I DOUBT if there’s anything I can say about Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that hasn’t already been said or, indeed, influence the theatre going public – if Friday night’s audience reaction to its star, Lee Mead, is anything to go by – for, without a doubt, it’s him they come to see.

The moment he first appeared, dressed all in white and descending through a veil of mist as though from an unworldly place, he was greeted with tumultuous applause. And so it continued – until the very end when, dressed in the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, he was raised high above the stalls, giving fans in the upper circle a rare treat. He was, quite simply, adored. The question is – is such adulation deserved?

I think it is. Here is a young man who hasn’t had a particularly easy ride to the top but who embraces everything he does with diligence, enthusiasm and charm (and just for the record, I was one the thousands who followed his progress in Any Dream Will Do).

Now, with his own dream fulfilled, engaging “looks and handsome figure”, the ability to express emotion through song, and a hitherto unseen talent for comic timing, Mead certainly lives up to expectation, ably filling the shoes of Joseph, the favourite of Jacob’s 12 sons who, after being given “a multi-coloured coat to wear”, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. It’s a familiar story and Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical adaptation is an irreverent but inoffensive take on the Old Testament tale.

Told entirely through song, it follows Joseph’s journey from slavery to eventual reunion with his family, along the way introducing a host of characters as colourful as the sets and costumes they inhabit – among them the Egyptian millionaire Potiphar and his “beautiful but evil” wife, an eccentric Elvis-styled Pharaoh, the motley band of brothers and a narrator who truly brings the story alive.

Without exception, the cast is superb. In fact, it almost seems unfair to single out individual members. However, Mead apart, Jenna Lee-James as the Narrator and Dean Collinson as Pharaoh deserve special mention. Both turned in remarkable performances – Lee-James as a sexy and mischievous link between past and present; Collinson as an Elvis impersonator par excellence.

The sets and costumes are as lavish as you would expect from a West End production; even simple as occasion demands yet they’re no less effective for that. And good use is made of the revolving stage – two sections that move in completely opposite directions. Watch out for a dodgy-looking camel, a frightful green snake, some sheep that are ultimately reduced to skeletons by the famine and – the London Eye. And no, that isn’t a mistake. It’s all part of the fun of this tongue-in-cheek production.

In addition, beautiful choreography and toe-tapping, hand-clapping music make Joseph a memorable production. It’s also very much a ‘feel good’ musical. And as Man in Chair explained in The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical should not only entertain but also transport the audience into a fantasy world. And it does both in spades.

I came away with hands that stung from so much clapping, and songs such as One More Angel in Heaven, Go, Go, Go Joseph, Benjamin Caypso and Give Me My Coloured Coat buzzing in my head. Joseph had earned a standing ovation – well deserved I have to say; and in Mead, the West End has found a bright new star. All of which makes a trip to the Adelphi Theatre one that won’t disappoint.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – presented by The Really Useful Group and Bill Kenwright.

Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Lyrics by Tim Rice.
Music by Andrew Lloyd webber.
Musical Supervision and Additional Orchestrations – Simon Lee and Nigel Wright.
Orchestrations – John Cameron.
Lighting Design – Andrew Bridge.
Sound Design – Mick Potter.
Associate Director and Associate Choreographer – Nichola Treherne.
Choreography – Anthony Van Laast.
Production Design – Mark Thompson.
Original Direction – Steven Pimlott.

CAST: Lee Mead, Jenna Lee-James, Dean Collinson, Stephen Tate, John Alastair, Kate Alexander, Jennifer Ashton, Paul Basleigh, Verity Bentham, James Bisp, Tyman Boatwright, Stephanie Bron, Simon Coulthard, Lucie Downer, Tom Gillies, Emma Harris, Pip Jordan, Louise Madison, Emily Mascarenhas, Sarah Meade, Nathaniel Morrison, Mark Oxtoby, Adam Pearce, Tamlyn Platts, Pippa Raine, Fiona Reyes, Ricky Rojas, Craig Scott, Jonathan Stewart, Kate Tydman, Russell Walker, Neal Wright, Danielle Young and The Carmel Thomas Youth Singers.

Adelphi Theatre, The Strand, London, WC2.
Telephone: 0870 403 0303.

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