After the success of the next Lloyd Webber and Rice piece, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph received amateur stage productions in the US beginning in 1970, and the first American release of the album was in 1971.

The 17-year-old budding musical-theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was contacted by the 20-year-old aspiring pop-songwriter Tim Rice in 1965, and they created their first musical, The Likes of Us.

[9][8][10][6] One of the children's parents in that audience was Derek Jewell, a Sunday Times music critic; he reviewed the piece in the newspaper, calling it a new pop oratorio and praising its innovation and exuberance.

[5][9][13][14][15] David Daltrey, front man of British psychedelic band Tales of Justine, played the role of Joseph and lead guitar, and Tim Rice was Pharaoh.

Other vocalists included members of the Mixed Bag group, such as Terry Saunders and Malcolm Parry, and the choir of Colet Court School.

It featured Daltrey as Joseph, Rice as Pharaoh, William S. Lloyd Webber on the Hammond organ, Alan Doggett conducting, and the Colet Court choir as the chorus.

[19] In late August and September 1972, Joseph was presented at the Edinburgh International Festival by the Young Vic Theatre Company, directed by Frank Dunlop.

[6] It starred Gary Bond in the title role, Peter Reeves as the narrator, and Gordon Waller as Pharaoh; Alan Doggett was the music director.

[9] Jacob's Journey, which contained a great deal of spoken dialogue, was eventually phased out in favour of a sung-through score that became part of Joseph.

In the 1976 production, which opened on 30 December, direction was by Frank Dunlop, with a cast that featured Cleavon Little as the Narrator and David-James Carroll as Joseph.

[31] In the 1977 production, running in December through 1 January 1978, staging was by Graciela Daniele, with Carroll as Joseph, Alan Weeks as the Narrator and William Parry as Pharaoh/Elvis.

Directed by Tony Tanner, the cast starred Bill Hutton as Joseph, Laurie Beechman as the Narrator, and Tom Carder as Pharaoh.

[40] With Jason Donovan in the lead, the expanded show was restaged in 1991 at the London Palladium with Steven Pimlott as director and Anthony Van Laast as choreographer, winning the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for set design.

[42] The musical opened in Toronto at the Elgin Theatre in June, 1992 until September that same year, with Donny Osmond as Joseph and Janet Metz as the Narrator.

[48] The cast featured Michael Damian (Joseph), Kelli Rabke (Narrator), Clifford David (Jacob), and Robert Torti (Pharaoh).

[53][check quotation syntax] A 2007 revival of the London Palladium production at the Adelphi Theatre starred a Joseph cast with the winner of BBC One's Any Dream Will Do, presided over by Lloyd Webber.

This was the second reality talent show to search for a West End star, capitalising on the success of the 2006 BBC–Lloyd Webber series, How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?.

[60] The long-running UK touring production was re-cast in 2010 with Keith Jack taking on Joseph in July 2010 opposite Jennifer Potts as the Narrator.

[61] A new North American touring production began on 4 March 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio starring Diana DeGarmo as the Narrator and Ace Young as Joseph.

The production ran from 27 June 2019 (previews), opening 11 July, to 8 September, produced by Michael Harrison and choreography by Joann M. Hunter.

[74] On 17 February 2020, a 50th anniversary concert production of Joseph was staged at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall in New York City.

Produced by Manhattan Concert Productions, directed by Michael Arden conducted by Stephen Oremus, and accompanied by the New York City Chamber Orchestra with over 300 singers, the one night only sold-out concert presentation starred Noah Galvin (a last minute replacement for Ari'el Stachel) as Joseph along with Eden Espinosa, Alex Newell, and Jessica Vosk sharing the central role of The Narrator.

The production, which was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Alexandra Burke join the company as The Narrator and Yarrow and Donovan return to the roles of Joseph and Pharaoh respectively.

[76] Linzi Hateley reprised her role as the Narrator in specific performances, with choreography once again by Joann M. Hunter and produced by Michael Harrison.

Lloyd Webber and Rice used a variety of musical styles, including parodies of French ballads ("Those Canaan Days"), Elvis-themed rock and roll ("Song of the King"), Country/Western music ("One More Angel in Heaven"), 1920s Charleston ("Potiphar"), Calypso ("Benjamin Calypso"), jazz ("Joseph's Dreams") and 1970s go-go ("Go, Go, Go Joseph").

[80] "Prologue" was first included in the 1982 Broadway production; the inclusion of "Any Dream Will Do" at the start of the show (and the renaming of the closing version as per the above list) dates from the 1991 revival.

The UK touring production circa 1983–87 (produced by Bill Kenwright) included an additional song "I Don't Think I'm Wanted Back at Home", which was originally part of Jacob's Journey.

[81] The 2007 West End revival and several of the UK Tour productions included "King of My Heart" performed by Pharaoh which was sung after "Stone the Crows".

[82] In 1999, a direct-to-video film adaptation of the same title starring Donny Osmond was released by Polygram Video, directed by David Mallet and based on Steven Pimlott's 1991 London Palladium production.

In March 2017, at CinemaCon, STX Entertainment announced an animated film version of the musical with new songs written by Lloyd Webber and Rice.