Joseph and that technicolour dream coat are back
November 28th 2007 13:35
The Adelphi Theatre
I missed the 1990s record-breaking London Palladium production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat, starring Jason Donovan. My first Joseph was a 1980s school production which was, well, a boys’ school production, but I loved the way the great bible story was told and the way the characters were sung and – er - “danced”, even by Year 10 larrikins. Some years later, my House won the school competition with “Any Dream Will Do". I loved it too, even bellowed by a chorus of 12 to 18 year-olds. Finally, I watched the BBC series, Any Dream Will Do, where the gentle Andrew Lloyd Webber and a brutally honest panel of selectors mowed down serried ranks of hopefuls to find their dream Joseph for the latest West End production at the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand. Joseph was back and this time I couldn't miss it.
Against all odds, as seats in any show’s early days are hard to come by, a few weeks ago, we found ourselves gazing down from the Dress Circle, as the orchestra tuned and the kids’ chorus skipped onto the stage. The show is a long, long way from that school production. It is quite a way too, apparently, from the 1990s production. It's a Joseph for a new 21st century generation. The Observer described it as “funny, slick, camp” and it is. It is peppered with wit, innuendo, subtle digs and little nods.
Lee Mead is a great Joseph, capturing and conveying the character’s smugness, superiority, self-righteousness, moments of dejection, opportunism, cunning and prevailing optimism through his expressive performance in both song and dance. Narrator Preeya Kalidas’ sensational (and astonishingly powerful) voice compels you to listen and follow the story, even when the stage is a riot of movement and noise. Stephen Tate is an archetypal, beleaguered, patriarchal Jacob, a Donald Trump meets Liberace Potipher and a mystical, mysterious Guru. Dean Collinson, playing Herod as Elvis Presley, is brilliant in every minute detail of "the King's" voice and gesture, as he deals with the business of the other King. In the words of the Daily Express, “ he brings the house down”.
Anthony Van Laast’s choreography is amazing. There’s so much variety, from stylized Egyption, to rock n’ roll, to almost pure acrobatics, to the few simple moves done so well by the children’s chorus. Costumes too, are spectacular - and clever, capturing the essence of the characters and their lives, like Potipher’s slick tycoon’s suit and the "wives" vampish burkhas and billowing tent-robes, or a song, like Joseph's ever expanding dream coat in “Give Me My Coloured Coat” or the dancers in yellow corn-sheaf robes for the eleven sheaves dream song. The music, with its takes on different styles, like the reggae “Benjamin” number, the C&W brothers' good times on the farm song, or the nostalgic French accented Paris café style of “Those Canaan Days” is brilliant. And then, there are a myriad of superb details of set design, props and lighting, that underpin it all, like the sensuous decor and seductive lighting of the scene with Potipher's wife.
As the Evening Standard said “With its mixture of infectious energy and joie de vivre Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat is a heavenly triumph.” It is. It's a beginning to end endless smile and I wouldn't have missed it for all those stars up there.
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