First of all, I`d like to say I really enjoyed this show for what it is, fun, frivolous, cheesy & not trying to be anything it isn`t. Lee Mead was outstanding, a truly rich and warm voice which raises the roof at times, and a charming portrayal - not harmed by the fact that he`s very easy on the eye! The rest of the cast were really good as well, particularly the performance Dean Collinson gave as Pharoah - he recieved a great reception from a fairly luke-warm Tuesday night audience.
How disappointing then that at the curtain call I saw something I have never experienced before - a two finger salute from Dean to the audience from the very back of the stage before storming off - clearly he felt he wasn`t getting the accolades he deserved.
Is he jealous of his leading man or just a jaded perfomer with an attitude? A real shame, especially with tickets costing what they do, that this should leave such a bad taste in the mouth after what had been a great show.
True, the audience were possibly more subdued than some but several were on their feet & the rest of the cast very appreciative. Having seen other shows such as Les Mis, it`s clear that the role of Pharoah is not the most demanding or vocally taxing, so surely five minutes of additonal "acting" from Collinson would not have gone amiss or was he simply too exhausted following his 15 minutes on stage?
I heard a child next to me asking why the king had been rude and why was he angry, but didn`t hear the reply.
We left the theatre feeling like had no respect for the paying audience and had let his colleagues down with a petulant gesture. From a "professional" actor that was inexcusable, especially in Kids Week.

Wow, that is so unusual for Dean!(And I've known him personally for a very long time!) I wonder what had upset him if he really did it, which I doubt. There are all sorts of things that go on that the audience doesn't realise and it could have been anything. He makes a peace sign most nights so maybe from a certain angle that appeared as something else.

i don't believe he did that. i know him personally, and asked him about that when i read about it- his responce- 'news to me!'. he's not the type of person to have done something like that.
occassionally the cast muck about with the md (conductor) who they see on the monitors in front of them - this could easily look like they are addressing the audience- which they should consider naturally before doing anything too rude- but again- this wasn't even the case.

lets hope this thread doesn't continue- as it's comletely made up/false and could be damaging if reports like this get back to the theatre.

My wife and I were at this performance and it sure looked like he did it from where we were sitting. It struck us as amazingly unprofessional. I'm not sure why a supporting actor should be making an angry gesture to his audience, as though he expects acclaim to be automatic. It's the audience's decison to applaud or not.

To make clear, actually he did receive decent applause but perhaps not to the level of his expectations.

I must admit that I can;t see Dean doing this, are you sure he wasn't doing a peac sign or something? He's a genuinely nice guy!

If you pay £60 odd quid for a ticket you don't expect to see cast members "muck about". Yes an actor may have done the show a million times but they should consider the audience seeing it for the first time, they should make every performance like the first which is what they get paid for. If I was the producer I would be furious.

Sounds like he will go far!!!

get over it for christ sakes!
we're talking about a young genuinely nice guy who probably waved at someone, or did a peace sign or signalled the md.

you're a bunch of vultures!

he didn't stick his fingers up at the audience- this is a fact.
he is a talented performer we are talking about and yes- he WILL go far.

Were you there?

Just to be clear, as stated in my original post, having seen him perform I agree that Dean is a talented performer and enjoyed watching him, which is why I was so surprised. I can tell the difference between a peace sign & what I (and evidently others) saw. How raising this for discussion makes me a vulture is beyond me, but all I would say is that if he was simply mucking around he needs to consider how it appears to the audience, after all they are there to watch him.

I wouldn't call any one a vulture for posting what they feel. My only thought is that it is so out of character for Dean (the performer and the man) that I feel there must be an explanation. He is usually the consumate professional when he is on stage, and "mucks around" no more than any other performer. My only feelings about it being posted is that Dean isn't here to defend himself, so it has to be a very one sided conversation.

i'm speaking on his behalf.
i'm a very close mate of his, and if he says he didn't do it, that's good enough for me. doesn't even know what he could have been doing to make audience members think thats what he did, honestly doesn't know what happened.

