Monday, April 26, 2010

Cats and Joseph and Superstar

The kids attended their friend Matthew's musical this weekend. Matthew played Judah in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

As they talked about the show the next morning, suddenly the songs were resurrected in my mind. When Joseph was first written (and was only about 15-20 minutes long) we learned it in Sunday school. I can't remember whatever happened to performing it; maybe we never did. The songs were still very new at the time; the full show hadn't been developed yet. Until the kids started singing parts of the musical, until we started bopping around YouTube clips of the song&dance routines, I didn't realize I remembered anything.

1. Watching YouTube clips, I couldn't believe how very very very similar Joseph and Cats are. The sound and the whole feeling of Cats, Joseph, and Jesus Christ Superstar make you wonder if you're watching the exact same show.

2. Boy, Joseph has horrid theology. Whenever we work our way through the last quarter of Genesis during chapel or Bible class, I'm offended by the cockamamie theological notions I bear regarding the Joseph story. Watching some of those bits of the opera, I see where my warped ideas come from! PS: Horrid theology aside, Rice & Webber sure produced some fun music!

3. A little memory jog brought all those songs to the fore. Think what that means for those of us who are trying to teach GOOD things to kids. Even if those hymns and Bible verses lie dormant for years --for decades-- they can come back.

1 comment:

  1. Joseph and Cats have a lot of the same sound and feel because Andrew Lloyd Weber isn't that great of a composer. *cough*

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