece of musical theater about Joseph of Aramathea, Mary’s husband, whose signal song was “Close Every Door.” Donny Osmond sang the song wonderfully at Webber’s 50th birthday party at Royal Albert Hall in London. Amid all the razzle-dazzle, wonderful choreography and dancing, lovely costumes, soaring violins, voices, and piano, the sultry song broke through and left the audience gasping: “Close every door to me. Hide all the world from me. Bar all the windows and shut out the light. Do what you want with me. Hate me and laugh at me. Darken my daytime and torture my light. If my light were important, I would ask will I live or die, but I know the answers lie far from this world. Close every door to me.  Keep those I love from me. Children of Israel are never alone. For I know I shall find my own peace of mind, for I have been promised a land of my own. Just give me a number instead of my name. Forget all about me and let me decay. I do not matter. I’m only one person. Destroy me completely and throw me away. If my life were important, I would ask will I live or die? But I know the answers lie far from this world … for we have been promised a land of our own.” Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice struck a chord. Jesus Christ Superstar, the name of  their first big Broadway hit,  was the answer indeed in the entertainment milieu. Webber and Rice are rude and entertaining, but they uphold the important points in their musical theater, whether it be Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Evita, Starlight Express, Whistle Down the Wind, or Phantom of the Opera. All their operas uphold eternal verities and the fact that we all need new ways to dream for a better life. “Everyone needs new ways to dream” was their line in “Sunset Boulevard.” True indeed.