Fun and entertaining, the UK tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat burst on to the stage in incredible Egyptian style at The Everyman Theatre on Tuesday night in the first of its run of sell-out performances across the country. Local blogger, Jane from Lady Janey, was there to review the performance for us, she shares her thoughts below...

Joseph and Technicolour dream coat - actors on stage during performance

Celebrating 40 years since Bill Kenwright’s first production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic biblical story, this was the first performance of the season and what a way to kick things off! The evening was made even more magical by the Everyman Theatre itself which has recently experienced a refreshing lift and was also glowing in its new colours and interior decor.

Joseph and technicolour dream coat actors of stage

The show opened with a stunning Egyptian backdrop music telling the story before it had even begun and the audience clapping along within minutes. "If you think it, want it, dream it, then it’s real" and for a couple of hours, it was.  With a stage alive with colour and transformed into the ultimate virtual techicolour dreamcoat, we were quickly drawn into Joseph’s journey and wow, what a journey it was.

Endearing performances all round, some lovely comic touches and camaraderie among the cast with the brothers appearing in various guises throughout made for laughs aplenty. Lyrics were classic Lloyd Webber poetry style with particularly powerful vocals from Jamyi as Joseph, Alexandra Doar who was making her professional debut as the narrator and The King of the desert himself, Andrew Geater as Pharaoh aka Elvis who had me just swooning in my seat.

Who needs Jason Donovan when you can have Jaymi Hensley? His very moving performance of Close Every Door left me with more than "one tear in my eye" and his portrayal of Joseph was vulnerable and innocent yet executed beautifully with inspirational strength and conviction.

It was lovely to see how once Alexandra had got past all the colours in her first coat, blossomed into her role as she guided the audience and Team Baker of the Joseph Choir on a rollercoaster of colour and sound culminating in a very touching reunion between father and son. I can’t say I was overly enamored by Joseph’s gold Marvel comic cap in the final scenes but then again, who cares with tight golden pants like that?

The much loved musical started out in 1968 as a 15-minute cantata and was the first of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals to be performed publicly. Bill Kenwright’s development of the production is now the longest running touring musical of all time with brilliant new choreography from Gary Lloyd.

Retelling the well known Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat truly is full of life and colour and features unforgettable hit songs including Go, Go, Go Joseph, Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door To Me.

It was a finale to end all finales with a magnitude of truly amazing technicolour dreamcoats and the audience on their feet. “Would you just like one more?” said Jaymi after thanking everyone wholeheartedly for the lovely welcome to Cheltenham. 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is on at The Everyman Theatre until this Saturday 31st August. Don’t miss out, book your tickets now.

For more theatre inspiration check out our round up 2019 - 2020 Highlights at The Everyman Theatre.

Related

Everyman Theatre
Venue Provider
Everyman Theatre

The Everyman is Gloucestershire's theatre - and has been serving the county (and beyond) since 1891.

1 Comments

Comments

  1. Rayna
    Best Joseph show I've ever seen and I've seen it quite a few times over the years x

Leave a Reply