Coat of Many Colors

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat-
Carol and her Amazing Technicolor Art Crew-
Dolly and her Amazing "Coat of many colors her mama made for her"-
My mom sounds a bit like Dolly's. She could make something out of nothing. She could make and remake and overhaul and fit just about anything to clothe her children. Although I don't remember much about what we wore, because in those days, it didn't really matter so much. We were covered and we were clean. Oh, and we were so very loved! I can just about imagine the colorful creations our mama made for us! Amazing!
At school, it is that time of year again...the Fall Musical, and that time when our creative sides imagine just what one can make out of cardboard. The directors ask and we provide!


Help comes from the students. "In union, there is strength" -Aesop
We're all in this together- Oh, no, that is last year's musical still singing in my brain.It tests my painting skills to the limit. This pyramid is actually flat and by painting both sides of a line in different tones and different directions-now, magically, we have a pyramid! Amazing!

The biblical Joseph was the 11^th son of Jacob. At the age of 17, Joseph was a shepherd alongside his brothers. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons because he reminded Jacob very much of his favorite wife, Rachel. Jacob gave Joseph a "coat of many colors." The other brothers were jealous of Joseph and hated him. Joseph only further provoked this hatred when he told his brothers about two of his dreams. In the first, sheaves of wheat belonging to his brothers bowed to him. In the second, the son, moon, and 11 stars bowed to him.

His brothers plotted to kill him and throw him into a pit. The brothers took his coat and threw him into the pit. They sat down to eat and saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders from Gilead in the distance. Judah came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. The brothers then dipped his coat into the blood of a slaughtered goat and brought it back to Jacob. Jacob recognized the coat and concluded that a beast had killed his son. He mourned for many days and was inconsolable.

Meanwhile, the traders took Joseph down to Egypt where Potiphar, an officer and head of the kitchen of Pharaoh, bought him. Joseph was successful there and Potiphar made Joseph his personal attendant, putting him in charge of the entire household.

Joseph was well built and handsome and after some time Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. She approached Joseph day after day but he refused her each time, citing loyalty to Potiphar and to God. One day, Joseph came into the house to work. Potiphar’s wife grabbed his coat and he ran away. She then pretended that Joseph had tried to seduce her. Potiphar was furious and sent Joseph to a jail for the king’s prisoners.

In prison, the chief jailor liked Joseph and put him in charge of all the other prisoners, including Pharaoh’s butler and baker. One night both the butler and the baker had strange dreams. Joseph interpreted the dreams, saying that in three days time the butler would be recalled to his former position while the baker would be killed. Sure enough, three days later, Pharaoh restored the butler to his job and killed the baker.

Two years later, Pharaoh himself had two dreams that his magicians could not interpret. The butler then remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Pharaoh sent for Joseph. He appeared before Pharaoh and told him in the name of God that the dreams forecasted seven years of plentiful crops followed by seven years of famine. He advised Pharaoh to make a wise man commissioner over the land with overseers to gather and store food from the seven years of abundance to save for the years of scarcity. Joseph’s prediction and advice pleased Pharaoh and he made Joseph his second-in-command.

Joseph traveled throughout Egypt, gathering and storing enormous amounts of grain from each city. Joseph’s brothers, who were starving, came and bowed to Joseph, who recognized them immediately but pretended they were strangers. He continued to speak harshly to them and interrogate them. They told him they had a younger brother at home. Joseph then locked them in the guardhouse for three days before commanding the brothers to go home and bring their youngest brother back with them to prove that they were telling the truth. The brothers spoke among themselves lamenting that they were being punished for what they had done to Joseph, who overheard them, turned away and wept, but then continued his act. He gave them grain and provisions for the journey.

The brothers returned to Canaan and told Jacob all that had happened in Egypt. When they returned, this time with Benjamin, Joseph brought them to the entrance of his house and instructed his servant to prepare a meal. The brothers then went inside and waited for Joseph to come eat with them. When he returned, they gave him gifts and bowed to him, grateful that they were no longer starving. He asked if Benjamin was their brother, and left the room, overcome with emotion after seeing his brother again. He then returned and ate and drank with his brothers, giving Benjamin more food than the others. He then instructed his servant to fill the brothers’ bags with food, return each one’s money a second time, and put his own silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag.

As soon as the brothers left the city, Joseph’s servant overtook them and accused them of stealing Joseph’s goblet. He said that whoever had the goblet in his possession would be kept as a slave, while the others would go free. He searched their possessions and found the goblet in Benjamin’s bag. All the brothers returned to the city and threw themselves on the ground before Joseph. The brothers showed their change of heart and loyalty by offering themselves in place of Benjamin. At this point, Joseph could not longer control himself. He began to cry loudly and revealed his true identity to his brothers. He then embraced Benjamin, kissed all of his brothers and wept. Joseph took care for them during the next five years of famine. Jacob, at age 130 and Joseph were reunited and they embraced and cried. They lived in the best part of Egypt and Joseph provided them with bread.

Long story short, I have really enjoyed the music of this musical and I have enjoyed reading in the bible about this story. The musical is being presented at West Lyon on Oct 29 and Oct 30 and will be well worth the trip. Come on over and see our awesome cast, the work of our directors and the magic of cardboard from the Art department! You will be amazed!

If you care to read more about this story, check it out in Genesis 37-50! (What? In school? Amazing!!!)