Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: The family favourite bringing some joy to Sunderland Empire
A songbook and story based around ‘a coat of many colours’ sounded like the perfect antidote to January, and all it does to your mood.
Without revealing too much about this author’s age, the Donny Osmond-starring film adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s beloved musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, was one of the videos firmly in rotation growing up.
It was the perfect companion to a rainy day spent indoors, and I had high hopes that the London Palladium production of Joseph, now on UK tour and pitching up for its Sunderland run, was set to have the same warming effect on me as it took to the Empire stage.
Combine some of musical theatre’s most toe-tapping tunes with the treat of seeing North East darling Joe McElderry on stage once more and there was a smile on my face before the curtain went up. And dear reader, it stayed there all evening!
So let’s start with our Joe, as Pharaoh. His starring number - Song of the King - in Act Two was a highlight of the show with big, ballsy energy and vocals to match. The Elvis-esque tune is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated of the whole show and it really brought the house down. As a whole, I think we would have all welcomed one more outro.
On the way out, I heard a few audience members sharing their disappointment at not seeing more of Mr McElderry in the production, but that’s just the role of Pharaoh - and you know what they say, it’s always best to leave them wanting more! He was the show’s King, and he remains our king.
Joseph really is an ensemble cast of stars. Adam Filipe as the titular character was so sweet and earnest; no wonder he was father Jacob’s favourite! His performance of Close Every Door - surely, one of musical theatre’s best ballads - was faultless, but his poker face and teasing during The Brothers Came to Egypt / Grovel, Grovel and Who’s The Thief really swept you up in the drama of the plot (even though we knew the ending already).
His 11 brothers - both grown-up and young - were a delightfully deceitful, but good in the end, gang and I honestly couldn’t heap enough column inches of praise on the cast’s young performers, from the children of the chorus to young Potiphar and the cart-wheeling goat (if you know, you know).
But my friend and I reckoned that a renaming of the show could be in order to The Narrator, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It is the role of the show, and one not for the faint-hearted. Christina Bianco was everything to everyone - a guide to the audience and the children, a storyteller, a companion to Joseph and let’s not forget, star turns as Jacob, and Potiphar’s wife.
If we hadn’t seen her don the differing accessories, you would barely believe it was the same performer, such was her ease and range. The narrator role sort-of sums up the Joseph experience - a delicious mix of styles, all executed without a hitch.
It’s a rip-roaring show, the perfect length for an enjoyable family evening out. It will be over in a blink, so don’t miss it.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is on at Sunderland Empire until Sunday, January 19. Go, go, go Joe!