I’ll admit to a weakness for musicals. The first text I ever wrote was a musical. I’ve directed many shows with live music, many operas, and a few musicals for children. How could I resist Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster with all those men in the cast, at a theatre which hardly ever allowed women to direct productions on their stages. It wasn't an easy ride, and I'm not referring to the giant camel we brought on stage. But as long as it ran, audiences loved it.
Originally written as a pop cantata in 1968, Joseph is an iconoclastic version of the Biblical story which delights both children and their parents. Poet Inese Zandere did the seemingly impossible and translated the book into Latvian, as Jāzeps un raibais brīnumsapņu mētelis. It opened in 2008 at the Daile theatre in Riga and ran for two seasons.
Photos by Gunārs Janaitis.
"Webber/Rice/Rubess/Zandere’s fun times are a treasure trove of indomitable optimism.” Lauma Mellēna, Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze
