50 Fun Facts About Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is usually played in the style of which rock and roll star?

Elvis Presley is the model for Pharaoh, who describes his troubling dreams in a rock and roll number called Song of the King.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat began in 1968 as a 15-minute piece written for which performers?

A school choir at Colet Court in London sang the first version, after its music teacher asked two unknown young writers for something new to perform.

Which Australian soap star topped the UK chart in 1991 with a song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Jason Donovan was playing the lead at the London Palladium when his single spent two weeks at number one. In 2019 he returned to the same stage as Pharaoh.

Which sitcom's character borrows the coat from a tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and gets arrested?

Seinfeld sent Kramer backstage in the episode The Wig Master, where he takes a copy of the coat from wardrobe and is arrested while wearing it.

Which composer wrote the music for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat while still a teenager?

Andrew Lloyd Webber was 19 when the piece was first sung in 1968, long before Cats and The Phantom of the Opera made his name.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat retells a story of jealous brothers from which book of the Bible?

Genesis tells of Joseph and his brothers in its final chapters, ending with the whole family settled in Egypt, which sets the scene for Moses and the Exodus.

Which American singer led the 1999 film of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat after years touring the role?

Donny Osmond had sung the part more than 2,000 times on stage, starting in Toronto in 1992, before the cameras rolled.

Which song does the title character sing at both the start and the end of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Any Dream Will Do returns at the family reunion, where its words turn out to be a hazy outline of the whole story.

Which animal's blood do the brothers smear on the torn coat in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

A goat supplies the blood, and the brothers show the ruined coat to Jacob as proof that his favorite son is dead.

Which Dynasty star plays Mrs Potiphar in the 1999 film of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Joan Collins plays the wife whose pursuit of Joseph lands him in jail, opposite Ian McNeice as her wealthy husband.

Which lyricist of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat sang the part of Pharaoh on its first album?

Tim Rice took the role on the 1969 recording, decades before he won Oscars for songs in Aladdin, The Lion King and Evita.

In Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, into what do the brothers throw Joseph before selling him?

A pit is where the brothers leave Joseph, meaning to kill him, until passing traders offer a way to be rid of him and make money too.

Which animals fill Pharaoh's first dream in the musical Joseph, seven fat ones eaten by seven thin ones?

Cows stand for harvests: Joseph reads the dream as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and Pharaoh puts him in charge of preparing.

In the musical Joseph, which jailed servant of Pharaoh does Joseph correctly predict will be put to death?

The baker gets the bad news in the cell he shares with Joseph, while the butler is told he will return to his old job. Both forecasts come true.

In the musical Joseph, what does Joseph hide in his youngest brother's sack to test his family?

A golden cup turns up in Benjamin's sack, and the brothers offer themselves as prisoners in his place. In the Bible the planted cup is silver.

In the musical Joseph, the brothers plead for their youngest brother's freedom in which Caribbean style of music?

Calypso gives the plea a sunny bounce, led by Judah, as the brothers offer to be locked up in Benjamin's place.

In the musical Joseph, the brothers tell Jacob that Joseph is dead in which American style of music?

Country and western is the sound of One More Angel in Heaven, a mock lament that turns into a joyful hoedown the moment Jacob leaves.

Which ballad does Joseph sing alone in jail at his lowest point in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Close Every Door comes after Joseph is locked up over a false accusation, and the other prisoners answer it by urging him to keep following his dreams.

The song Potiphar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is written in the style of which 1920s dance craze?

Charleston rhythms carry the tale of a wealthy Egyptian whose wife takes a fancy to Joseph, which ends with Joseph thrown in jail.

In the musical Joseph, what does Joseph first suggest his starving brothers might be when they beg for food?

Spies is the charge Joseph tries out on his brothers, who have no idea that the powerful Egyptian in front of them is the boy they sold.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was sold to America as a follow-up to which rock opera by the same writers?

Jesus Christ Superstar made the pair famous in 1970, so their older, gentler Bible piece finally got an American album release the next year.

The 1968 original of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was billed as what kind of piece?

A pop cantata was what the commission asked for: a short Bible story for young voices in the pop styles of the day, like two earlier ones from the same publisher.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had its third performance, in November 1968, in which London landmark?

St Paul's Cathedral heard a version that had grown to 35 minutes, more than twice the length of the one first sung eight months earlier.

In which city did Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat get its professional premiere, at an ice rink, in 1972?

Edinburgh hosted the Young Vic company's 35-minute staging during its International Festival, as the second half of a Bible double bill.

Which earlier musical by the writers of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat went unstaged until 2005?

The Likes of Us, about the children's charity founder Thomas Barnardo, was written in 1965 but found no backer, so the Bible piece became the pair's public debut.

The commission for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat came with an advance of 100 of which old money unit?

