Chai Life YYC opens with “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” on Nov. 29 at TBT

By Holly Shifrah

(AJNews) – Chai Life YYC’s production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, running from November 29 to December 7 at Temple B’nai Tikvah, will be kicking off the newly founded theatre company’s revival of Jewish Theatre in Calgary. Chai Life YYC has entrusted award-winning local director, Sean Anderson, the Artistic Director/Executive Producer and co-founder of Morpheus Theatre, to lead their inaugural production.

When asked if he felt a sense of pressure regarding the need for this first show to succeed in order for Chai Life YYC to continue, he expressed that the opposite has been true saying, “I think there’s a lot of support, both in people wanting to see this company succeed…and also in financial support.”

Anderson also expressed that though recently there’s been a dearth of auditioning actors in the Calgary community theatre scene, especially for musicals, Joseph not only managed to fill all the roles they needed, their cast is a mix of Jewish and non-Jewish actors. In fact, Anderson himself is not Jewish. He said that while directing Joseph he “took the opportunity to learn” and “really enjoyed the experience.”

Chai Life YYC describes, as part of their dream, bringing together “an inclusive community that dedicates itself to nurturing and presenting different Jewish voices…to a larger community – to enrich and strengthen the human spirit.” In the face of rising antisemitism and the air, as Chai Life YYC describes it, “rife with intolerance, misunderstanding, unkindness, marginalization, persecution, and unrighteousness,” the reality of a diverse cast and crew coming together to support this newborn Jewish theatre company is not just encouraging, it’s a dream come true.

The show has presented some unique challenges for its director, such as the relatively small stage size, its unique layout, and the fact that a permanent set was not possible in the shared space, which led to simplified props and costume changes as well as keeping much of the 30 person cast on stage most of the time. Anderson also intentionally avoided copying previous, more famous, productions of the show. He explained that he tries to “take a fresh look at it and just direct what comes from the script itself.”

Even those who have never had the opportunity to see a live production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat may be familiar with the 1999 film version starring Donny Osmond. A new film adaptation is in development with filmmaker John M Chu (the man responsible for the wildly successful 2-part film adaptation of the Broadway show Wicked, in addition to directing the 2021 musical film In the Heights). But when asked if he thought that the success of movie musicals like Wicked has increased interest in participation in community theatre, Anderson indicated that he thinks what’s increasing interest, particularly for younger audiences and actors, are fresh shows. He believes that “having some really good scripts coming into the theatre…not just relying on musicals that are 60, 80, 100 plus years old…[and] getting a more modern take on musical theatre” is drawing new people to participate.

Though Joseph may be approaching that 60 year mark, it will be exciting to see what creativity this local director brings to the show as well as seeing what fresh new shows Chai Life YYC may present in the future, provided Calgary continues to show them the outpouring of support they’ve thus far enjoyed. In addition to a successful fundraising campaign prior to auditions for Joseph, Anderson and the ticket sales website both indicate the very real possibility of a sold-out run. Tickets are no longer available online for three of the scheduled seven performances, with only one ticket listed as still available for opening night (at time of writing). Don’t despair though, a limited number of tickets will be available at the door each performance, even if it says sold-out on-line.

With such a level of pre-show support and ticket sales, the future of Chai Life YYC looks bright.

For updated information and to buy tickets visit  ChaiLifeYYC.ca. 

Holly Shifrah is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter