“I’m 39—a young 39, thank you”: Brian Golub stars in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Houston, where, he says, he’ll be “single and ready to mingle.”

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The Instigator

Don MainesMarch 1, 2015

194 3 minutes read

Brian Golub stars in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ in Houston
by Donalevan Maines

Brian Golub commands the role of ringleader to the naughty band of brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this month at the Hobby Center.

As Reuben, “the oldest brother, the mean brother,” says Golub, “it’s fun having a lot of good-looking men follow me around. They’re all so in shape.”

Reuben is “the instigator,” explains Golub, in the biblical story of Joseph, whose 11 jealous brothers sell him as a slave to the Ishmaelites, who then take him to Egypt.

The family-friendly show wows with a wide variety of musical styles—symphonic, Elvis-inspired rock ’n’ roll, calypso, and French ballad. Boot-scooters will love the country-western flavor of Golub’s showstopper, “One More Angel in Heaven,” as Reuben leads his brothers in breaking the news to their father, Jacob, that his favorite son is (supposedly) dead. Reuben sings, “So long, Little Joe. Adios, buckaroo. 10–4, good buddy.”

“It’s a big, tap-dance, hoe-down number,” explains Golub. “We’re all dressed in white. One reviewer said it’s like watching an eight-minute megamix at the White Party in Miami.”

A gloriously manscaped Ace Young stars as Joseph opposite his wife, Diana DeGarmo, as The Narrator. The sweethearts were contestants on separate seasons of TV’s American Idol.

Young says he was “the runt” of five brothers who moved to Los Angeles from Boulder, Colorado, more than 10 years ago to pursue careers in music. He blossomed into an athletic 6’1” and played “festivals, concerts, parades, bars, and hole-in-the-wall joints” before breaking out on Idol.

“Ace has his shirt off,” says Golub, “and our Pharaoh [character] is really built.”

DeGarmo was “sweet 16” when she appeared on Idol, and parlayed that fame to Broadway, where she won the Dolly Parton role in the musical of 9 to 5. She also starred in The Toxic Avenger, Hairspray, and Hair, where she met Young, who had debuted on Broadway in Grease.

Golub made his professional acting debut at age 10 in the title role of the musical Oliver! at Phoenix Theatre in his home state of Arizona. “I loved the applause and getting to pretend and play,” he says. “I knew I wanted to go to New York and do musical theater, but I studied voice—opera—at Northern Arizona University in Falstaff to get a good background in classical training.”

At 22, he says, “I moved cross-country with a friend and a cat, in my friend’s little car. A lot of college friends were there. I’ve lived in Harlem and Midtown and now Queens,” where he bought a two-bedroom home that he’s been renting out since hitting the road in Joseph’s national tour in February 2014.

Golub says he’ll be “single and ready to mingle” here in Houston, which is what Kinky Boots star Darius Harper told us last month (I wonder how that worked out? Anyone?). “In this business, it’s hard to keep a long-term relationship going when you’re out of town so long. Trying to establish one and keep it going is practically impossible,” says Golub. “I’m 39,” he allows. “A young 39, thank you.”

See lots more about him at briangolub.com, including a four-minute reel of his scenes as Kristen Bell’s secretary in the 2010 romantic comedy When in Rome.

In New York, Golub has performed in Caligula, Floyd Collins, Naked Boys Singing!, and Fleet Week. He’s also done regional theater productions of Hairspray, Les Misérables, Spamalot, Nerds, The Full Monty, Altar Boyz, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

In 1969, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was recorded as a concept album with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It evolved into stage productions, including a 1982 bow on Broadway that was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The 1980s national tour, presented in Houston by Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), was directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, who won a Tony Award for In the Heights and additional nominations for Bring It On and 9 to 5.

TUTS is offering several special events and add-on packages in conjunction with the show: