I love theater…musicals, plays, concerts, or operas. Of course, my preference is to go to the big productions in the historic and grand theaters in all of their architectural glory. But I also enjoy going to local community theaters where occasionally you catch a gem of a production. One of the closest theaters to where I live is the Norris Theater in Palos Verdes only a mere 2 miles from my home. This week I went to the Norris Theater to see a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I had seen a large Broadway production of this a number of years ago. This production was put on by the Negri Production Company which are amateurs that take classes in theater arts at the Norris Theater.

The Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts was built in 1983 by a visionary group of individuals who formed the Community Association of the Peninsula (CAP.) Local residents contributed the bulk of construction costs for the Theatre, supplemented by businesses and corporations. The most notable of the Theatres early and continuing contributors is the Kenneth T. & Eileen L. Norris Foundation, after whom the Theatre is named.

The Norris Theatre is a 450-seat, state of the art facility that has become the cornerstone of the performing arts on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, bringing leading entertainers and performing artists to the region and reinforcing these efforts with high-quality educational outreach programs for children and adults

Located atop a hill near the ocean, the Norris Center for the Performing Arts attracts professional touring companies, celebrity concerts and family entertainment suited to the community it serves. This richly appointed facility hosts smaller Broadway and off-Broadway shows.

The theater hosts an annual series of big-band concerts and an ongoing program of children's theater. The facility offers patrons free parking in an enclosed lot adjacent to the theater. Its popular Playwright Development Series presents free staged readings of original works, promoting new playwrights and giving audiences a glimpse of the creative process.

Their current production is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, one of their first productions together.

Alan Doggett, head of the school's music department, for their annual spring concert, commissioned the piece. Doggett conducted the performance, whose orchestra and the singers consisted of pupils of Colet Court, the preparatory school for St Paul's School.

Lloyd Webber's father, William, felt the show had the seeds of greatness. He encouraged and arranged for a second performance – at his church, Westminster Central Hall– with a revised and expanded format. The boys of Colet Court sang at this performance, which also included a rock group. It received positive reviews: London's Sunday Times said it was a new pop oratorio. Novello agreed to publish the work and Decca Records recorded it. By its third performance at St Paul's Cathedral on 9 November 1968, it had been expanded to 35 minutes and included several new songs.

In 1970, Lloyd Webber and Rice used the popularity of their second rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, to promote Joseph – which was advertised in America as a "sequel" to Superstar. Riding on Jesus' coattails proved profitable for this "Technicolor coat" and the US Decca recording topped America's charts for three months.

Its American journey to Broadway is almost as storied. The first American production was in May 1970 at the College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, New York. Colleges and amateur groups expressed great interest in the show and there were two professional productions in New York but it was not until 27 January 1982 that it reached Broadway at the Royale Theatre where it ran for 749 performances.

Its family-friendly storyline, universal themes, and catchy music have made Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat one of the most dependably profitable titles in musical theatre, particularly when producers cast a headlining star – and, according to the Really Useful Group, more than 20,000 schools and amateur theatre groups have successfully put on productions such as the one seen tonight at the Norris Theater.

While going to the theater often seems “unattainable” due to high costs, often you can find a great theatrical production at your local community theater!