Naperville theater troupe presents ‘Joseph’

Joel Hamilton knows about dreams.

He knows about chasing them. He knows about living them.

He even sings about them.

So when he takes the stage this weekend in Naperville as the title character in Magical Starlight Theatre’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” he’ll be more than just another actor playing just another part.

He’ll be bringing a little piece of himself into the spotlight.

“It’s really a show about dreams,” he says of the Biblical tale of Joseph and his coat of many colors. “It’s about getting people to aim high and not forget about their dreams.

“I guess it kind of fits and applies to my life.”

Any dream will do

When he was a kid, Joel Hamilton didn’t need to be pushed on the stage.

His older sister sa ng in the choir at St. Cletus Catholic Church in LaGrange and Joel, around the ripe old age of 5, followed her lead.

He took roles in a couple grade school theater productions and then really got serious about acting in high school at Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park.

“The process of working with a group of people to develop and create something appeals to me,” he says. “It really brings you together and then you feed off the energy of the audience and it gives you a rush.”

He went on to graduate from Benedictine University, where he emerged with a degree that combined business, communication and theater.

He returned to his old high school as director of recruitment, but still found himself seeking out the stage whenever he could.

Finally, in 2004, he did what those smitten with the acting bug always seem to do. He moved to California.

CSI Miami

If you’re a fan of TV’s “CSI: Miami,” you’ve probably seen Hamilton more times than you know.

He spent five years working as a photo double for Jonathan Togo, who plays Ryan Wolfe on the long-running CBS show.

What that means is that Hamilton spent five years being shot from behind and at a distance when Togo was supposed to be in a scene but didn’t have a speaking part.

If you were a casual viewer, or even a member of Hamilton’s family, chances are you would never have been able to pick him out unless he alerted you about what to look for.

While he was having the back of his head show up on TV screens around the world, he met Anitra, an Ohio native who would become his wife.

It’s the kind of thing that gets a guy to thinking about moving closer to his family and to his Midwestern roots, to a place where the seasons change and maybe you can find a job that’s a little more secure than what’s available in Tinsel Town.

“Hollywood was interesting, and I had a lot of cool experiences,” he says, “but I wanted to get back closer to home and to doing the performing for fun.”

Joseph, is that you?

Kris Visher has been with Magical Starlight for 16 years, almost from its creation as a community theater group with ties to Naperville Park District.

Her daughter actually got her involved, back when Victoria was first appearing onstage as an actor, and this year Kris is serving as assistant director and co-producer for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

The iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is the perfect kind of show for a troupe that strives to bring actors of all ages together, Visher says.

“It’s a great, upbeat, colorful show,” she says, that has a bit of a cult following — especially after Donny Osmond’s memorable run with it in Chicago almost two decades ago.

“We’ve tried to do it numerous times before,” Visher says, “but this time the timing was right, we were available and the show was available.”

With a cast of 68, she says, the biggest challenge in staging “Joseph” is getting everybody together at the same time.

“You know how in real estate it’s location, location, location?” she says. “Here it’s scheduling, scheduling, scheduling.”

This is, after all, community theater. And while the end result is extremely professional and every actor onstage has to audition for their part (there’s no pay-to-play here, Visher says) all of the cast and crew members have jobs, or school or countless other responsibilities.

Hamilton, for example, is a financial adviser in Downers Grove.

In the end, though, Magical Starlight shows always come off, she says, “because we can work together, rolling up our sleeves.”

The “Joseph” production team formed in June (Victoria, by the way, is now 22 and serving as the show’s choreographer) and Visher says its drive for excellence has never ebbed.

“There’s a commitment to keep the quality great and to respect each other,” she says.

The good thing about doing “Joseph” is most of the audience already knows the story and many folks remember the Donny Osmond version, complete with his infamous loin cloth.

The tough thing about doing “Joseph” is most of the audience already knows the story and many folks remember Donny and that loin cloth.

Donny and Joel

Oh, Donny, how we remember you bopping around the stage in what looked for all the world like an adult diaper. How we remember you singing “Any Dream Will Do” and “Close Every Door.”

Visher remembers. So does Hamilton. But if the latter is worried about the inevitable comparisons, he doesn’t show it.

Fact is, he’s wanted to play Joseph for a long time. His high school class put on the show when he was a senior and he tried — alas, unsuccessfully — for the lead role.

Since his return from California, Hamilton has kept his hand in theater, performing in shows with Summer Place Theater in Naperville and elsewhere. But he never lost that desire to play Joseph.

“We all have memories of Donny,” he says, “but we bring our own spin to it. Nobody does any good if you’re trying to do what someone else did.”

He says his favorite parts of the show come during his first song, when he’s onstage with a bunch of kids, and when he does “Close Every Door.”

“It’s really just a cool moment,” he says.

Visher says that moment catches her breath, too.

“There’s a moment in ‘Close Every Door’ where you feel what’s happening with Joseph,” she says, “and it stops you.”

Close Every Door

Joel Hamilton knows about dreams.

He knows about living them. He knows about singing them. He knows about chasing them.

And now he knows about catching them, too.

“It’s funny how life works,” he says. “I always wanted to play Joseph and I always kept my eyes and ears open for places doing the show.”

Now he’s getting his chance to sing “Close Every Door” and all the rest and the irony probably isn’t lost on him.

Close one door, after all, and another one is almost always sure to open.

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

<B>Who</B>: Presented by Magical Starlight Theatre

<B>When</B>: 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Jan. 20 and 27; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, Jan. 21 and 28; and 2 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 22 and 29

<B>Where</B>: Naperville Central High School auditorium, 440 W. Aurora Ave.

<B>Tickets</B>: $10 at door, $8 in advance (by noon Friday of the performance weekend)

<B>Info</B>: magicalstarlighttheatre.org