Linus Sebastian (18:54)
Okay. The set design and production values were like a high school musical. They were terrible. Like, actually, it was like we found a scrap, some scraps of cloth, and we kind of stretched them out. And that's a desert now. You know, we. Whatever. It was awful. But I didn't figure out until after I didn't actually know the history of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. So it was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who's known for, you know, small plays you may have never heard of, like Cats, Phantom of the Opera, things like that. But it was actually written as a high school musical. And it was written when he was very young. He collaborated with Tim Rice. It was only 20 minutes in its initial iteration. It was because someone, like, desperately needed a play that they could put on. They were like, I don't know, some Bible story. We'll just do that. That's how it started, which I didn't know. So the more I thought about it, the more I've gone. Maybe that was purpose. Maybe that was on purpose because they clearly did not cheap out on the production. Overall, the cast was phenomenal. I don't think you've Ever seen Joseph? Yeah. Okay. Well, if you have, you'll know that the narrator is actually, in some ways, the bigger star of the show than Joseph himself. And she was fabulous. She was absolutely incredible. She crushed it. She was so funny. She actually ended up playing Jacob, Joseph's father, as well, just with, like, a beard. So she'd, like, sing his part and then sing her part. And. And it. It sounds really bad. And at that point, like, very early in the play, I was still a little concerned about the, like, perceived production values and set design and, like, okay, so they didn't bother to cast anyone for Jacob. This is very interesting, but she absolutely killed it. Joseph was, like, pretty good, but it kind of doesn't really matter. And then the real reason that I was there, the real reason that I got off of my butt, got onto a plane, flew all the way to Scotland, to Edinburgh to see this, was that it was Donny Osmond's last performance. I actually didn't know until we were in the middle of his performance. He broke character. He broke the fourth wall and talked about, like, how emotional it was for him and, like, how much he loves this show. He did 2,000 performances as Joseph back in the 90s. I saw him as Joseph in the 90s. It was one of the first musicals I saw. It's like a core memory for me because it was so good. I, like, bought the album in the lobby, listened to it over and over and over and over and over again. Like, it was one of those things, right? So he, like, breaks the fourth wall, talks about how cool it is to be, like, back as Pharaoh now, not as Joseph. So he plays the Pharaoh, the older guy. He gives Joseph on screen. He kind of shows him. Okay, here's how I did that move, because there's, like, a little hip wag that Joseph's supposed to do, and then he does his number, and then at the end of it, he goes, you guys want to see it again? And obviously, the crowd. Look, I'll say this. One of the most fun live viewing experiences I've ever had was watching a hockey game at the Bell Center. Bell center is wild. That's the home of the Montreal Canadiens or the abs. Excuse me, Lays ab. So the crowds just. They're incredible. They're so into it. It's like. You see it like a big soccer game, except hockey. Okay? But I've never been to a soccer game, so I can't speak from experience. What I can say is Bell center, incredible atmosphere. This was like watching a theater production in the Bell Center. Because the audience, like, all gray hairs, like, gray beards and stuff, because it's like the theater or whatever, but they were so into it. There was, like six standing ovations throughout the play. Like, they would just do a great job of a number and everyone was.
