Dreamcoat comparisons

I recently rewatched the DVD recording of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which had Donny Osmond in the title role. It was pretty good, and it had numerous nice touches, such as dressing Potiphar up as though he were a modern corporate bigwig. Still, I can't help but think that it could have had a better cast. Donny was very good, but he wouldn't have been my first choice. Sam Harris might have done a better job, for example.

I also listened to the original London, Broadway, and Canadian cast recordings. It quickly became clear that the narrator, more than any other character, sets the tone and potentially steals the show. I was disappointed in the Canadian version, but I thought that the London recording was pretty good, and I think that Laurie Beechman did an excellent job in the original Broadway version. Her rendition of Pharaoh's Song was positively mesmerizing.

I hear that Jodi Benson once played the part of the narrator as well. That must have been incredible! The Dreamcoat storyline is highly secularized though, which is disappointing. It fails to mention God at all, and it ascribes Joseph's success to "a lucky break." This must not have sat well with both Jodi Benson and Donny Osmond, both of whom are known for their religious convictions. (I have real issues with Mormonism, BTW, so I'm not praising Mr. Osmond's beliefs. However, I do commend him for the parts of his convictions that I do agree with.)