Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

It’s back on tour!

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s multi award-winning show has been performed hundreds and thousands of times around the world and has become one of the world’s most beloved family musicals.

From humble beginnings as a twenty-minute show to capture the imagination of children, it is the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis and his story as the son of Jacob, his coat of many colours, it is a tale of triumph against the odds, of love and hate, forgiveness and optimism and with a happy ending.

Joseph has always been geared towards children and the adaptations along the way have kept this at its heart. In order to encourage children to experience and enjoy theatre, this show is a sung-through musical, which means no speaking, just singing, with a variety of styles of music from pop to country and French Café to keep everyone engaged and entertained. Not of course forgetting the Pharaoh as Elvis – always a crowd pleaser.

To keep the children further engaged and the families entertained there is humour in the songs and acting. Plus indeed are the actual children performers who are always in the productions – if there were no children in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat then it really wouldn’t be Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!!

Within this performance the child actors were super! The all appeared to bring their A games providing a professional performance which showcased their talents, some of their voices were amazing!

It’s a big cast, not only due to the Joseph’s eleven brothers but to represent the communities in the story – this was a bonus as their collective voices boomed out the songs to every corner of the theatre and it was delightful chorus of wonderfulness.

With so many people on stage the props were barely there, however this wasn’t a negative, the space was made up by the different panels used, whether it was sheets of material, the jail wall, or the large feline structures. The best props however were the camel tricycles – they were a lot of fun. The costumes provided a colourful feast for the eyes and the Dreamcoat flowed outwards when Joseph spun or flicked it out – just as it’s supposed to.

The whole cast were fabulous, bringing their energies to bring delight to the audience.

I didn’t realise I knew every song, not word for word, but I hadn’t appreciated how much the songs of this musical have been part of society for so long that all the songs are familiar. Familiar but also fantastic. They still stand up. And yes the ‘Close Every Door to Me’ performance from Adam Filipe as Joseph was stunning – the children harmonising to this was amazing. Christina Bainco played the Narrator and had a stunning stage voice.

Surprisingly it is a short show for such a big, popular West End Production, however it does mean that the cast are fully prepared, willing and able for the song and dance medley mash up after the main story, where the audience are invited to stand, clap, dance and sing along.

Overall you can’t go wrong with this wonderful, colourful, family friendly musical for a brilliant night out and this current production ticked every box.

Main Cast
Narrator – Christina Bainco
Joseph – Adam Filipe
Pharaoh – Alex Woodward

Photos credit: Tristram Kenton