Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Dreaming in Technicolor

Several people asked via Facebook about how the show was last night, so after my work-out this morning I sat down to write a note to post about it to answer them all at once. I composed a nice, lengthy review of the whole evening, but when I left the page to find a picture to post with it, I didn't realize that it hadn't auto-saved, and I lost the entire thing. By then it was time to leave for staff meeting, so I came to the office, and I've been in meetings ever since. But now that I have few minutes before I need to prepare for church tonight, I'll try to remember some of what I wrote this morning and post it here on the blog.

First of all, anything at The Fox Theatre is pretty much a sure thing for me. It's always been one of my very favorite places, and continues to be so, even though I really think it's just a little too big for Broadway shows. The average house on the Great White Way in NYC is considerably more intimiate than the Fox, because Broadway shows are written and meant for smaller houses. So if you attend a play or a show at the Fox and are too far away from the stage, you generally miss a lot that you would otherwise experience in an actual Broadway theatre.

That being said, last night was, in a word, wonderful. It wasn't the best production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that I've ever seen (and I've seen it a few times over the years), but it was pretty good. The show is a lot of fun...some would say silly (Pharaoh is an Elvis impersonator, for example)...but there are still moments in it that are movingly serious and quite profound. Basically, the show just has a lot of heart

Dreamcoat was Andrew Lloyd Webber's first published work. He wrote it in college, before Jesus Christ Superstar or some of his later, more sophisticated pieces, but it's enjoyable and family-friendly, and has held up well enough over the years. I have an original album soundtrack version of it somewhere that I bought when I was 12 or 13 and memorized, and even auditioned for a local production of it years ago and got the part, but couldn't work it out with my schedule.

That's all well and good, but it's the amazing story of Joseph, itself, that shines through and so resonates with me, regardless of the medium in which it's presented. It's probably my favorite Bible story...a story that is obviously about the power of dreams, but is also a saga of love and redemption, reconciliation in a dysfunctional family, and the mysteries of the prophetic. It's a story about survival and triumph...one that always inspires me, no matter how many times I hear it told (or sung or danced).

The tickets to the show were a Father's Day gift from Judah and Jonah, and of course I thoroughly enjoyed being treated by them to it. We had a lot of fun together last night. And I'm not the kind of dad you by a drill, golf-club, or weed-whacker for, so it's gratifying to me that my sons know me well enough to know what to get me. The best part of the evening for me was the conversation that the three of us had afterward about the Bible...about what it is and what it isn't...about the possibilities in the life of a man like Jospeh who had so many ups and downs in his life (mostly downs, actually), and how that his latter was greater than his former.

These days I really try to savor and enjoy every moment that I experience. I am grateful for my kids, for the wonderful time I had last night with two of them, for art and music and all that goes with it, for my beautiful Atlanta, and for the part of the Word that gives life, instead of the letter that kills. But today I am thinking particularly of Joseph...and about dreams...and about life...and about happy endings to stories of hardship. My favorite Scripture verses in the story are Genesis 50:19-21:
Joseph replied, "Don't be afraid. Do I act for God? Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I'll take care of you and your children." He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
- The Message

Wow. I love it. And I relate to it.

Gotta go get ready for church...

Hold on to you dreams...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nonnie Lemmon said...

Love the story of Joseph, too, Bish!

Anonymous said...

Genevieve Goldstein said...

You know what I find so coincidental, is I just thought about Joseph this morning and was talking with God today and you posted this. I sometimes think it's God reaffirming me, letting me know He hears me because it's happens often. I think something or am going through something. I pray about it or just talk to Him about something and there it is. So, thank you for this post Bishop :)

Anonymous said...

My feedback from last night...
God likes your stories...
it is WHO YOU ARE...
AND He thinks they are funny!
(Is that bottom line enough for you?)