New “Joseph” Is Ready to “Go, Go, Go” at Music Guild, Moline
A stacked cast, a veteran music director, a first-time venue director, a beloved score and an eye-popping panoply of colors is ready to bring a new “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” to blazing life at Quad City Music Guild, Moline.
The Biblical story (based on the Book of Genesis) was first set to music by a 20-year-old Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1968, in a school 15-minute pop cantata, with who would become his longtime lyricist partner Tim Rice.
After the success of the next Lloyd Webber and Rice musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph received amateur stage productions in the U.S. beginning in 1970, and the first American release of the album was in 1971. The musical had its professional premiere, as a 35-minute musical, at the Haymarket ice rink during the Edinburgh International Festival in 1972, and made its Broadway debut in 1982, after their “Evita.”
Lauren VanSpeybroeck & Casey Scott
Directed by first-time Music Guild helmer Karen LeFebvre, the 53-person cast (including over two dozen kids) is led by Casey Scott as Joseph, Bruce Duling as Jacob, Lauren VanSpeybroeck as Narrator, and other key roles filled by Kirsten Myers, Matthew Downey, Evan Gagliardo, Joseph Nguyen, Eli Schroeder, Stephen Scott, Joseph Wren and Joe Urbaitis.
The musical opens Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m., running this weekend and next at the Prospect Park Theater, 1584 34th Ave., Moline, with a 14-piece orchestra conducted by music director Amy Trimble.
“I am honored to work with these amazing musicians, most of whom have to give up paid income (music lessons and paid performance gigs) in order to volunteer their time to play for us,” Trimble posted on Facebook June 4. “There is an energy you feel (and hear) with a live pit orchestra that you just don’t experience with recorded tracks, and you will definitely experience it with this show! We don’t ever stop playing!”
The show is completely sung-through, with no dialogue between numbers. Acclaimed as one of the most enduring shows of all time, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is a reimagining of the Biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, eleven brothers and the coat of many colors.
Lauren VanSpeybroeck
Told entirely through song with the help of a main character Narrator, the musical follows preferred son Joseph. After being sold into slavery by his brothers, he ingratiates himself with Egyptian noble Potiphar (also played by Bruce Duling), but ends up in jail after refusing the amorous advances of Potiphar’s wife. While imprisoned, Joseph discovers his ability to interpret dreams, and he soon finds himself in front of the mighty but troubled, Elvis-inspired, Pharaoh (played by Myers).
Joseph’s solution to Egypt’s famine elevates him to Pharaoh’s right-hand man and reunites him with his family. The magical musical is full of catchy songs in a variety of styles, from a parody of French ballads (“Those Canaan Days”), to country-western (“One More Angel in Heaven”) and calypso (“Benjamin Calypso”), along with the unforgettable classics “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door,” according to a Music Guild release.
The choreographer is Ava Coussens; set designer is Kevin Pieper; costume designer is Linda Kozelichki and lighting designer is Jacob Laufenburg.
The cast of Music Guild’s “Joseph.”
From northeast Iowa to QC
“Joseph” director Karen LeFebvre of Bettendorf moved to the QC in late 2022 from Cresco, Iowa (in the northeast corner of the state). Her first show in Cresco was “Wizard of Oz,” as an adult, after graduating from Luther College in Decorah, where she majored in vocal music education.
LeFebvre taught music in Cresco schools for 39 and a half years, and directed many high school musicals there. She had never directed “Joseph” before, but played auxiliary keyboard in the pit one summer when the community theater did it, over 25 years ago. In Cresco (a town of 3,600), they did one musical each summer.
Among her favorites she directed was “Annie,” which also involved a lot of kids (especially since she double cast the orphans).
“I think that quiet person, when given the chance, they shine,” LeFebvre said Wednesday of getting people involved in theater. “I had teachers come up to me saying, ‘That girl, she never said a word, how did you get her to do that?’ That’s her place, that’s what she loves to do.”
