Joseph is still a dream show
When it comes to musicals, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is up there with the best.
Having enjoyed sensational reviews, Bill Kenwright's production of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber spectacular, finally comes to Leicester this season.
Wearing Joseph's famous 20kg, 12-metre, £10,000 multi-coloured coat, will be Keith Jack.
Keith was runner-up to Lee Mead in television's Any Dream Will Do, and follows in the footsteps of the likes of Jason Donovan, Philip Schofield and even Donny Osmond.
With his boyish charm and sensational singing voice, Keith looks set to take Curve's stage by storm in a tale we've come to know and love.
Based loosely on the story from Genesis, Joseph is sold as a slave by his 11 brothers who are jealous because he seems to be his father's favourite.
His family are hit by famine, while Joseph discovers an uncanny knack for interpreting dreams, comes to the attention of Pharaoh and becomes the king's right-hand man.
When the brothers throw themselves at the mercy of the Pharaoh, begging for food, they fail to recognise the now-successful Joseph.
He tests them to see if they have changed and when he realises they have learned the values of family and loyalty, reveals his true identity.
It's a wonderfully sentimental yet powerful ending, which never fails to send audiences home smiling after a megamix finale.
And that's because Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is charming and innocent, it's about rising from adversity, and there is no single musical style because its pastiche numbers – like Jospeh's Coat, Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door To Me – cover just about everything from country and western to calypso.
And let's not forget rock 'n' roll with an Elvis-styled Pharaoh.
Comments
by annegrey
Tuesday, April 17 2012, 11:53PM
“Poor Poor Joseph….
After being blown away by Caroline O' Connor's fantastic performance in Gypsy merely a week ago, perhaps I was left with unreachable expectations from Keith Jack's appearance as Joseph. Not only did his vacant facade leave me wondering if he'd stumbled upon the stage accidently, but his pitchy and uncontrolled vocals had me quite literally on the edge of my seat, eyeing up the closest exit. This would have been hard enough to stomach, but Keith achieved an even less tolerable performance by sacrificing his diction for catwalk style pouting and a toothy grin. It was clear that I was not the only bewildered patron when his walk down generated a sparse applause.
As far as I can see, this is just another fine example of reality television destroying yet another artistic industry. That said, the rest of the cast pulled off a tremendous expose of talent, but the show is called Joseph after all.
Anne Grey”