“Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” by Gatepost Theatre Company

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton

This has always been one of my favourite Lloyd-Webber/Rice musicals and this week I get to see two productions of this show.

It's a brave decision to go ahead with a production where ten of your cast have been affected by Covid and isolations, but Director Christopher Collington and the cast decided that the show must go on, and on it went....

I am sure that I do not need to tell the story as it has been engrained in everyone’s musical theatre memory since time began, or the late 1960’s when the show was first performed. Joseph, The Dreamer is sold by his brothers, who were jealous of him being the “favourite son”. Thinking they had seen the last of him, years later they have to beg Joseph for food, and his forgiveness for them selling him down the Nile.

Dan Collington (Joseph “The Dreamer”), Phil Deakin (Dan “The Confused”), Simon Owen (Zebulin “The Muscle”/Potiphar), Jarrod Makin (Reuben “The Oldest – But Not The Wisest”), Christopher Collington (Simeon “The Schemer”) who also directs the production, Rhys Lodge (Levi “The Mover”), Josh Birchall (Asher “The Idiot”), Kheenan Jones (Judah), Richard Whitehorn (Jacob “The Father”), Steve Wood (Issachar “The Thinker” as well as Benjamin “The Youngest”)

"The Boy", which is a new character for this musical, is played by William Hall. William oozes confidence and I think we all loved his facial expressions, especially near the start of the musical where his eyes seemed to pop out of his head, and then there is his amazing dance skills, especially his signature move, The Floss! This young man is a real find.

Claire Rybicki is one of the ten who unfortunately could not appear, but standing in as “The Narrator”, at very short notice was Lottie Lodge and to say she cracked this pivotal role would be an understatement!

This production is really fresh with loads of bits that I had, either never noticed in other productions, or had been introduced by Gatepost. It makes you sit up, especially with so many comic moments, and there is so much to see with everything going down on stage. I absolutely adored Gemma Hall as Mrs Potiphar and her cougar-ish seduction of Joseph. Potiphah bore a striking resemblance also to a certain windswept and bumbling Prime Minister, which immediately gained a massive reaction from the adoring audience.

The choreography (Lottie Lodge), especially for the male members, was incredibly camp in parts which again added so much comedy to the show. Kheenan Jones, I have never seen so camp, cementing the fact that I have always known, that Kheenan is so at ease with comedy. Christopher Collington's Pharoah was milked within an inch of the character's life, and the audience loved it.

The soundtrack is packed with singalong classics “Any Dream Will Do”, “One More Angel In Heaven”, “Go Go Go Joseph”, “Close Every Door”, "Benjamin's Calypso" and I love the melancholic “Those Caanan Days”, performed in a way that I have never seen performed!

MD'd by Martin Lewis and containing some of the best musicians around, the sound was incredibly well balanced, and every note and every word was heard with crystal clarity, thanks to sound man, Stephen Greatorex.

It's no surprise that the spot-on lighting is the work of Dave Martin.

I feel that I also need to mention the costumes, which even at first glance, you could tell so much work had been put into them. I think a large pat on the back is due for Laura Stone.

This is a production that, under the direction of someone who is not afraid to add to the ingredients of a successful recipe and create something even better than the original concept, has actually been enhanced in my opinion with an additional injection of comedy. The story, even from the start has an added touch of magic which is weaved throughout the show.

This in short is a production that I have never seen performed quite in this way, and I absolutely loved it. If you are going to mix things up with such a well-known piece of theatre, then this is the way to do it because it certainly worked out. Gatepost seem to be no stranger to making brave decisions, never shying away from doing something slightly different, and making that gamble pay off. The proof of that was in the incredible audience reaction the cast received. Nuff said!

And of course,we also must wish speedy recoveries to all of the cast who missed out on being able to perform this week due to Covid.

“Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 18 September. Go Go Go get them tickets!!