Skegness
By Lesley Hedley
11th Sept 2006
This is the first time that the Embassy Theatre has staged such a large West End production and the first performance, on Monday 11th September 2006, was a sellout!
What a fab production this turned out to be and what an absolute natural talent there is playing the role of Joseph. Richard Meek has recently graduated from the London School of Musical Theatre and with a handful of shows under his belt he already looks as though he was born on the stage. He has one of the most expressive singing voices I have heard for a long time and will be somebody to keep a close eye on in the future.
The whole show was excellent and it was good to see the cast of Joseph maximising the size of the stage. The 6 piece orchestra sounded as though there were at least 20 musicians playing and the choreography throughout was fascinating to watch.
The show started with the orchestra playing the intro music and gradually an air of anticipation seemed to sweep over the audience and at one point I did get goose bumps listening to the music. For all intents and purposes we could have been sitting in the London Palladium and not in a theatre by the seaside!!
I could liken the start of the show to that of a volcano which was lying dormant when the audience were taking their seats, gradually awakening and finally exploding in a mixture of fun, cowboys, camels and gospel singers!!! (As well as 'that' coat!!)
The show was slick and fast moving and everyone outstanding in their roles with some fabulous voices which all complimented one another. Hannah Grover was the Narrator and Henry Metcalfe was in the role of Jacob / Potiphar. Marlon Moore played Gad and brought a new dimension to the role of Pharoah!!
By the end of this show, everyone was standing up and dancing along with the cast and it has most definitely got that special ' thing' some shows have but others don't - the feel good factor at the end when you leave the auditorium with Go, Go, Go Joseph ringing in your ears.
The show runs until Saturday 16th September with 2 shows daily - 2.30pm and 7.30pm with 3 shows on Saturday.
Don't miss this production of Joseph whatever you do as it is definitely one of the best versions I have seen.
©copyright BBC 2006
