Energy and colors fill 'Dreamcoat'

By Laura Parkinson, Staff Writer
April 3, 2007

Vibrant colors and non-stop energy will fill Jesse Auditorium tonight as Troika performance company, in association with New Dollar Entertainment, will perform "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a lighthearted, yet potent tale of family and forgiveness.

After two grueling weeks of 10-hour days and one week full of 12-hour days, the show opened in Birmingham, Ala. Since then, the company has been traveling nonstop and will be in Columbia tonight.

Actor Brett Stoelker knows the schedule of a traveling actor well. He auditioned in New York City with more than 1,000 people, and only about 24 were cast. Stoelker waited for a callback after the audition full of acting, dancing and singing.

"You have to play the waiting game and keep doing more auditions," Stoelker said.

Stoelker said he was excited upon receiving the role of Zebulon, one of Joseph's 11 brothers, as well as the understudy of several characters including Joseph. Lately, he has played the role of another brother, Reuben.

"This is what I've always wanted to do," Stoelker said. "It's something that I've always dreamed of doing. Luckily, I've been able to do this professionally."

Stoelker had to decide whether he wanted to continue persuing a degree in musical theater, or audition and pursue a career without the degree. After consulting his friends and family, he decided to go for it.

"It was not giving up on what I was doing, it was doing what I needed to do," Stoelker said. "I had a lot of support from friends and family."

The company works from sunup to sundown. After waking up at 6 a.m., the company leaves on a bus to drive for more than 6 hours to a new city, perform and stay in a hotel room, just to do it all again the next night. The cast spends every day together performing, sleeping and eating. The bus is transformed into a giant residence hall room with actors sleeping on the seats and on the floors.

"Our cast is incredible," Stoelker said. "They are such talented and wonderful people. That group makes the experience infinitely better. It is a bunch of happy performers."

At each stop, the cast receives a city sheet at each destination with various places to eat, do laundry and visit.

The trip has taken the cast to Seattle, as well as Anchorage, Alaska, in the middle of December.

Even though the play takes the audience back more than 2,000 years, the message of family and forgiveness has endured since its opening in 1968.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's music combined with Tim Rice's lyrics take the audience on a colorful ride through the story of Jacob and his 12 sons. Jacob favors his son Joseph and gives him a colorful coat representing his future. The sons sell Joseph to slavery in jealousy.

"Back in that day, colors were very rare, and it was very expensive to get a color into the coat," Stoelker said. "The brothers are very jealous because they are not getting it. He becomes the big guy in the end and he shows himself who he is."

The message ends joyfully in a seven-minute, high-energy culmination of the musical.

"Once the brothers see him at the end, it is a breath of fresh air and they regret ever trying to get rid of him," Stoelker said. "It is a really happy experience at the end. Everyone's clapping, and having a great time."

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Energy and colors fill 'Dreamcoat'

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