Biblical retelling brings a burst of color

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical retells the tale of jealousy, anger, hatred and reconciliation

BY ABIODUN COLLINS STAFF REPORTER ACOLLINS @ CCCLARION.COM

The retelling of the biblical story of Joseph came alive in beautiful colors on the stage of the Haugh Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

The stage was lit in radiant colors, and the cast performed in beautiful, bold and bright dresses.

The stage props and the visuals also made the story’s historical setting realistic.

Fifty-five years after its original production, the cast members of Citrus Singers took the adaptation of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” to a new, exciting level.

The production was directed and staged by the dean of Visual and Performing Arts, John Vaughn, musical director, Douglas Austin and Choreographer, Renee Liskey. Narrators Jaleene Serenity, Brooklyn Vizcarra and Molly

Billman opened the play with a prologue alongside a Children’s Ensemble, who performed with the cast in different scenes.

Keeley Millikenis, the founder of Centre Stage Monrovia, a nonprofit organization, directed the Children’s Ensemble.

The narrators sang songs that echoed varying emotions, from energetic to soulful to somber.

The cast wowed the audience with powerful vocals, dances and precise actions. Each special number garnered cheers and applause.

The performance was also witty.

Wearing sunglasses and a golden set of “pajamas,” the character, Pharaoh, played by Christopher Walker, put laughter and smiles on the faces of the audience as he sang “Song of the King.”

The musical rendition of “Those Canaan Days” by Lorenzo Flores,

Sunday May 7 2PM

Tickets: $52 Senior: $47 Citrus Faculty, Students and Staff: $26 played by Simeon, was also amusing, as he and his brothers argued over who gets to eat a bug.

Marcel Almirantearena, who played Joseph, also gave an emotive rendition of “Close Every Door.”

The Haugh was packed. The majority of the audience were seniors.

Sherry Nagle and Sharon Mcgehee have been season ticket holders since 1997. They described the play as “exceptional.”

“We’ve seen this play many times, and I think this is one of the finest performances we’ve seen,” Mcgehee said. “It was very creative. There were lots of different aspects to it that we hadn’t seen before.”

The duo said the graphics were enhanced, which set the show apart from the ones they had seen.

Pro-life from Page 1

and heard the propaganda straight from them.”

Garcia told the Clarion she is not associated with the Proud Boys and, although she has attended rallies where the Proud Boys were present, she had no actual intentions of sending the Proud Boys after Torstenson.

Thomas also mentioned that Anifa is not a centralized group and is actually more of a blanket term for people who oppose fascism as Antifa is a conjunction of Anti-Fascist. Thomas wrote that although Resistance Coalition LA is anti-fascist, they “do not support a ‘violent antifa organization.’”

Garcia said she responded to Torstentson’s story so aggressively because he had previously sent her derogatory text messages about her being pro-life and said he “wished something bad happened to (her) daughter,” Garcia said.

Garcia told the Clarion the DM she sent through the club’s account misrepresents what she tries to advocate for.

“I’m not a violent person,” Garcia said. “I’m actually very open to

Bouncing from Page 1

true if the economy is doing bad, more people decide to study and pursue higher education so that they can access better jobs and make more money.

The pandemic uniquely affected enrollment because it did not follow these trends. During the pandemic, the economy stagnated but enrollment decreased.

Sequirea said this was due to a multitude of factors, some of which were that many high school graduates decided to take gap years in 2020 and 2021 and that some high school students were apprehensive about transitioning to higher education after taking online classes during the pandemic.

Citrus College Executive Director of Communications Melissa Utsuki wrote in an email that enrollment also decreased because students had health concerns and since many schools transitioned to being fully online, parents could not enroll in classes since they needed to be home with their children.

The recent increase in enrollment can also be attributed to many different factors, mainly that the pandemic affects students’

Sarah Fisher, a Citrus College music major, gushed about her dad, John Fisher, for playing Jacob and Potiphar in the play.

Sarah said her dad had always wanted to perform but never did a musical. She was proud of him for putting himself out there.

The play was divided into two acts, each 40 minutes long.

It was a brilliant production everybody on campus whether they’re pro choice, pro life, LGBTQ, I’m not gonna sit here and judge but at the end of the day, don’t go at me and my club and expect me to just not respond.” daily lives less and less the more time passes. Students having health concerns are less common, parents have time to come to class and high school graduates feel more prepared to go to college after having their senior years in person. filled with effortless singing. “10 out of 10,” an audience member said as she exited the building.

Garcia also said someone told her a left-wing group called Bamn posted Garcia’s full name and major on Instagram and spread her phone number, address and Social Security number on a Telegram group chat.

The Clarion confirmed that a post on Bamn’s Instagram post does contain Garcia’s full name and major. However, that information is publicly available by requesting a third-party enrollment verification from Citrus College.

The Clarion reached out to Bamn about doxxing Garcia’s other personal information but has not received a response.

In the threatening DM, Garcia accused Torstenson of being a part of that information leak. But Torstenson said he did not doxx Garcia and does not work with any group in California as he lives out of state. Torstenson said he only knows about Resistance Coalition LA because of its chapter in Washington, D.C.

Sequeira said that part of the reason enrollment numbers are increasing is just that they decreased so much during the pandemic.

But the pandemic ending is not the only reason enrollment has gone up. Citrus deans, directors and faculty have worked through the pandemic to make education more accessible.

Utsuki wrote that Citrus has worked to make classes more flexible by shortening term lengths and increasing the options of in person, hybrid and online classes.

By making classes more flexible, students can join the workforce while they also go to school.

Additionally, Utsuki said the Citrus students services team has made their support and counseling scheduling more streamlined and flexible so students have access to help when they need it.

The play ended with a “megamix” of some of the musical numbers and was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience.

It was nothing short of a masterpiece.

For Torstenson, the threat was “disturbing,” especially considering that he had been physically attacked by who he said were Proud Boys at a protest in Washington, D.C. The event was caught on video which shows Torstenson being grabbed from behind and then shoved to the ground by two men. Despite this, Torstenson maintained that he “will never back down from the far right.”

The Citrus College Standards of Conduct say that “threatening to cause physical injury to another person” is cause for “discipline, including but not limited to the removal, suspension, or expulsion of a student.” But with the threat not being completely direct, it is not clear whether disciplinary action will be taken against Garcia or the Citrus Students for Life club.

The Clarion is produced by journalism students and is distributed every third Tuesday during the semester. Ads are not endorsed by the Clarion. Published opinion is that of the writer. Views expressed do not represent those of the adviser, faculty, administration, Associated Students of Citrus College and/or CCCBOT.

Staff Reporters

Abiodun Collins acollins @ccclarion.com

Blake Hall bhall@ccclarion.com

Gwen Ryan gryan@ccclarion.com

Robert Davis rdavis@ccclarion.com

Kalin Greene kgreene@ccclarion.com

Zac Quintanilla zquintanilla@ccclarioncom

Designer

Heily Garcia hgarcia@ccclarion.com

Clarion Adviser

Patrick Schmiedt pschmiedt@ccclarion.com