Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – London Palladium

Alexandra Burke and Jac Yarrow in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the. London Palladium. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues at the London Palladium until 5 September 2021.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Way, way back many decades ago, stripling composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice collaborated on a small pop cantata for a prep school in Barnes. Between 1968 and 1984 the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was developed, recorded, expanded and staged on both sides of the Atlantic until it eventually landed at the London Palladium in 1991 starring Jason Donovan in the title role. Donovan was the teen idol of his day, thanks to a thriving pop career and his appearance on the popular Australian soap opera Neighbours.

Since then, Philip Schofield, Donny Osmond and Joe McElderry have all donned the Technicolor dreamcoat and in 2007 a TV search-for-a-star contest introduced us to the talented Lee Mead in the role. Joseph has changed considerably over the years and while its plot doesn’t bear too much scrutiny, its success has undoubtedly been down to that ability to adapt with the times. Joseph taps in to the pop culture of our age to tell a simple story.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, the 2019 production followed a different path, casting the unknown graduate Jac Yarrow but placing the popular Sheridan Smith in the (arguably) more challenging role of Narrator and bringing back Donovan, this time as Pharaoh. Although a limited run, the production proved popular enough to merit a return in 2020 but of course, that wasn’t able to go ahead due to the pandemic.

Thankfully the show has finally been able to open, this time with the dynamic Alexandra Burke as the Narrator, lending some gritty, powerhouse vocals to the role. Burke, perhaps best known for The Bodyguard, demonstrates an easy rapport with the kids, driving the narrative along with warmth and sincerity. She also has the moves, taking centre stage for JoAnn M Hunter’s lively choreography and relishing the souped-up routines like it was a big, old-school pop concert, which in many ways it is.

As Joseph, Yarrow is an absolute winner. He’s agile and enthusiastic with a boy band smile and a voice that carries emotion well. His songs range from the gentle ballad ‘Any Dream Will Do’ to the weighty ‘Close Every Door to Me’. Most importantly Yarrow has charisma, which is vitally important for a role that could in less capable hands come across as arrogant.

Donovan has had trouble with his vocals in recent years and while his presence as the Elvis-style Pharaoh is brief, it’s evidently taxing. It barely matters however, as he still gives the number all the energy and star quality it requires. For diehard Joseph fans, there are certain performances where the Narrator is played by Linzi Hateley, who starred alongside Donovan as the Narrator in the 1991 production.

At the other end of the scale, children are given a greater role in this production, which is always encouraging and no doubt harks back to the show’s early life as a school concert. At the press performance, the cherubic Ethan Sokontwe was a stand-out as Benjamin, the youngest of the brothers and an imperious, shekel-counting Potiphar.

In many ways, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a juggernaut of a show. Morgan Large’s set and costume design is colourful but undemanding, a backdrop for frenzied dance routines and the inevitable mega-mix. In Laurence Connor’s staging there is an amalgam of enjoyable musical cliches, drawn out solely and successfully for entertainment value. It’s one of the few shows where the audience don’t need to be invited to clap along, as it’s almost instinctive.

It’s no surprise either that veteran pantomime producer Michael Harrison is behind this production. If there’s one person who knows how to handle a family audience, then it’s Harrison. People say that pantomime is often a child’s first introduction to theatre, but this reviewer could argue that just as many children encountered Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat long before a pantomime. In many ways, over the last 50 years, Joseph has always been there – school concerts, recordings, touring, it even featured in the second season of the children’s TV classic Grange Hill. This current production very wisely taps into that history to create a bright new chapter in the continuing Joseph story.

Paul Vale