Director Larry Raben and choreographer Corey Wright reinvent Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat like it’s never been reinvented before in a Musical Theatre West revival that feels fresh and new and very Gen Z-meets-Gen Alpha.

Not that the creative duo has messed with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice’s songs, or the Book of Genesis-based tale they first set to music way back in 1968 when Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat debuted as a concept album turned West End stage smash five years later.

As in its four previous Musical Theatre West appearances, Lloyd Webber and Rice introduce us to Old Testament hero Joseph (America’s Got Talent discovery-turned-viral star Brian Justin Crum) sold into Egyptian slavery by eleven brothers jealous of the multicolored coat given to the next-to-youngest by their all too obviously favoritism-showing father Jacob (Harrison White).

Once in the land of pyramids, camels, and the Sphinx, our hero’s ability to interpret dreams gets him promoted from human property to second-in-command to none other than Pharaoh (Kenneth Mosley) himself.

Later, when famine strikes the land and Joseph’s starving brothers head off towards Egypt in search of food, who should they meet there but …. (I’ll let you do the math.)

Entirely sung-through (that means no spoken dialog for the Broadway-unsavvy), Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat offers audiences the most delectably eclectic blend of pop music genres/eras of Sir Andrew’s decades-long career.

What’s different this time round is the post-Y2K spin Raben and Wright have put on Lloyd Webber and Rice’s songs.

“One More Angel In Heaven” is now more Tex-Mex than Nashville as performed by the fabuloso Zane Camacho’s Sia-masked Levi and a bunch of cowboy-hat-sporting Texas hunks.

““Go, Go, Go Joseph” may have started out with a late-’60s-early-’70s disco beat, but this time round it’s more WeHo than Studio 54 with an abundance of rainbow-hued flags a-waving, just one instance of Wright’s exciting, TikTok-inspired choreography.

“Potiphar” still has a Roaring ‘20s flavor to it musically speaking, but I this time round it’s the 2020s and the flamboyantly-tressed Potiphar (White) has filled his house with lithesome lads who look ready for a night of go-go-boying at the local leather bar with Potiphar’s Wife (a sizzling Ali Vesey) along for the ride.

“Those Canaan Days” still has a chain-smoking Reuben (a magnifique Adam Lendermon) in French chanteur mode, and Judah’s (a zesty Thomas Hobson) “Benjamin Calypso” still has a tangy Caribbean flavor, but perhaps for the first time ever, “Song Of The Pharaoh” isn’t sung a la Elvis.

Instead, the sensational Mosley channels every male R&B superstar from James Brown to Prince to Bruno Mars to Lenny Kravitz and brings down the house as even The King Of Rock And Roll never could.

Oh, and lest I forget, Joseph’s ubiquitous Narrator, always a vocal showcase for a diva with pipes, now goes to the dazzling Daebreon Poiema in Kamala Harris-suited Beyoncé mode, occasionally backed up by Michelle-and-Kelly stand-ins Neela David and Sabrina Marielle.

With his tatted, muscled physique and powerhouse vocal chops, box-office-draw Crum commands the stage as Joseph (and sings the bejeezus out of “Close Every Door”), SoCal musical theater treasure White is doubly delightful in dual roles this time round, and Alexandra Skylar Kunin does a sizzling tango partnered with Malachi Durant’s Zebulun, the latter doubling to entertaining effect as Baker alongside sexy charmer Sammy Linkowski’s Butler in the intro to “Go, Go, Go, Joseph.”

Johnisa Breault, Jordan Cruz, Erin Dubreuil, Jasmine Gobourne, Brandon Halvorsen (Asher), Sophie Liu David (Levi’s Wife), Mae Hawkins, Jeffrey Laughrun, Ryan Perry Marks (Gad), Takeen Shrikian, Brody Tarrant Sitton (Issachar), Louis A. Williams Jr. (Dan), and Caleb Miller White all sing and dance up a storm from the show-opening “Jacob And Sons” to the supercharged grand finale “Megamix,” vocalizing under the accomplished musical direction of Andrew Zediker, who conducts the production’s Broadway-caliber orchestra, with a talented children’s chorus revealing budding talents again and again throughout the show.

Scenic coordinator Kevin Clowes gives lighting designer Jared A. Sayeg a just-right framework for some of the most eyepoppingly Technicolorific lighting of his career.

And no matter how many Dreamcoats you’ve seen, you’ve certainly never seen one costumed (by Adam Ramirez and Geovanni Virella-Torres) and wigged (by Garret Ruiz) like this one, from the anime-inspired, cotton candy-colored wigs and cosplay outfits sported by the female ensemble to the assortment of contemporary Gen Z togs worn by the men to an abundance of black leather and bare skin throughout the show, not to mention Jane Hamor’s props ranging from flags to pompoms to hand puppets.

Last but not least, sound designer Danny Fiandanca ensures a pitch-perfect mix of amped voices and the show’s 15-piece orchestra.

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is produced by Paul Garman. Bren Thor is associate producer.

Naphtailda Jean Charles is Narrator Standby. Talia Krispel is production stage manager and Julian Olive and Avery Simonian are assistant stage managers. Clowes is technical director. Catt Fox-Uruburu is production manager.

Reviving a Bible-based musical revival as unconventionally as this one has been revived isn’t without its risks, and some in the audience might get their knickers in a twist at its more outré aspects, but for those willing to open their hearts and minds to something brand spanking new, this radically reinvented Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is about as fabulous as it gets.

Musical Theatre West, Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. Through March 1. Fridays at 7:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:00, and Sundays at 1:00. Also Thursday July 16 at 7:00 and Sunday July 19 at 6:00.
www.musical.org

–Steven Stanley
July 11, 2026
Photos: Jason Niedle

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Los Angeles Theater Review, Musical Theatre West, Tim Rice