[Eponine93]

Has anyone done Joseph with more than one Narrator? When I did it at my local drama club, we split the part into three parts due to the amazing turnout of talented girls versus the extremely low number of girl parts. Basically, each Narrator represented each female vocal range- we had a soprano, mezzo and alto Narrator which gave us amazing harmonies. Our musical director was extremely talented and spent a lot of time working with them and writing them original harmonies. In fact, I feel that she should have sent them to Andrew Lloyd Webber- they added so much to the show they could be part of a professional production. Despite everyone in the cast's hatred of the show, it was the best show the group had ever done, mainly because of the Narrator harmonies.

Has anyone else done or seen the show with more than one Narrator? What do you guys think of that idea?

A final note: I still don't know how the rights people didn't murder us for our production.

[musikal_geek]

Since JOSEPH is mainly performed in schools and community theatre, having one narrator would be silly. A lot of the purpose of school productions is for parents to see their children doing something that they normally wouldn't do, so everybody gets their moment to shine. It wouldn't make sense to have the narrator played by one person in a community/school production.

In a professional production, however, the rules are a lot more harsh. If you don't have very much talent, you're not in. It's not about seeing children shine, it's about entertaining a theatre-going crowd.

[Beagle On Stage]

If you choose to have more than one, you need to make sure that each one plays a separate personality, or even represents a certain thing. (For example, when I did the show, we had two narrators - one who represented the brothers' perspective, and one who represented Joseph's.) They have to be strong enough performers on their own to distinguish themselves - if you're not going to make each one its own distinct character, there's no point in splitting the part up.

The best thing to do is to have the narrators do separate songs, then combine (with harmony, of course) at key moments. You can either alternate song-by-song, or split the score up in blocks. Obviously, the two prologues and the finale should be done together for a sense of unity.

That said, it's a shame that single-narrator productions are becoming a rarity. I've only seen it done once. While it's great to have more than one narrator working together, casting an absolute powerhouse in the role to carry the whole show can be awe-inspiring.

[The Very Angry Woman]

I saw it done in a church, where there were two narrators. Both were good; I just felt it was uneccessary and excessive.

[sts4903]

In our production we had SIX narrators which probably seems exsessive but it turned out pretty nicely

[itsaboutonemoment]

When I was a junior in high school, we had three. But it was a little unfair, in my opinion. I was excited b/c I hadn't been getting a lot of parts due to my type, and I finally felt that the role of the Narrator was perfect for me. Then I found out that three of us got it, including one girl who got everything. No problem, I thought. I mean, I like that other girl, she was always nice to me. Directors just kept on giving her everything! But I was excited to maybe do trios or each have songs or something.

Not so much. One girl sang the two act-opening songs ("Some folks dream of the wonders they'll do...." and "Pharoah's Story"), and I got the Potiphar song and THAT WAS IT. The "girl who got lots of stuff" got the entire rest of the show. I didn't understand it whatsoever. The director said, "I see the Potiphar scene as a whole different scene, and I wanted a different Narrator for it..." Blah, blah, blah...

But, that was almost ten years ago, and it sucked at the time, sure, but hey, that's life. And I just gotta remember that there will always be another show, another audition, another chance. And, a good thing that came out of that? One night I had lost my voice (at a rehearsal) but I still got up on stage and overacted the part through my facial expresssions and gestures, just to have fun with it, kind of like an acting exercise. It turns out that the guy playing Pharoah was planning on doing A Streetcar Named Desire in the spring, and after watching me that night and seeing me work and not being afraid to try, he asked me to audition and gave me the role of Stella! Everything happens for a reason!!

[music is my life!!!]

The narrator's got a ton of singing (and a massive range) and it would be interesting to add harmonies where the songs would otherwise be the same throughout. Also, the narrator is the only female lead so to give more people a chance (because most of the narrator's stuff is belt) so there could be a sop, a mezzo with strong belt and an alto with a strong lower range, or something... i'm not really sure but this is the part that got me into musicals in the first place so it is (as in my sig) one of my dream roles and if i had the chance to direct, i'd do that.
Loads of people wud go for the role (it's the best female role in the show) and while the stage time may be split unfairly on occasions, this way gives lots of people the chance to show what they can do.
I agree with Beagle on Stage, because if all the narrators have really similar personalities, the show would just be boring. But it might be interesting if the characters had a small link to eachother - one that wasn't directly obvious...

[norayouadora]

The added harmonies sounds interesting. I agree that it may make sense for a school to split up the narrator part, in order to compensate for the lack of good female roles in Joseph. However, it bugs me when directors just alter the material as they please, to suit their purposes. If the show doesn't have the right amount of roles for your group, don't do it! There are plenty of other shows available that would be more appropriate. Lol, sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine. If ALW wanted it to be one narrator, it should be one narrator.

[music is my life!!!]

That's a really good point! The thing is, at my local drama group we might be doing it soon and the proportion of girls:boys is about 3:1. I agree, altho it's a fab show, it wouldn't really be suited to the group

[musikal_geek]

But, when you think about it the Narrator is the only worthy female role in the show. The only other one that says anything is Potiphar's Wife, who's only in one scene.
Sure, there are a gazillion wives, but... they do nothing, I'm not gonna lie.

[superdave]

We should respect the way that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice have written the score. Being that, there should only be ONE narrator. I am under the belief, I guess it's because I want things to be so... You need to be about 95% True to the script when doing a show--becuase it shows honor to the people that wrote it.

