Thornhill, Ont., native Daniel Greenberg plays Dan, Joseph’s half-brother in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which returns to Mississauga’s Stage West.
Daniel Greenberg
This updated production of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice has an all-Canadian cast, including Greenberg.
This is only his second professional production. He was in The Wedding Singer, also at Stage West, earlier this year.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat takes audiences back to the ancient land of Canaan for the retelling of the biblical story with technicolour twists.
“Dan is one of the middle children, a full-brother of Asher,” says Greenberg, who, himself is one of seven children from a blended family.
“Brother Dan is very envious and jealous of Joseph because Joseph gets star treatment with Jacob, their father. Dan lives in the shadow of Joseph, among the rest of his brothers.”
After Joseph’s 11 jealous brothers sell him into slavery, he lands in prison, but then he decides to capitalize on his ability to interpret dreams. When he correctly interprets the Pharaoh’s dream, the Pharaoh appoints Joseph to oversee food rationing, which saves Egypt from starvation. As a result, Joseph becomes one of the most powerful men in Egypt. The plot thickens when Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt in search of food and come upon their brother Joseph, although they don’t recognize him.
“It is a really great family show. It is full of different styles of music. You’ve got a country song, a take on a hip-hop song and a disco mega-mix at the end of the show,” Greenberg says. “It is a lot of fun.”
He says that the show tells us that if you have any envy toward your siblings, to buckle up and deal with it, and then it should all turn out well in the end.
“Growing up Jewish, you learn to work as a family unit and that translates to a “T” into everyday life and theatre especially, because when you work on a production, you learn your role and you learn to work together in your theatre family,” Greenberg says.
He got his acting start with a Thornhill group called CharActor’s Travelling Troupe, in which he says he honed his skill of acting and developed a love for the craft, before attending the musical theatre program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.
In addition to Greenberg, this production’s cast includes Liam Tobin as Joseph, Janna Polzin as the narrator and Shawn Wright as Joseph The show is directed by Lee MacDougall, the musical director is Anthony Bastianon, and the costume designer is Ivan Brozic.
Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor Dreamcoat runs from Nov. 25 to Feb. 14. For tickets, visits www.stagewest.com or call the box office at 905-238-0042 or 1-800-263-0684.
