Jason Donovan and Jac Yarrow will return to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for its UK and Ireland tour. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Michael Harrison and the Really Useful Group have confirmed full casting for the eagerly-awaited UK and Ireland tour of the crowd and critic-pleasing London Palladium production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Following two successful seasons at the Palladium, the hit production’s original Joseph and Pharaoh, Jac Yarrow and Jason Donovan, will return along with encore season additions Alexandra Burke and Linzi Hateley who will once again share the role of The Narrator across the tour. The role of The Pharaoh will also be played by 2021 company member Bobby Windebank at tour venues when Donovan does not perform.
The full company includes Erica Jayne Alden, Shane Antony-Whitely, Natalie Bennyworth, Jabari Braham, Ben Brooker, Gemma Buckingham, Thalia Burt, Meg Darcy, Alexander Day, Tyler Ephraim, Iván Fernández González, Zac Frieze, Matt Gibson, Will Hawksworth, Samuel John-Humphreys, Claire Lander, Abbie Platts, Nathan Rigg, Rochelle Sherona, Samantha Shuma, Sam Stones and Holly Willock.
The young actors are Tommy Adams, Ava Belle Alexander, Hector Baldwin, Kelsey Balla, Zach Bent, Dylan Brooks, Mei Chiu, Esme Connolly, Hettie Connolly, Bryson Dekker, Phoebe Easom, Jax Fenner, Luca Foster-Lejeune, Max Garlick, Lola Green, Bella Harding, Luke Jury, Mateo Lechea, Naomi Lim, Ocean Monilal, Toryn O’Callaghan, Matilda O’Sullivan, Blythe Railton, Roxy Relf, Holly-Jade Roberts, Eden Rowe, Nandini Sharma, Poppy Mei Soon, Halle Stevens, Joshua Wahab, Buddy Way and Lili Whitehouse.
Commenting on the tour, producer Harrison said: “After two sensational runs at the London Palladium, I am delighted that this joyous show is now set to unite audiences and spread happiness across the UK and Ireland on tour. Our ‘dream team’ casting will enchant newcomers and longstanding fans alike – GO! GO! GO! JOSEPH!”
Launching with a two-week season at the Manchester Opera House from 23 March until 2 April, the tour will visit: the Birmingham Hippodrome; Mayflower Theatre, Southampton; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; New Theatre, Cardiff; Theatre Royal, Newcastle; Liverpool Empire; Kings Theatre, Glasgow; His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen; Leeds Grand; Opera House, Blackpool; New Victoria Theatre, Woking; Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin; Bristol Hippodrome Theatre; Milton Keynes Theatre; Cliffs Pavilion, Southend; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; and Edinburgh Playhouse.
Following its sold-out debut season in 2019, the revised version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s first major musical which had been set to be one of the ‘big ticket’ shows of the summer of 2020 finally returned to play to packed houses once again in July 2021.
West End and Broadway director Laurence Connor (School of Rock) heads a creative team which includes leading Broadway choreographer and fellow School of Rock alumni JoAnn M Hunter, award-winning set and costume designer Morgan Large, lighting designer Ben Cracknell and sound designer Gareth Owen. The creative team for the production also includes hair, wig and make-up designer Richard Mawbey, musical supervisor John Rigby, casting director Stuart Burt and children’s casting director Jo Hawes.
Re-imagined for the modern audience, the original 2019 production marked the professional stage debut of Yarrow in the coveted title role and also starred Sheridan Smith in the enhanced role of The Narrator.
Released as a concept album in 1969, the much-loved stage version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat began its first West End run in 1972.
Based on the biblical story of Joseph and the Pharaoh, the multi-award-winning show which began life as a school concert has been performed hundreds of thousands of times.
One of the world’s favourite family musicals, Joseph has enjoyed multiple runs in the West End and on Broadway, international number one tours, and productions in over 80 countries as far afield as Austria and Zimbabwe and from Israel to Peru.
Featuring songs including ‘Any Dream Will Do’ and ‘Close Every Door to Me’, that have gone on to become pop and musical theatre standards, the show’s starring role has become one of the most sought after in musical theatre. Jason Donovan, Joe McElderry, Lee Mead, Donny Osmond and Phillip Schofield are among the stars who have previously donned Joseph’s colourful coat.
Angela Thomas
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