Recent Press
This is Gloucestershire Online
FULL HOUSE WELCOMES JOSEPH
21 January 2004
A full house at The Everyman was treated to the first performance of the new national tour of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Cheltenham's Stagecoach Choir provided the backing vocals.
If you didn't read the story of Joseph at Sunday School don't worry, because Amanda Claire provides the narration with perfect clarity.
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber added a good deal of comedy that doesn't figure in the original Genesis version and director Bill Kenwright has made the most of opportunities for laughter, with a singing camel, dancing cowboys and a baker from Birmingham.
The fantasy world of the musical allows the action to move from Ancient Egypt to Paris and on to the Caribbean in less than the time it takes to say technicolor dreamcoat.
Richard Swerrun is a competent Joseph despite overdoing the make-up and donning a disturbingly tight silver mini skirt when he is thrown into prison.
Steve Varnom makes a deliciously camp Potiphar in a splendid palace among the pyramids and palm trees.
From the outset the show has the audience singing along to all the favourites, including Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do.
It's a good show but fails to reach the heights of the production that Kenwright brought to The Everyman in 2000.
Jill Williams
© Northcliffe Electronic Publishing Ltd.
