Recent Press
Chichester Observer
Thursday 17 January, 2002
Impossible not to like vibrant, charming show.
I went along to this show really wanting to dislike it, hoping the performance would give me ample ammunition to launch at it in my review. The reason for this I put down to the suffering caused by my sister's crush on Jason Donovan in her teens and therefore the constant bombardment of my ears from the soundtrack to the west End version of 'Joseph'.
Having grown up with a dislike for the show, I found myself loving it when I saw it live. There's just something about it - a certain vibrancy and charm - which makes the modern interpretation of the classic Bible tale impossible not to like it when you actually see it.
The colourful costumes combined with the instantly recognisable songs, which in the main were sung with real accomplishment, made the show a glorious spectacle on the Festival Theatre stage.
There were some outstanding highs during the show - such as the excellent Elvis-style Pharaoh song and the controlled manner in which 'Close Every Door', arguably the most tricky song in the show, was performed - and there were some lows, such as the scene where Joseph is imprisoned, but overall this was a great production.
It's a relatively short show, but the audience still certainly get a good fix of the Joseph songs, with most getting performed least twice at the end of the opening night.
Special mention should go also to the Joseph choir, form the Nicola Miles Theatre Studios, in Worthing, who sung their hearts out and really added to the occasion.
Simon Bull
copyright Chichester Observer, 2002
The News, Portsmouth
Tuesday 14 January, 2002
Joseph has appeal that might last forever.
Nothing is for ever, they say. But 'The Mousetrap' in London appears to be one exception, and the national tour of Joseph might be just another. Colour - and not just in the biblical dreamcoat sense - is the first key to the appeal of the musical that launched the careers of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Nick Richings's lighting design rises as vividly to the challenge of the subject-matter as the composer's range of musical styles does to the lyrics. And the inherent jokiness - taking Paris into Canaan for example, and American rock 'n' roll into Egypt - ensures a lack of pretentiousness that is not universal in Lloyd Webber's work.
Another vital factor in the show's success is the freshness given to Bill Kenwright's long-serving production by new visual jokes and new children's choirs - a well-drilled one here, from Worthing.
Graham Tudor has assumed the title role and is at his most effective in 'Close Every Door to Me'. He begins it slowly and softly, then builds dramatically, highlighting the importance of Rice's words in showing Joseph has learnt some humility.
Trevor Jary has the authentic Elvis pelvis-thrust Pharaoh, and the voice to go with it. Vivienne Carlyle as the narrator keeps the story driving powerfully forward, but at times she is too breathy for my taste and overdoes the fixed grin that bedevils so many musical productions.
Mike Allen
copyright The News 2002
Friday 18th January, 2002
The News, Portsmouth
Something to Say
Joseph cured my PC blues.
It's called 'system trouble' and that unspecific, rather vague term make it sound like a minor discomfort of the upper bowel. However, when the system we are talking about involves computers, and you are using them in an effort to produce newspapers, it quickly turns into a major discomfort of the lower bowel as deadlines approach.
Other symptoms are immediately apparent. They include a predipostion to pounding the top of your desk, slumping back in your chair, putting your hands behind your head, gazing abjectly at the celing and saying things like 'Goodness gracious. One can hardly believe what is happening to one.'
The dire situation in our office at the end of a day generously described as 'fraught' was compounded when the cleaner paddled out of the men's toilet to announce that there had been a leak.
'As if system trouble was not enough' said one waggish fellow in our midst. 'we now have cisterns trouble to contend with as well.'
It was a day that needed something special to lift it, relief arrived in the form of a visit to 'Jodspeh and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Has there ever been a more vibrant, infectious, spiritually-uplifting show? The extraordinary thing is that it began life as something of an after-thought. It developed from a 20-minute idea that the then youthful Lloyd-Webber and Rice worked on in the sixties before there was any sign of the neon lights that were to illuminate their career path in the years ahead.
Its story is simple to the point of being facile. It doesn't rely on star names, though it has spawned quite a few. The songs are catchy though hardly likely to be regarded as classics in years to come. So where does the magic come from? I haven't the aintest idea, though I know it exsits. Indeed , I suspect that on the night I went about 80 per cent of the audience had, like me, seen the show already. It is destined to run for years and years, and I can only implore those of you who haven't yet seen it to do yourselves a big favour.
Keith Newbery
copyright The News, 2002
