Being wrong is never funny. When I saw "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in London a couple of years or so ago [see excerpt above], I thought it was pretty good. Modestly good. Not incredible, but viable….

In many ways it is better than "Jesus Christ, Superstar." At least it is not quite so pretentious. But those many ways are not enough. In London it seemed acceptable. In Brooklyn, with, I think, a slightly jazzed-up staging, it seems a loud and pushy bore….

Why are so many modern—or so-distant modern—musicals based on biblical themes? This "Joseph" makes so many of its points—those such as it makes—with a semi-mocking attitude to its subject. It takes Joseph, gives him a plaintive voice, surrounds him with the blue-jeaned cohorts and an abundance of disco, go-go dancing. Some years ago this seemed moderately smart—it certainly seemed better than the gargantuan excesses of "Jesus Christ, Superstar." Now it seems empty. The music beats on and on, the story is made into a candy-colored legend, and only the staging engages the attention….

The show looks good, but it just doesn't sound good. One musical number after another plonks lifeless on the deck. And the story never for a moment sustains its characters. We cannot get even remotely involved with Joseph—whether with his coat or not.

The music is soft-rock, and nowadays seems a paraphrase of a pastiche. It has no originality—a few liturgical notes with a great deal of rock frenzy—and the lyrics are merely simplistic. It is not especially clever, in itself, to bring a biblical story into modern times. Even the wretched "Godspell" was able to do that….

Perhaps it was a show that had a special time and a special place, and perhaps the time was two or three years ago and the place was London. Or perhaps I was simply wrong the first time around. But it honestly did seem more attractive then.