Thursday was another exciting day in Ogunquit, Maine.  The cast of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the fans of Clay Aiken both seemed to have a fun time.

The talented cast of “Joseph” seem to be having a good time and have decided to use twitter to share their fun with the fans:

@MichaelWarrell #claymatesaregreat #kendolls

— Ken Arpino (@KenArpino) August 16, 2013

Gamenight 4 the boys of #joseph! W/ @clayaiken & @korywithaK_18 4some pregame dinner b4 the fun begins. #arpinonoir pic.twitter.com/c9036x8uWA

— Ken Arpino (@KenArpino) August 16, 2013

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Then we found out that some of the audience wore “Technicolor Dreamcoats” to the show.  The Ogunquit Playhouse said:

QUOTE

Ogunquit Playhouse @OgunquitPH
These are HANDMADE by these wonderful sisters (Playhouse subscribers). Not sure when they’ll wear then again but aren’t they fab!

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Facebook had some fun messages about the show:

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Alex Poulin
If you’re not seeing Clay Aiken perform in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tonight your life is way worse than ours.

Liza Marczak Dimitri really!? I can’t imagine how excited you are,Alex!!

Jacky Leavitt Swindler He’s awesome!!!

Alex Poulin Liza Marczak Dimitri I feel like I’m 15 again. I’m losing my mind over here.

QUOTE Esther Hammond
Hangin at the Ogunquit playhouse with
Clay Aiken and the gang of Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!!!

Jule Cristine Finley Saw him in Spamalot and he was actually amazing- heard from some who saw Joseph that he was awesome once again!!! Have fun!!! Remember when we did it years ago??? Such a good memory!

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The following are reviews by fans who were lucky enough to see the show – many thanks to all for posting these fun reports.

We saw the Tuesday night show, the Wed. matinee and the Wed. evening performance. The Wednesday night show was by far the most electric. DH asked me if I knew what was in the popcorn they were sent! I don’t know if it was that, or the twitter fun, but the performers were super high energy. The guy who sings lead on those Canaan days was milking the audience for all they were worth. And the audience was responding in kind. Matthew Ragas selected a little white haired lady (who was there with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter) to give the sweat cloth to. She was a trooper and played right along. He was flirting with her like she was 18 instead of 80 and the audience loved it. The reaction of the rest of her family was hilarious. The standing O from the audience was almost immediate, whereas on the other shows they didn’t all stand until the main performers came out. I don’t believe there was a person in that theater who wasn’t having loads of fun, and the performers were having the most fun of all! It was MAGIC!

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Encounter #1 = During intermission last night, my DH began a conversation with a 40ish couple who were standing nearby while we all waited for the lights to dim. Turns out they were from Boston and come to all of the Ogunquit Playhouse shows every summer. They both positively gushed about how good the show was. They said that they had never watched American Idol and were completely surprised at how good Clay was as Joseph. My DH mentioned that we had come from Houston to see it. They immediately assumed that we were related to someone in the show. DH soon disabused them of that notion, and pointed at me as the reason for this supposed insanity. I admitted that I was a claymate (I know that term is not popular with everyone, but I kinda like it, so chill.) The woman immediately responded. “I can understand why!” They were eagerly awaiting the 2nd act. They said that this production was one of the best, if not THE BEST, they had seen in almost 10 years of playhouse performances! We didn’t get a chance to talk to them afterwords, but I was able to glance at their reactions throughout ACT 2, and they were thoroughly enjoying it!

Encounter #2 = I wore my Joseph t-shirt today when we went into Portland. At the Enterprise Car Rental place, the girl asked if I’d seen the show. When I told her how great it was, she said she was hoping to catch it because she’d heard that Clay Aiken was very good in it. I told her she definitely should not miss it!

Encounter #3 = We took a trolley tour of Portland that went out to the light house at Cape Elizabeth. When we picked up our tickets, the twenty-something girl at the counter saw the shirt and volunteered that she was trying to get time off from her job to get to Ogunquit to see Clay Aiken. Again, I assured her that she would not regret it!


Encounter #4 = In the gift shop at the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse, both women cashiers remarked on the shirt, then proceeded to tell me how much they loved Clay on American Idol, how he should have won, how they had hardly watched the show since, and how much they would love to get down to Ogunquit to see him.

Overall, it was so much fun to have conversations with folks who still love him. It’s apparent that the Ogunquit Playhouse has a very good PR dept. and is highly respected throughout the area. I think this gig is going to prove very beneficial to him!

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Prologue – When Clay sings Any Dream Will Do, he comes out through the fog and sings first to the children around the stage. I didn’t know until reading the program that a new group of child performers began on Tuesday night. They evidently have 2 sets of kids for 2 weeks each. So, I imagine that this group was especially nervous since it was their opening night. Clay smiled and made contact with each of them (There were 22 in all, 21 girls and 1 boy) then he comes to the front of the stage, near the Narrator just as he reaches the line… “I was left alone”. There’s a brief pause as he stares out over the audience with the saddest look on his face. He looks so completely heart-broken for that brief instant, then catches himself and becomes aware of the children and continues to sing.

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I will take just a moment to say thank you for your patience this week.

I have had a wonderful vacation and will be returning home on Friday.

My coverage of “all things Clay Aiken” has  been a bit sparse and off schedule.  I am just so glad that there has been so many exciting things to share!