Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The
story of Joseph is well known and, as my friend commented: even if
you’ve never seen it before (as she had not) it is impossible to have
escaped the songs. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice have brought
the bible story to life with some modern day twists, including an
appearance by Elvis Presley. The addition of Craig
Chalmers from the popular TV series Any Dream Will Do makes this
very much a show ‘for the people’ and certainly ensures a varied
audience.

Having
seen this production the last time it was in Aberdeen I was excited to
see how this performance varied. It is incredibly similar, although
some of the actors have changed. There also
seems to be more of a pantomime feel to the production. A few
technical hitches add to this unfortunately, a couple of minor
microphone issues and some inflatable sheep lacking inflation – so
seeming dead. Although these do not “spoil the show” they are
surprising in a production that has been touring for 3 years, although
it could just be that the set and staging are a little tired and
overused of course.

Craig Chalmers has developed as a
performer and seems more comfortable on stage; although his strength is
still in the singing rather than the acting. He
has fantastic chemistry with the Father Henry Metcalfe and the
narrator Trina Hall – both of whom are excellent in their roles.

The
band of brothers who betray Joseph and later have to beg him for
assistance are very varied in appearance and characters, as brothers
from various mothers should be! The factor that holds
them together is that they all have good stage presence and bring
something unique to the production that comes together wonderfully. The children’s choir are also a delight, so well practised and in tune.

The show is well worth seeing, both for fans of the story and songs, and for newcomers experiencing it for the first time.

– Maria Robertson