Guineas were each worth a pound and a shilling, so the publisher Novello's advance to the two young writers came to 105 pounds.

Which Irish boy band star led Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat back into the West End in 2003?

Stephen Gately of Boyzone opened the touring production in Oxford and Liverpool in late 2002, then brought it to the New London Theatre the following year.

The BBC's 2007 hunt for a star of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat followed a series casting which musical?

The Sound of Music needed a leading lady, and viewers chose Connie Fisher. The format worked so well that the hunt for a Joseph came the very next year.

Which performer won the 2007 BBC talent search to play the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Lee Mead left an ensemble job in The Phantom of the Opera to enter, and the public vote sent him to the Adelphi Theatre in the title role.

Which 1970s teen idol took over the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Broadway in March 1983?

David Cassidy, the heart-throb of The Partridge Family, saw out the last months of the Broadway run and then took the part on tour.

Which British actress played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London in 2019?

Sheridan Smith led the 50th-anniversary staging at the London Palladium, where newcomer Jac Yarrow wore the coat fresh from drama training.

Which Australian singer was the Narrator when Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opened in Melbourne in 1992?

Tina Arena opened the show on New Year's Eve 1992 opposite the lead singer of the band Indecent Obsession, then played seasons in Brisbane and Sydney.

Ian 'H' Watkins, who led Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2005, found fame in which pop group?

Steps had split in 2001, and Watkins rebuilt his career on stage, wearing the coat in the West End and again on a UK tour in 2013.

Which singer from the first series of Pop Idol took the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2009?

Gareth Gates, runner-up to Will Young in 2002, made the Adelphi Theatre run his move into musical theater.

In the musical Joseph, the starving brothers' lament Those Canaan Days sends up the ballads of which nation?

France and its wistful ballads are the target, with Simeon leading the brothers as they look back on the good times before the famine.

Which West End star plays the Narrator in the 1999 film of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Maria Friedman guides the film from an assembly hall, where the staff turn into the characters and Richard Attenborough becomes Jacob.

Which Irish chat-show host presented the BBC's 2007 search for a star of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Graham Norton fronted all of the BBC's West End casting contests of the time, including later searches for a Nancy and a Dorothy.

In the musical Joseph, which eldest son of Jacob takes the lead in telling his father that Joseph is dead?

Reuben fronts One More Angel in Heaven, though in the Bible he is the brother who secretly planned to rescue Joseph.

In the musical Joseph, which passing desert traders buy Joseph from his brothers and take him to Egypt?

Ishmaelites carry Joseph off and sell him to the wealthy Potiphar, who soon puts the hard-working newcomer in charge of his household.

In the musical Joseph, what position does Pharaoh give Joseph after hearing what the royal dreams mean?

Second-in-command of all Egypt is quite a leap for a prisoner, and Joseph uses the power to get the kingdom ready for the lean years ahead.

The word Technicolor in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is borrowed from a trademark in which industry?

Motion pictures shot in Technicolor, such as The Wizard of Oz, were celebrated for richly saturated color, just the effect a coat of many colors calls for.

Which Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy character keeps a dog-eared script of the musical Joseph in his satchel?

Ford Prefect carries old play scripts so he can pass as an out-of-work actor, and they hide the gadgets he uses to hail passing spaceships.

The Pharaoh of the first professional Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was half of which 1960s pop duo?

Peter and Gordon had topped the charts in Britain and America with A World Without Love, a Lennon–McCartney song, before Gordon Waller turned to acting.

The 1999 film of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was shot in three weeks at which famous British studio?

Pinewood, the home of the James Bond films, gave the production three sound stages, though the finished film went straight to video.

Which manager of the Bee Gees co-produced the 1973 West End run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Robert Stigwood, later the producer of the films Saturday Night Fever and Grease, helped move the show to the Albery Theatre, where it ran for 243 performances.

Which 1980s teen pop star later toured America as the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Debbie Gibson, who wrote and produced her own number one single as a teenager, later moved into musicals and also toured as Cinderella.

In the musical Joseph, Pharaoh's second dream shows seven healthy and seven withered examples of what?

Ears of corn repeat the warning: Joseph says seven years of bumper harvests will be followed by seven years of famine.

Which late-1970s chart-topper played the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Broadway in 1982?

Andy Gibb, the youngest brother of the Bee Gees, came to the coat from The Pirates of Penzance, and a producer called him the best actor to have played the part.

Which X Factor star played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London in 2021?

Alexandra Burke, who won the contest in 2008, joined a London Palladium run that had been postponed for a year by the pandemic.

Which Young and the Restless star led Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat back to Broadway in 1993?

Michael Damian, known to soap fans as the singer Danny Romalotti, helped the show set a weekly box-office record for a Broadway revival.