It's musical season in Shanghai. The city is abuzz with the arrival of the Broadway classic, The Sound of Music, which makes its Asian debut tomorrow, but it's not the only musical in May.

Tomorrow night, barely one hour before postulant Maria and the Trapp children lead you to that "very good place to start," students from the Shanghai American School (SAS) will stage Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." The landmark first collaboration between Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, the play tells the story of a young man named Joseph living in the land of Canaan.

His father's favorite son, Joseph, is perhaps a little spoiled. While the rest of his brothers are forced to wear sheepskin, he struts around in a fabulous rainbow-colored coat, a gift from his adoring father. The rest of Joseph's brothers aren't too pleased with the situation, and when Joseph goes so far as to tell them of a dream he has had in which their stacks of wheat bow down to his stack of wheat, they decide they have finally had enough. Joseph's brothers abduct him, destroy his cherished coat, and sell him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelites who happen to come trotting by. Joseph, however, will not be put down so easily.

After being sold to an Egyptian property owner and serving a brief stint in prison, he uses his dream-reading abilities to secure an interview with the Pharaoh who is so impressed with the young man that he immediately appoints him Minister of Agriculture. Years later, when a severe famine hits the land, Joseph's brothers come begging for employment. Realizing that they don't recognize him, Joseph decides to stage a little surprise for his would-be murderers before he allows everyone to live happily ever after.

The play, which was originally 15 minutes long, was first presented at Colet Court School in London on March 1, 1968. A revised 40-minute version was staged at the West End five years later. Although the play is probably the one of the shortest ever in West End history (most run about three hours), it didn't stop the play from becoming a firm favorite with audiences worldwide -- particularly children, who are dazzled by the sets, costumes, and characters. "It has proven to be a hit with the students as the music is extremely catchy. Very often you will walk the hallways of the school and hear a kindergarten student humming one of the songs or a group of Grade Twos singing away at recess," says Geoff Heney, director of the play and a teacher with SAS. But getting the kids to love the play is much easier than getting them to perform it. Most of the students, who are mainly elementary and middle school-age, ranging from grade four to eight, have little or no stage experience. "My job was mostly to get the students to focus their energy at the proper place and in the proper time, choreograph dances and movements, connect with the audience, and to be aware of their fellow actors on stage. " Heney recalls. As the play involves more than 20 characters, team spirit is also very important. "When I am doing my with lyrics, other actors also have to perform, reacting to me using expressions or body language, which makes me feel much more relaxed and confident," says Brian Wang, who plays Joseph.

Heney adds that their confidence has come from months of rehearsals for the cast and the band, ensuring that each individual knew their parts backwards and forwards. From the school's point of view, the musical boosts school spirit by offering every student the opportunity to be part of the production. The production, which got underway last December, involved over 250 students (mainly from grade four to eight), teachers and parents.

Teachers compiled the lyrics and original scores while parents made the costumes and designed the make-up for characters. School board member Raymond Sun says that the reward lies in watching the entire school community making this united effort. "The result is somehow not so important when you see how much the children enjoy performing, and I believe that experience like this will help develop their personalities and their ability to cooperate with other people," Sun says. On April 24, after four months of hard work, Webber's story was performed at SAS. Now they move to the eminent Lyceum Theater to perform before a larger audience. Do they regret missing the opening of The Sound of Music? "If we had never been onstage and performed ourselves," says Nancy Li, the narrator, "we would never have known what a wonderful thing the musical is."

Time: 6:30 pm, May 22

Venue: Lyceum Theater, 57 Maoming Rd S.

Tickets: 50 yuan

Tel: 021-6221-1445 ext 3000

(Shanghai Daily May 21, 2004)