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BrumHour is invited to review productions at Wolverhampton Grand throughout the year.
By Julie Wallis
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at
Wolverhampton Grand
Directed by Bill Kenwright, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is at Wolverhampton Grand until 29th February and I was there for last night’s press performance.
It’s no secret that Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is one of my favourite musicals. I’m a huge fan of anything by Lloyd Webber but after last night’s performance. I felt this one should be known as Joseph and the Amazing Dream Cast. What a spectacular performance by the very best cast I’ve ever had the fortune to enjoy. Last night was mind-blowingly spectacular!
Based on The Bible story of Joseph, favourite son of Jacob. Joseph gets a multicoloured coat, his brothers get jealous, Joseph gets sold into slavery where he ends up working for the pharaoh and Joseph ultimately ends up saving Egypt from famine and is the hero of the piece.
With Mark McMullan perfectly cast in the role of Joseph the audience gets to really appreciate his very fine singing voice. Mark McMullan may well be the very best Joseph I have ever seen. His voice really is a joy, powerful, passionate and perfect. He also has a superb torso. When he sang Close Every Door To Me, I had shivers go down my spine.
Alexandra Doar as the narrator is, without doubt, the best narrator I have heard, her voice is pure and clean and she too had the passion that her role needs. I loved every second that Alexandra Doar was singing, she is a treat for the ears.
Henry Metcalfe reprises the role of Jacob/Potiphar and still every bit as entertaining. My favourite Jacob of all the Jacobs I have seen on stage.
Henry Lawes is playing both roles of Pharaoh/Asher and he nailed it with all the energy he bought to his character. Again a superb singing voice and he really bought the pharaoh to life. The best pharaoh I have ever seen.
With original choreography by Henry Metcalf and additional choreography by Gary Lloyd, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is as vibrant and energetic as it could ever be. This uplifting show is a pleasure from start to finish.
The set is barely there, the choir of schoolchildren sit on either side of the stage, a lot of the action takes place on the steps and backdrops and props are all very cartoon-like, but that’s the charm of this show. Bright and breezy and it never takes itself too seriously, pure entertainment.
As always it’s really hard not to sing along, especially with such great songs as Any Dream Will Do, One More Angel in Heaven and Benjamin Calypso. So I really appreciated the final few minutes when a few songs were reprised and the audience was encouraged to sing and clap along. It might have been snowing heavily whilst I was inside, but when I left I had a lovely warm feeling inside of me that no amount of snow could take away.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have seen this show on stage, but this is undoubtedly the best version I have seen. Go go joe and the dream cast.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is at Wolverhampton Grand until 29th February. Book tickets here: grandtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat
This isn’t a sponsored post.
