Joseph is a popular musical based on the Biblical story of Joseph (Genesis 37-42). It is about a boy with 11 brothers who are all very jealous of him, so tehey sell him as a slave. There is basically no talking in this musical and all of the stories are told through song. The narrator also sings to tell the story. The song "Jacob and Sons" tells that the story takes place many centuries ago in the land of Canaan. It also takes place in Egypt, where Joseph is taken to be a slave. The songs tell us not only where the stories take place but also the lifestyle around this time, like the Bible tells us. There was a Pharaoh in Egypt who had control over everybody and took people as slaves. The costumes show us about the clothing of the time, with colourful scarves and leather sandals. And the extravagance of the wealthy people's clothing, such as the Phaoraoh, with beads and jewels and bright colours, as we can see below. In this picture, we can see the clothing of the normal people at the time who are not extremely wealthy.
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The set of Joseph shows Canaan and Egypt at the time with the use of pyramids and palm trees. This show is a modern twist on the biblical story, for example as we can kind of see in the picture above, there are blue neon lights on the pyramid. In the musical, Pharaoh's dancers are wearing cheerleading costumes and holding pom poms. There is a modern twist in the musical but the atmosphere of biblical times in Egypt is still there.
The costumes, the set and the songs are just some of the things that really create the atmosphere of a musical unlike any other- set many centuries ago before the bible began.
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