Like many people, I’m a huge fan of the Lloyd-Webber/Rice version of the story of Joseph. I sang it first at school, I’ve seen it in the West End as well as locally, I watched the TV show and I’ve even got the video. But, regretfully, I have to admit it’s pretty limited as an interpretation of the story.

I’ve never been happy, for example, with that theme song Any Dream Will Do. Just listen to the words. It turns a story of someone who could interpret dreams into something more like a celebration of celebrity or ambition. I think that’s a pretty outrageous reading, and not one that the text supports. The biblical witness is that it really does matter what dreams (or hopes) you have, and that how we imagine the future makes a real difference.

This is an extract from the September 2010 issue of Reform.

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