Based on a review written by ROBYN COHEN of the Cape Robyn.
After its first sell-out season, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has returned to the Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay, and is on until 29 November.
The producers Pieter Toerien and the Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA), creative team and cast have created a Joseph 2025 which is very Generational Now. It is young, energetic and fun. I loved every moment.
Joseph’s family are no longer farmers. They are drifters, surfers and sand board enthusiasts. For me the biblical story which inspired this musical, becomes a moving story of family, siblings and family conflicts and a happy ending which we can all sing along to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s wondrous music and Tim Rice’s delicious lyrics.
The aesthetic is much Afrika Burn meets surfer culture. Clothes look like upmarket thrift store finds which have been up-scaled into couture and accessorised with a dazzling rainbow of sneakers, including gold sneakers for the palace scene. Costumes and set are by award-winning Niall Griffin. He has created a gorgeous cropped dreamcoat, which gets delivered in a Snakealot box. Lovely contemporary cultural references in this production, but not over the top.
Twenty-two-year-old Dylan Janse van Rensburg plays Joseph with verve and assurance. He channels surfer dude caught up in a family behaving badly. It is a shocking case of favouritism. This is van Rensburg’s first year on the professional musical theatre boards. This talented actor who graduated from LAMTA at the end of 2024 made his mark in LAMTA student productions. His versatility is remarkable. In his final year at LAMTA, he played the simmering Stanley in LAMTA’s staging of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and here in Joseph, he is singing and dancing in a much-loved musical. His theatrical and vocal smarts come through strongly in this production. I sensed a wistfulness in Joseph – even in the strutting scenes in the palace in Egypt. He is just a boy, in his jockey briefs, flummoxed by what happens to him and going with the flow as best as he can.
Lelo Ramasimong rocks it as the narrator. Great to see the Jozi dynamo on stage in Cape Town. She is fabulous and so different to other narrators that I have seen in previous productions. There is an intimacy and warmth to the character which is lovely.
Chris Jaftha channels a gangster aesthetic to his Pharaoh which I really enjoyed – the Pharaoh in strutting around in his gold lame shorts, with a hint of menace. In 2017, in an interview with Luitingh when he played Pharaoh, he noted: “Pharaoh comes onto stage for about seven minutes at the top of Act 2.” So, Pharaoh’s time is short and in the 2025 production, Pharaoh was very Elvis-inspired. In this production, 2025, his menace is very apt in relation to the world around us. It is testament to the creativity of Luitingh and Alexander in the directors’ seat and to the creative team in constantly re-imagining Joseph for each staging, so that is always fresh and relevant, and they have delivered with this Joseph. For those of us wo have watched Joseph from its first incarnations in South Africa in the 1970s, with the legendary triad of Alvon Collison, Richard Loring and Bruce Millar, it is fascinating to see how this musical has been re-visioned for contemporary audiences, keeping it fresh, relatable and, as I mentioned – young. In tandem, with the hipster vibe, it is a Joseph which also resonates with older audiences as we know the music and lyrics so well.
Fantastic athletic choreography (Alexander and Jared Schaedler) which culminates in madcap dance in the palace scene, which reminded me of Extravaganza at Sun City, back in those days, without nipple caps.
One can see how much fun the cast is having. A terrific aspect of the production is that live music elements have been overlaid on the backtracks. I don’t recall Joseph being so funny. We laughed a lot and walked out smiling. Do not miss this exuberant and joyous production. ●
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Seeing this show just a short while after the release of the Israeli hostages by Hamas meant that the show carried extra poignancy for me. There is the Jewish Joseph imprisoned by the Egyptians, arch-enemies of his nation. And, finally, he, too, is released from captivity.
A new generation of performers
Many of the shows staged at the Theatre on the Bay are opportunities for a new cohort of performers to participate in a professional production.
The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA) at the Theatre on the Bay is a fairly new academic institution offering training in the performing arts. As with many other productions, most of the performers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, now on at the Theatre, are recent graduates of the LAMTA programme.
This year, two Jewish students are in the First Year cohort: Feigie Shaman and Danielle Munitz.
The Chronicle spoke to Feigie about the course.
Enthusiastic about the course, Feigie points out that, “The training gives us incredible experience and knowledge, while also ensuring that we’re musically fit so that, when we leave one day, we’re practically ready to jump into our next job on the stage.”
A three-year course, students all study the same 22 subjects: from a range of dance courses, to music studies and singing, and acting classes. All of this is geared to ensure that students leave as performers skilled in ‘the triple threat discipline’: acting, singing, and dancing.
Feigie is particularly appreciative of the exposure that students get to industry professionals. Many of the lecturers are actively involved in the theatre industry, bringing with them a knowledge of current industry trends.
Acceptance into the course is by audition.
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