Dean does not mess about, he's very professional. I wasn't there and don't know whether this did or didn't happen, or whether one thing looked like another. But he's clearly talented, and from the response in this topic, it's very unexpected and unlikely behaviour from him. So I agree with an earlier reply, that we should let this lie.

You get paid to do your job too (I presume). Can you honestly say you've never mucked about at work even slightly?

Not in front of the customers.

Bully for you. Plenty of people do muck about in front of customers, and not necessarily in big, rude, silly ways. Hell, I muck about *with* customers half the time.

Customer: "Do you sell talking books?"
Me: *grabs book and makes it 'speak'* "Yes we do!"

While messing around and playing the fool and looking like a berk is not to be recommended (and probably stops you doing your job properly), something as simple as joking with a customer is a form of mucking about, and it's perfectly acceptable. One of my former managers would have been VERY pleased with my joking with customers; she would have described it as "building rapport" and asked other co-workers why they couldn't be more like me. (She wasn't the best manager I've ever worked with, but that's not exactly the point here. XD)

Right. I'm sure the children in the audience REALLY appreciated him joking about WITH them like that. I'm sure they loved being IN on that joke

Oh, you were there too? Gosh, weren't there a lot of WOS visitors at Joseph that night!

My response was specifically to Matthew Winn, not to the thread in general. As you are not Matthew Winn, I find your anonymous response irrelevant to my post.

Oh I'm sorry I thought this was a discussion board. My mistake.

Yeah, but in a situation like that it doesn't interfere with your ability to do your work. In fact, that sort of rapport-building is part of the work. But on stage there's no opening for that kind of interaction with the customers, and when it happens (and I'm not offering an opinion either way on whether Dean Collinson did anything like this) it is nothing other than unprofessionalism.

I dont know if anyone really cares but i having spoken to Dean i can tell you all this isnt true and it was a 'Peace' sign he made. He is aware of this thread as well.

You do realise that what is in England recognised as the peace sign in other countries means just the very offensive thing that the earlier posters on this thread complained about? This might be a case of some sort of misunderstanding due to "international signs" not actually being the same, just as shaking your head in some cultures means "yes". Or is it nodding that means "no" - or possibly both? Well, you see the potential for misunderstandings, I'm sure. Not saying that this is what happened here, just pointing out the potential for things being taken the wrong way.

The peace sign is also given by most of the cast at the end of Go Go Joe, and is part of the choreography. It's not just something that one member of the cast has taken to doing.

Would it just be possible that he made the peace sign to the
audience as he was walking of. If he then turned to walk off without
dropping his arm, it might, depending on where you were sat, look like he
was making a whole other gesture. I wasn't there so I couldnt say
but that sounds more plausible to me than a professional actor doing it deliberately.

I thought he'd left the cast? In any case I believe what his friend says... I saw the show earlier this year and he was great ~ striking eyes but then I'm biased as I was sitting front row and he threw his little white scarf at me which was extremely flattering (not quite an everyday occurrence) and made my day... it was on the whole the Lee Mead show though as he got applause the minute he appeared onstage... a good, fun production much more lively and better produced than the smaller New London Theatre production I'd previously seen with H from Steps who was an excellent Joseph.

I worked at the Adelphi last year and I agree that Dean C. can be perfectly nice and charming.

However when he's really crossed he turns into a monster as he's unable to control his temper. One day he was really mad when he couldn't find his mobile, run down to stage door, grabbed the mike and made the rudest announcement you can think of. He claimed that one insider or insiders were thieves and had stolen it. He went on and on about it swearing, cursing accusing everybody.

Ten minutes later he found the mobile exactly where he left it: in the shower room. He never apologised for his rant and left the whole crew and backstage staff with a bitter taste.