Casey Scott & Bruce Duling
“That’s my philosophy – everybody gets a chance, and community theater, we pretty much took everybody,” she said.
They had dinner theater shows in the basement of the restored 1914 Cresco Theatre and Opera House.
LeFebvre and her husband moved to the QC because their daughter and her family live here, and she has three granddaughters (ages 8, 5, and 2). The 8-year-old, Aubrey, is among the 26-member “Joseph” children’s chorus, her first show. There are 53 total in the Guild cast; the children are mainly ages 8 to 14.
LeFebvre had a part in the March 2024 production of “Jane Eyre,” at Black Box Theatre, Moline, where she was Mrs. Fairchild. “Joseph” music director Amy Trimble also music directed that show, who asked her to direct “Joseph.” LeFebvre also was on stage in the ensembles for Guild’s “Wizard of Oz,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “White Christmas” last year.
“I had a blast; it was just a welcoming atmosphere,” she recalled. “Since I had that opportunity, I wanted to make sure this cast felt welcome here.”
“I found in Cresco, when I got involved in theater, that’s where I met all my friends,” LeFebvre said. “That’s true here, too, I have met so many people.”
She had loved the music for “Joseph,” which is unique because it’s entirely sung-through. “Ideas started flooding my head,” she said. “This cast hit the ground running – the first night of rehearsal, they were singing and dancing. The cast is just wonderful. They’ve come with a great work ethic every night; they’ve been enthusiastic, they get along.”
LeFebvre credited Trimble for much of the show’s success.
“She is so enthusiastic. You cannot not smile around her,” she said. “The only reason I met her was ‘Jane Eyre’.”
Stars of the show
For Casey Scott, who plays the title character, this is his first Music Guild show. The only other community theater he did was Countryside’s “Into the Woods” in 2023, where he played Jack. (Countryside also did “Joseph” in June 2022.)
He started theater at Davenport North High School, where he played Marius in “Les Miserables” at age 14; he graduated in 2021. Scott was also cast as The Baker in North’s “Into the Woods,” which was canceled in 2020 due to COVD. His high school credits also include “Mary Poppins” and “Songs for a New World.”
Scott earned his bachelor’s in 2023, in philosophy and public policy from University of Iowa, where he minored in theater. He did two shows there that were student originals.
He was encouraged to audition for “Joseph” by his girlfriend, who loves the show. Scott saw the show when North Scott High School did it, when he was a teenager.
The cast of Music Guild’s “Joseph.”
“Whoever there lighting designer was, was amazing – there were so many lights and colors,” he said.
Scott is currently a grad student in Iowa City, working toward a law degree and Ph.D. in philosophy, planning to finish in 2029. “I hope to teach,” he said. “I do mostly AI ethics and AI governance. There’s a lot of interesting issues around that.”
“I really like playing Joseph,” Scott said. “He’s so arrogant and pompous and it’s so fun to play that up. Then, he’s in a jail cell; how does this happen?”
Lauren VanSpeybroeck – who’s been acting since she was a child — is in her dream role as Narrator. She has been in the “Joseph” children’s chorus twice, including 20 years ago in a Circa ’21 version.
Lauren VanSpeybroeck, Casey Scott, Maxwell Johnson, and Joseph Wren
She also is in grad school (mainly online) with New York University, for speech pathology with bilingual emphasis. She got her undergrad degree in 2019 from University of Northern Iowa and was a bilingual educator for about five years at East Moline’s Glenview Middle School, and works part-time at the Children’s Therapy Center.
Her many Music Guild credits include “Holiday Inn” in 2021 and “Something Rotten” in 2022. She has loved “Joseph” since she was a kid.
“It was a core part of my childhood,” VanSpeybroeck said. “This is one of the most fun casts, with so many talented people…When everybody comes together, it’s unbelievable.”
Tickets for “Joseph” are $20 for adults/$15 children (12 and under). You may purchase tickets by calling the box office at 309-762-6610 or by visiting the QCMG website, www.qcmusicguild.com.
