Donny Osmond to return to ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ as Pharaoh

Donny Osmond has announced he will be returning for a limited time to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in a UK tour starting this December. 

Instead of playing Joseph — the role he took on thousands of times from 1992-1998 — Osmond has been cast as Pharaoh for this limited run production of the play. 

“I always knew I would return to ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’” Osmond said in a statement on X. “Having starred as Joseph in over 2,000 performances in this magical musical, I am now ready to channel my inner Elvis and assume the role of Pharaoh in Edinburgh starting this December.” 

The play was first written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice as a 15-minute, end-of-the-term “pop cantata” for a London preparatory school for boys. It continued to expand for years until it finally became a full-length musical on Broadway in 1982, with Osmond coming on the scene in 1992 and starring as Joseph until 1997.

This is his first return to the play since then, and his first time playing Pharaoh. 

Stefanie Breinholt, the artistic director of BYU Theater and a seasoned stage actress herself, thinks Osmond’s return to the show is very fitting.

“Cast as the Pharaoh in this new revival, he will have a chance to explore a new role,” Breinholt said. 

Another BYU Theater and Media professor, Darl Larsen, was in the audience at one of Osmond’s 2,000 shows in the 1990s. According to Larsen, Donny had a “recognizable, memorable voice” and “a practically glowing demeanor.” He said he believes despite Osmond’s age, the choice to cast Osmond as the Pharaoh was a good one.

“(It) might help to skew the audience older,” said Larsen. “He is older, yes, but he also wasn’t Joseph-aged in the mid-1990s. The magic of theater and make-up can do wonders.”

Osmond’s performance will last through the month of December to kick off the show’s UK tour. The tour will continue into 2025.