GO, GO, GO JOSEPH!

Footlight Theatre Company Dreams in Technicolor

November 6 – 14, 2009

Michael J. Fox Theatre, Burnaby

Evening shows Nov. 6, 7, 8, 12, 13 & 14 at 7:30 pm; matinee Sunday Nov. 8 at 2 pm

Tickets $24-$32 at www.ticketstonight.ca or 604-684-2787

www.footlight.ca

“Go big or go home!” That’s Footlight Theatre’s motto for 2009. After many shows in a smaller venue at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, the community theatre company will be moving into the 600-seat, state-of-the-art Michael J. Fox Theatre for its annual fall production.  What better vehicle for this exciting step than Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – a hit musical about following your dreams, no matter where they take you.  With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Joseph is a family classic, a rags-to-riches story that is guaranteed to have audiences of all ages singing along and dancing in their seats.

Director/choreographer Lalainia Lindbjerg Strelau and musical director Monique Creber have assembled a large cast of 34 talented triple threat performers, led by Danny Balkwill in the title role. Danny recently returned to Vancouver after a two-year engagement with Mirvish Productions’ We Will Rock You in Toronto; his credits also include the Canadian touring company of Mamma Mia. He and the rest of the adult cast will be supported by a children’s chorus of 60 kids from all over the Lower Mainland, led by Michelle Creber (last seen in the title role of Annie at Theatre Under the Stars) and Emily Matchette (Young Cosette in the Arts Club’s production of Les Misérables). The whole group will be backed by a live band that includes Michael Creber (piano), Buff Allen (drums), Dave Ivaz (guitar) and Rene Worst (bass). These Juno Award-winning, Grammy-nominated musicians have played with such A-list entertainers as David Bowie, k.d. lang, Diana Krall, Aerosmith and Ray Charles; their theatrical credits include Broadway touring productions of Rent, Miss Saigon, Chicago, Showboat, The Wiz and Annie.

With a dynamic cast that’s almost a hundred strong, a world-class band, amazing Technicolor costumes by Christina Sinosich, sets by Ian Schimpf and lighting by Des Renard, this Joseph will be the biggest show in Footlight’s history – an adventure not to be missed.

Danny Balkwill as Joseph; photo by Paul Wright