If a community theatre/ high school has a bunch of talented girls--well ONE should only make it. Splitting up the principal role, just seems very silly to me. Plus it teaches girls, that in theatre "If Everyone does well in audition-Everyone deserves a lead" and when they hit the real world...they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

During my "career" so far-- I have had only ONE lead. And I tell you, I was worlds better than most at the auditions. It's just the nature of the beast. And that's the way it should be done.

[music is my life!!!]

true - the score was written like that for a reason

[Beagle On Stage]

[ILoveToSing2010]

we had 2 in my middle school show.

[broadwayxdoll]

when i do joseph we always do 2 narrators. but we ususally double things up becuase we have very large casts. the last joseph i was in was like a cast of 75

onnce we did seussical with a cast of over 100

[NathenDetroit741]

More than one narrator? eh i don't know. I could see how it's done but I'm an old fashioned actor, if you're not going to do the show as written then don't do it. It's the same as those people who split up the parts in Into the Woods becasue there are so many actors. My opinion...If you were talented enough to get the part, would ylou want to share it with two other people just because there was a large turnout at auditions? No the part should go to the best person, not the best three people.

[Theatre_Bookworm]

When my school did it several years ago we had just one narrator and she was FABULOUS! But, I think that really is the way it should be. Sure, everyone wants a lead role, but it's also a load of fun being in the chorus. Especially with "Joseph" and all the different parts a chorus member could play. The girls in ours had like seven costume changes. Which is more than the narrator had. Not that that really means anything...
School productions shouldn't be about everybody's chance to shine. If they want a chance to shine badly enough, they'll work at it and will make it eventually. Besides that, "Joseph" is just a really fun show to be a part of. I was a junior chorus member. All I ever sang was "ahhhh" with the rest of them. And yet, I had the time of my life. You don't need the lead to have fun. So the lead doesn't have to go to everybody. There's three girls with amazing talent at the school? Great!! Give one the lead for this show and give the other two leads in the next ones. Problem solved.

[MademoiselleMusicals]

I think 2 narrators are fine. If anything I feel it's better as the audience get to see two talents for the price of one! And it's not such a strain on one person.

BUT each to their own. I suppose it can be seen as slightly wrong as the show is meant to have ONE narrator only.

Joseph is mainly a chorus show anyway so everyone gets a chance to shine.

[Angel-of-Music*]

2, that way they can either do one narrator do act 1 and the other act 2, or they can sing as duets. there was two when i did it and they worked really well together

[Eponine93]

[Amy_Vocalist]

It was originally written for Schools to perform, in concert form at the very begining

[Beagle On Stage]

And even in its modern form, it's still very easy to perform and stage. It also lets you use a basically unlimited chorus. Those things all make it very appealing to high schools...but what tends to be forgotten is that out of the whole cast, only two or three don't get screwed.

[Set_Buildin_Dad]

Our Jr. High used 3 narrators to good effect. They were some of the most talanted kids at the school, and were all able to harmonize with each other to good effect. They were all either sopranos or mezzos, and did 3 part harmony very well. They moved seemlessly in and out of the production.

They each received fairly equal time on stage, but each was able to showcase their talents. For example: one of the narrators was also an accomplished vilolinist. She accompanied the chorus during the "One More Angel in Heaven" and "Those Cannan Days".

[reedzee]

In the production I was in last year, there was one Narrator who did all the singing, and then we had a Dancer-Narrator. She was basically the Narrator's "helper", and did a lot of lyrical dancing while the Narrator sang.

[That High Soprano]

I just resently did it with 4 narrators. I'm not sure on the specifics on how they broke the part up, but we defenatly had one that did most of the high stuff one one that did most of the lower stuff.

[le_moofin]

My school is doing Joseph for the winter musical and we're dividing the Narrator into 3 parts... I'm both bummed and excited. I really hope I get one of them. I think I will, since I'm a junior and have experience and all that jazz. Still, I think I would've preferred for it to be a single role rather than split into 3 roles. -sigh- Not that it matters. Joseph is basically a vehicle for our "Mr. Amazing Cody Smallwood" to be showcased... again. Lol =D

[jetblack_diva]

I'm the curent Narrator in my high school production and i guess it would depend how you did it with more than one narrator. My Director was stupid and said that if we had more than one narrator all the narrators would sing for different songs. For instance one would sing the prologue the next would sing Jacob and Sons. I am so glad that this didn't happen.

[zenit2k4]

We had two narrators at the community theatre I just did it with, but they alternated shows, rather than songs. Kept them both healthy, but maintained the integrity of the score.

That said, it made for awkward conversations when friends would ask which one to go see.

[Monsieur D'Arque]

A lot has been said about doing the show the way Mr. Webber wrote it, with one narrator.

If authenticity to his vision is your credo, your one narrator had better be a big black guy.

[musikal_geek]

We don't have one in my school production.
It's all just chorus.
Boy, was THAT a mistake.

[mantarnia]

[Monsieur D'Arque]

But his revised Broadway version, the version licensed today, was for a male, black Narrator. The fact that he has since been replaced by Mary Poppins is a constant point of debate in the theater world.

[mantarnia]

[Monsieur D'Arque]

I believe it was mentioned in a previous discussion on the board.

[tortallcit]

Our school is thinking of putting this one on next year, and actually I really do like the idea of having 2 narrators, but only if they can harmonize right and stuff... I'd never want it to be more than two though, or it would crowd up the stage... Just saying my piece...