Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Michael Harrison, David & Hannah Mirvish and Jake Hine
Opera House, Manchester
February 26-March 9, 2025; 2hrs
(also touring widely; full list here)
We've got brothers, and they've got shoes... Joseph's family in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. All pics: Tristram Kenton
It’s an excellent interval conversation starter, of course. “So, which was your first Joseph?”
I’m not sure how I had avoided it before, but mine was an am-dram version in South Louisiana, God-fearing country where they took it very seriously. I remember it chiefly because my four-year-old son became addicted, and when I finally took him to see a professional version (Philip Schofield at the London Palladium) he sang all the way through, much to my chagrin and luckily the amusement of the couple in front of us.
To quote the show notes, Joseph has been performed hundreds of thousands of times, has had multiple runs in the West End and on Broadway and international tours in more than 80 countries. From the word-perfection of the Opera House crowd during the audience-participation encores, they had seen many of them.
So how is this version? Terrific, of course. How could it not be? The thing about Joseph is that it always looks like amateur dramatics. It grew from a school production, after all. But when it has top class voices, the bounciest of dancers and eye-popping lighting and set designs that leave none of those many colours untouched, it is going to look and sound spectacular.
There was a moment when I felt sure I was watching a CBBC special – just too much song-and-dance smiley stuff with overly cute kids – but it passed. And talking of those child actors: were drama school children always so good? This lot are unstoppable, whether they are shifting scenery (wheeling Joseph in his gold chariot is a big ask) or playing grown-ups. I’m not sure how appropriate it is to have a child play Potiphar counting his shekels and being disturbed by shenanigans in a bedroom above, but things move swiftly on.
The particularly clever trick of this show is to introduce a tiny sprinkling of village hall jeopardy in among the relentless kaleidoscope of high-class brothers, wives, children, sheep and camels. Unruly beards are a particularly rich seam, and anything with wheels causes a quick frisson of danger.
Herder-in-chief of this huge cast is the Narrator (and Jacob, and Mrs Potiphar, and jailer), Christina Bianco. Her voice took a minute or two to settle, but once it did the Opera House roof was in quite some danger. She is well matched by Adam Filipe as Joseph, who has a quiet but magnetic stage presence and produces some spine-tingling vocals. The seduction scene with Mrs Potiphar is neither steamy nor particularly funny, but he makes up for that with some masterly coloured-coat-twirling.
And a word for the celeb in the show, reality TV royalty Joe McElderry. His first outing with Joseph was 10 years ago, playing the lead and receiving sparkling reviews along the way. Now he makes an imposing Pharoah, but interestingly a less effective Elvis Presley impersonator, which of course is the whole raison-d’etre of the role. But he has instant rapport with the audience – a lot of knowing looks and side-eye – so we forgive him the pelvis work that is less than Presley-perfect, and enjoy the voice, which is definitely up to scratch.
A theatre professional alongside me commented that Manchester loves its theatre: “All the shows are full,” he said. “You really struggle to get tickets sometimes, and the people are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable.”
Quality shows attract good audiences, but quality audiences also encourage good shows. It seems that however often you have seen it, a full-on Joseph is going to hit the spot every time.
More info and tickets here
