RecentPress17

Recent Press

Amazing Joseph a Winter Tonic.

Southampton Echo 19 November 2002

YOU just can't beat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to in fuse the feelgood factor.

Walking out of the theatre into a cold November night, the warmth from the audience after two stonking hours of this Bill Kenwright production was palpable.

The catchy music and the moralistic tale of Joseph is as popular and as colourful now as when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice originally penned the piece 34 years ago.

What a fantastic production is being put on at the Mayflower this week. The staging is wonderful - simple, but very effective - with some delightful choreography.

And though the cast is not well known, there are some stunning performances.

Morwegian Arvid Larsen as Joseph and narrator Vivienne Carlyle, who once provided backing vocals for barry Manilow and Michael Bolton, have two terrific voices. Dynamic, with such great range.

And Trevor Jary, as Elvis-like Pharaoh provides a charismatic stage presence.

In fact the singing is just outstanding, and the Jospeh choir made up of children from Stagecoach Salisbury and Andover almost steal the show with their precise and enchanting vocals.

You know the story, you know the songs, but if November is getting you down, then beat a path to the Mayflower this week. I guarentee you will not be disapointed with a production which will put a big smile on your face.

Runs until, Saturday November 23

Dave King

HE'S FIT FOR A KING

This is Leicester Online

10:30 - 14 November 2002

Just close your eyes, draw back the curtain and see for certain - that Joseph's back in Leicester. Lizz Brain catches up with a Pharaoh

Way, way back - many musicals ago - not long after Lloyd Webber and Rice began, a 15-minute school show was written.

It was on March 1, 1968, when the first performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was performed at Colet Court School in London.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice had been commissioned by the headmaster to create an original musical piece for the end-of-term concert.

The result was the first version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - all of 15 minutes long.

Over the years the musical was expanded, and the record-breaking production which opened at the London Palladium on June 12, 1991, starring Jason Donovan, ran for over two years, was seen by more than two million people and took in over £47 million.

And that's not all - over the years there have been 12 cast albums, the show has toured 13 countries and 80 US cities, and local amateur productions have played in more than 15,000 schools and local theatres, involving half a million performers.

But audiences never fail to respond to the sheer energy and popularity of the professional production - coming to De Montfort Hall, Leicester, from November 25.

Trevor Jary has been with the show for four years and will be wiggling his hips, Elvis-style, as Pharaoh when the show arrives in Leicester.

"It's a great show,'' he enthuses. "How many shows offer you the chance to be Elvis, act like a pop star, be an Egyptian and provide this much fun, with a standing ovation every single night?''

But he has no yearning to play the title role.

"You're joking, I don't want to be the namby pamby boy going on about his coat,'' he laughs. "Pharaoh is the cool guy to be!''

Trevor is obviously used to being the cool guy, and being screamed at by young women.

After learning his trade as a teenager in productions in Kings Lynn, he was invited to take part in a semi-professional show at the Key Theatre in Peterborough, about a boy band.

From there things escalated. The band, called The One, became a success and played in Smash Hits tours alongside the likes of Boyzone and East 17.

"I'd only just turned 20 and was going round getting screamed at by thousands of girls,'' he says.

"The band disbanded after a while, and I auditioned for a part in Joseph. I played one of the brothers for a while, then had six months off and came back to play Pharaoh.

"I really do love the show. It's happy and fun and it doesn't finish too late so children can come along and enjoy it. I've got friends who are in Les Miserables and they finish the show feeling completely drained and tired, but this is great for everyone.

"I would like to do some other musicals, having been in this for such a long time.

"Whistle Down The Wind would be nice or A Beautiful Game. But there's talk of us going back into the West End with Joseph so there's lots to look forward to with this show still!''