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Wolverhampton Express and Star Online Catchy Joseph still an amazing musical By Theatre Critic Joe Sweeney Wolverhampton Grand Tuesday June 29, 2004 Having begun life as a 15-minute school concert more than 30 years ago, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's spark of an idea evolved into the imaginative, fun-filled and immensely likeable Biblical jaunt that audiences up and down the country still cannot resist today. It is really no surprise why this happened. Joseph's appeal lies not just in the timelessness of its catchy songs, but also in the intensity of its overall feelgood factor, its depth of humour, passion and quirkiness. This production of the show retains all those qualities, with an enthusiastic young cast earning themselves a standing ovation. The staging has been tweaked a little here and there, but for the most part it stays true to the formula that audiences who have seen it over the last few years will be familiar with. As Joseph, 20-year-old Andrew Derbyshire certainly looks the part and has a strong enough voice, although it was interesting to note one or two interval comments from people saying they found his vocals "too quavery" on the softer sounds. That said, his powerful rendition of Close Every Door in particular was a knockout and got the applause it deserved. Amanda Claire's narrator also handled her vocal duties commendably, while Lee Mead's take on the Elvis-style Pharaoh was vocally adept and great fun to watch. The show's chorus numbers retain their deft choreography and are wonderfully executed throughout, from the western-esque One More Angel In Heaven to the Parisian-style Those Canaan Days. To cap this winning formula, the show's triumphant, colourful finale - in which Joseph's coat transforms the stage into a blaze of colour - remains one of the most striking and impressive visual spectacles in modern musical theatre. Unsurprisingly, the closing encore - complete with Any Dream Will Do - quickly had the capacity audience of both adults and children on their feet happily clapping and singing along. ©Expressandstar.com Youngsters get taste of stage lights Tuesday 29th June 2004 Pupils from Tettenhall College and St Dominics School, Brewood - back, Charlotte Bradshaw, James Owens, Steven Mitchell, Jonathan Petfield: front, Annie McAndrew and Grace Thornett Eighty talented youngsters from across Wolverhampton and Staffordshire will be displaying their vocal talents for Grand Theatre audiences all this week during the run of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The youngsters, pupils at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton, and St Dominic's School, Brewood, were all hand-picked to make up The Joseph Choir especially for the shows at the Grand. Under the tuition of Tettenhall Director of Music Ian Wass and St Dominic's Director of Music Peggy Evans, the choir provide backing vocals for the musical's many large-scale choral numbers such as Jacob And Son, Poor Poor Joseph and Go, Go, Go Joseph and Any Dream Will Do. They are on stage for the entire duration of each show and feature in all 12 performances of the musical which runs until Saturday. ©Expressandstar.com |
©Expressandstar.com |
This review is not brilliant in places but I still want to put on reviews that are not always good so please read with an open mind. Tanith BBC Tees Online It may be OTT family entertainment, but Joseph boast a strong cast and a great story. BBC Tees contributor Frank Gillies reviews Joseph at Darlington Civic Theatre on Monday 13th July 2004. Way way back, many centuries ago, in 1971, Lloyd Webber's 'Joseph' was resurrected from its first coming, as a school cantata, and sent into the West End. Now in its umpteenth revival, with an unusually non-starry cast, Jospeh is back on tour. Joseph isn't one for serious theatregoers, but a family musical: colourful, fast, short and lively - and, thankfully, it never pretends to be anything else. From the outset, the costumes are glittering and colourful, the music joyful and loud, and the production full of humour and entertainment. Musicals though, stand or fall by the director, and Kenwright, who's since gone on to producing rather than directing, gets the direction of the show absolutely spot-on. His staging is simple, and yet terrifically exciting, with a simple pyramid-rostrum set, using simple props, and whirling lights to huge effect. Kenwright's joyously unsubtle staging sets the calypso in Hawaiian dress, the French song in stripy jumpers and berets, and the Elvis number in American football regalia. he radiates presence and energy, and totally serves Lloyd Webber's intentions, with the most hilarious and credible Elvis impersonation this reviewer has ever seen. Frank's opinion on the Pharoah The performances too are mostly very strong, with the ensemble work being a real highlight: 'One More Angel in Heaven' is a real standout, due to an excellent team of eleven 'brothers'. I particularly liked Steve Vernom, as Jacob and otiphar, who has real presence and control every time he graces the stage: a real achievement to be totally believable in the glittery, almost cartoon context of this staging. Robert Jaye as Issacher shines out of the ensemble scenes too, displaying a star-quality gift for comic timing. Amanda Claire, as the narrator, struggles with singing a part vocally suited to a male, especially at the extremes of the vocal register, but, has a lot of strong moments all the same. Andrew Derbyshire, in the title role, certainly looks the part, but doesn't succeed with Lloyd Webber's score, often sounding more like Loyd Grossman. Although he certainly had a strong singing voice, his vocal mannerisms (including club-singer habits such as breaking in the middle of musical phrases, and adding sounds to the end of words - room became rumour, coat coater) spoilt much of his singing. The real star of this show though, is Lee Mead as Pharaoh. From his explosive first entrance, he radiates presence and energy, and totally serves Lloyd Webber's intentions, with the most hilarious and credible Elvis impersonation this reviewer has ever seen. Joseph is totally critic-proof though, and will more than likely sell out its whole run at the Civic, and, if the audience last night were anything to go by, delight many more than it disappoints. British Broadcasting Corporation © 2002-2004 |