Just thought I'd add my two pence here.
Firstly I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that a performer would make a rude gesture at the audience, especially during kids week, a time when the audience is more likely to complain about such things. I also think it's slightly shady that alot of the more negative and aggressive posts come from guest users.

This forum is supposed to be a place to talk about theatre not to spread malicious gossip. At the end of the day Dean Collinson makes his living performing for our enjoyment, to put his career in jeopardy with dubious hearsay is unfair. Think if his producer read these posts, to swear at the audience.....during kids week...that is a serious disclipinary matter at best.

I think it's time to drop this, it's in the wrong section anyway

I can't see any employer taking action over uncorroborated rumours spread on the Internet by people who won't even give their real names.

Hell, if we're going to make stuff up, I can reveal that Dean Collinson is actually an alien named Zrpffl from the planet Grgzwpqrx, sent to Earth on a mission to bring vowels back to his homeworld.

Please ensure, for the future of the universe, that he is kept well away from the Essex Estuary ...

If I could be bothered to log out and post as a guest, I'd back that claim, I'd been thinking he seemed very 'Grgzwprx'ey. I hope the producers will deal with this. The Pharoah can't be singing with vowels afterall.

Westend girl/guest: if you really did work at the Adelphi last year, then you are being just as unprofessional as you say Dean can be, by "reporting" something that you say happened in the confines of the theatre. Thereagain, you obviously from your post, are not there now: Dean is! Maybe that speaks volumes!!!!!

How odd, I suppose there could be a number of explanations!

I kind of like seeing the in-jokes and the odd bit of larking about amongst the cast, as long as it doesn't interfere with the storytelling etc....it makes me feel a bit more part of the show in a strange way, like it's a bit more unique than just them banging out yet another show for the 8th time that week!

It'f funny though becaue a certain ensemble member on Never Forget does the 2 fingered salute to the audience on a regular basis during the curtain call, but we're undecided as to if it's some kind of dig at someone, an 'in' joke or whether theyre just not very bright and have it confused with the peace sign !

disgraceful if true - kick him out

I'm afraid Dean Collinson is not the only rude person at the Adelphi. All the staff seem to be quite rude. I booked an hospitality package as a special birthday treat and we were served by a quite obnoxious and patronising Australian man who obviously thought he was doing us a favour by serving us. His attitude was very rude and made us feel uncomfortable. Maybe we should have complained to the manager but probably that would have spoilt our evening even more. The show was fun, but after this experience we won't be booking any hospitality services with Really Useful Theatres any time soon.

I rather like the Adelphi staff; I've always found them to be friendly and helpful.

I agree, they've been fantastic every time I've been there!

Maybe they're not rude- just very very picky about who they're nice to....?

listen guys I work at the adelphi and i can assure you that we have meetings everyday before we open about health and safety, discipline and politeness- and always delivering customer service to the best we can!
We are all relatively young- students of the profession also, and occassionally we'll have some old fart coming along expecting us to roll the red carpet out for them, hold a door open for, fetch things for them, we are there to provide a service of order and comfort, and to insure that every one is seated and ready to enjoy a show- not to wipe peoples arses!
Sprry to be so rude- delete this post if you want but for for the love of christ- we get paid 150 pounds after tax for working every night- 8 shows a week, we have day jobs, study.
Sometimes it's a bit much.
It's not a career choice, don't expect to rely on us for an enjoyable evening, we're NOT the entertainment.
And for the record, he did NOT stick his fingers up- everyones' talking about it at work- he does it most nights- it's a peace sign- when walking off stage it might look like something else from a certain angle- bless him he doesn't do it anymore- BUT he certainly never did it to cause offence.

Thanks for reading!
Hope you all respond to this with an orderly, disciplined and polite manner.

xx

I've always found the staff absolutely lovely =) They put up with a lot, & think up the best ways of trying to sell things-it really brightens up the interval! =P

I've never had any problem with the Adelphi Staff - on the contrary I've always found them very polite and courteous and on occasions they go out of their way to solve problems to everyone's satisfaction.
I certainly wouldn't want to do their job and I think they all do it very well.

