After 50 years and more, Rice and Lloyd Webber’s Joseph is not that ‘Amazing’ any more

United Kingdom Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, 18.6.2025. (JPr)

Almost a ‘tale as old as time’ (sorry wrong musical!) is that Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat began as a brief ‘pop cantata’ at London’s Colet Court School in 1968. Decca recorded a version, and it had its first amateur stage productions in the US in the 1970s and after significant revisions it reached the West End in 1973 and then Broadway in 1982. It has had several major revivals over the years; notably in 2007 after Lee Mead won the role of Joseph because of BBC One’s Any Dream Will Do reality talent show and in 2018 at the London Palladium, on which this current touring version is based.

I had seen Joseph only once before – and that was in 2007 – with no real recollection of what I had thought about it then. I do remember taking a dislike to the new arena version of Jesus Christ Superstar some five years later (and confirmed by its recent visit to the Cliff Pavilion, review here) and suspect Joseph has had a further update in the interim too. It’s a sung-through musical with songs and music many will know from TV, radio, and not only professional performances, but those by schools and amateur theatre groups in Joseph’s intervening 50 years.

Often described as ‘family-friendly’, it is probably aimed at the young or very young rather than those of a more cynical vintage who might read something different in 2025 into the hungry Israelis – who as stereotypical bearded jews looked like failed auditionees for Fiddler on the Roof – relying on others for food. We begin in Canaan (today: Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon) where Joseph is Jacob’s favourite son, and he gets ‘the amazing technicolor dreamcoat’ from his father. This makes his 11 brothers incredibly jealous and they sell him into slavery in Egypt, especially when one of his dreams suggests he is to eventually rule over them. In Egypt, Joseph is bought by Potiphar, then is caught with his wife and – even though he rejected her advances – Joseph is imprisoned. While in prison, Joseph gets a reputation for interpreting dreams, including those of the Pharaoh. All these events are compressed into a first half of a little over 40 minutes and the only word to describe director Laurence Connor‘s production – in Morgan Large’s ‘technicolor’ sets and costumes – is ‘relentless’.

Despite the almost ever-present Narrator – who if she is not in a black, sparkly jumpsuit dons various disguises including Joseph’s father, the patriarch Jacob, and Potiphar’s wife – I lost the plot in many ways. Within a few minutes we have heard probably the most memorable of the show’s songs, ‘Any Dream Will Do’, and then – style-wise – it is all over the place. Choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter never has anyone stand still for more than a couple of seconds and characters rush off the stage and back on often as someone else in the blink of an eye. ‘One More Angel in Heaven’ is a country hoedown; ‘Go, Go, Go Joseph’ is complete with cheerleaders, and several characters (though not Joseph) speak with American or other odd accents.

It is truly ‘a game of two halves’ and while, of course, it doesn’t become Les Misérables it is almost a different musical entirely after the interval. Pharaoh is so impressed by Joseph’s abilities that he rises to high rank in Egypt second only to ‘The King’ who is conceived as Elvis during his Las Vegas residencies (and this dates the musical). The Pharoah wants Joseph to prepare the land for an eventual famine, the one which forces his brothers to travel to Egypt for food. There are some odd events which the musical glosses over including when Joseph (unrecognised by his siblings) sets up his brother Benjamin to unwittingly steal a golden cup. The reaction of the other brothers suggests to Joseph they have changed, and he reveals his true identity and is reconciled with them and eventually his father.

At the end of another taut 40 minutes or so we get the moral of the story: even after betrayal and adversity, there can be forgiveness and the rekindling of family bonds. However, how much of that resonated with audiences watching this in 2025 I am not sure. Joseph now seems just one high-energy routine after another. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the incongruous ‘Those Canaan Days’ reimagined as a high-kicking Parisian chorus line doing the ‘Can(aan)-Can(ann)’, followed by the ‘Benjamin Calypso’. At the very end of the show we got a medley reprising its songs (‘Joseph Megamix’) and this got nearly everyone in the Cliffs Pavilion to their feet, and it all ended on the highest of highs.

Christina Bianco’s Narrator is rarely off the stage and if she is it is because she is playing dress-up. Bianco is a charismatic performer and a fine singer and dancer, and her best moment was the second-act opener ‘Pharoah’s Story’ which saw her centre stage and not lost in the throng as sometimes she was. The talented Joe McElderry was the Pharoah and looked like Elvis in his later years though he had considerable stage presence and nearly succeeded in stealing the show. Is it just me but would many children in the audience know who McElderry was channelling? Joseph Craig was an engaging Joseph at this performance and reminded me of Lee Mead in 2007. Craig had a pleasant singing voice and his rendition of the poignant ‘Close Every Door’ – one of the quieter moments in the show – was very effective in conveying Joseph’s sadness at the situation he found himself in.

The small band under music director John Rigby – hidden from view at the Cliffs Pavilion – sounded very accomplished and the constantly high-tempo music was played remarkably well. It was an exceptionally large and gifted cast who worked incredibly hard and – regardless of whether the story took a dark turn – smiles never left their faces. I don’t really want to single anyone out at the expense of others, but Will Haswell’s Simeon had great fun with ‘Those Canaan Days’ and amongst some extraordinarily enthusiastic children – who were able beyond their years – Elliott Marsden stood out.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is something which adults who were taken to it – or even appeared in it – as a child take their young ones to, rather like a panto, for a cosy afternoon or night out. The musical is showing its age; was I glad to see it again? Yes, I was. Would I ever go again, the answer is definitely no!

Jim Pritchard

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tours the UK (information here) until August 10.

Creatives:
Lyrics – Tim Rice
Music – Andrew Lloyd Webber
Director – Laurence Connor
Choreographer – JoAnn M. Hunter
Set & Costume designer – Morgan Large
Lighting designer – Ben Cracknell
Sound designer – Gareth Owen
Orchestrator – John Cameron
Musical supervisor & Director – John Rigby

Cast included:
Joe McElderry – Pharaoh
Christina Bianco – Narrator
Joseph Craig – Joseph
Ensemble and Children