I wondered if I’d missed the memo when I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat for the first time in many, many years.
Seems like the musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber now includes an Elvis impersonator, Country and Western turn and even a Rio Carnival section.
The production I saw was almost back in Biblical times and attempted to capture the true story of Joseph, Jacob and his 11 brothers in peasant clothes and desert background. These days it’s a riotous, camp, mass of colour with showgirls and fancy lighting exploding through the show.
Star of the show was The X-Factor 2009 winner Joe McElderry who was a sweet Joseph banished from Canaan to Egypt by his jealous brothers. He’s got a lovely voice and winning smile and the audience loved him.
Narrator Lucy Kay, a runner-up in Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 held the show together with her powerful and moving soprano.
The story of Joseph is slight with little to hang on to but that doesn’t matter for this production. It’s a fun song and dance spectacular with a singalong encore which satisfied the enthusiastic audience.
The young people from Sway Dance based at The Hawth Theatre, Crawley were extremely professional and sounded pitch perfect.
Three Stars.
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