Anne x

When i went to see Joseph, the staff were really wonderful. I think they are very under-apreciated, as they do work very hard, and were really friendly, even the ushers, who can be a bit moody sometimes.......I also saw Dean as Pharoah: wonderful performance, did the peace sign, fair enough. I really don't know why this was posted in the first place.

You must have been really lucky. In my own experience every time I've been to the Adelphi staff haven't been very nice. Even back to when Chicago was playing I remember most of the ushers being quite unfriendly, even rude.

Our recent experience with Joseph was no different. An old lady in the dress circle was trying to get a booster cushion for her grandchild and was sent down the stairs to the boxes area just to find out there were none left. Then she was sent all the way upstairs and down to the opposite side. She had difficulties with the stairs so my friend offered to do it for her and she was most grateful. 2 very camp ushers in the meantime were just chatting and trying to flirt with a good looking boy who was in the audience. That's not, in my opinion, good customer service.

Well, I saw Joseph this evening and at the end of the show Pharaoh didn't give the audience a V sign or swear at them or do anything remotely similar. He did eat a couple of the children, but hey, nobody's perfect.

On a different subject, I have to say I'm worried about Joseph. On the face of it he seems popular with the girls, but the guy goes around stripped to the waist and drives a wingèd chariot of gold drawn by two lions. Now, far be it from me to cast aspersions on the potency of Pharaoh's 2IC, but he's clearly compensating like crazy. Add to that the observation that Joseph is the only one of the brothers who doesn't have a wife and it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that for poor Joseph things aren't entirely hunky-dory south of the belt.

I dare you to say all that to Denise Van Outen's face.

And how do you kow all the girls that go are actually watching Lee?????

Hmmm. Could someone point out where in my post last night I mentioned Lee Mead? I specifically mentioned the character Joseph. I made no reference to the person who plays that character. What part of this are people not understanding?

So you're worried about the sex life of a fictional character Matthew?

I must say, I've had bigger concerns about the sex lives of semi-fictional characters before now.

Taken from a Lee Mead fan board.




A 4Oth Birthday to remember thanks to the lovely Dean Collinson!!

August 22nd - 40th Birthday - How better to spend it than at the Adelphi!!

Some of you Loppies may remember my little girl 'Kerry' from previous posts who is obsessed with the show, and Lee!! WELL!! After the scrum, Kerry begged to look backstage for Dean, she waited over 2 1/2 hours previously with no luck! We turned off the alley into maiden lane at 10.20pm, i could see his silhouette in the distance!! Yippee, how fast could i run at 40 i hear you ask with really eager child in tow!! VERY!! HERE IS THE UNBELIEVABLE BIT WHICH NEITHER OF US WILL EVER FORGET!! Dean was lovely, he got on his knees on the pavement in maiden lane and chatted away to Kerry, holding her hands in his the whole time, and then planting kisses on them!! THEN he turned to my husband and I, asked when she was next coming up, we told him, 27th August for the singalong!! He looked at her and said ''Right, you come and see me on wednesday, and im going to take you backstage,show you around,then pop up to see Lee in his dressing room!!! (I WAS SHAKING,KERRY WAS BEAMING!!)It was the longest 5 days of my life until the time came AND YES, Dean delivered as promised, only two people could go in, so i let Kerry's friend go in with her, who we already had tickets for, so i waited outside with her mum!! Both Girls came out shortly after their experience, speechless!! A DREAM COME TRUE - Thank You Thank You DEAN xx
I hope you like the picture of Dean & Kerry from the friday, he autographed it for her on wednesday! Forgive me for not sharing the photo's that Jenna took in Lee's dressing room of them all but it really is a special private moment. xx

That's a debatable statement!!