"Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat"

Derby Youth Musical Theatre.

Derby Theatre.

Oh! Deep joy, my second favourite Rice/Lloyd-Webber musicals, now performed by a cast of some of my favourite young local actors. How many times have I seen this musical and why does it never get boring? I still love seeing this show which is a testament – if you’ll pardon the pun – to the wonderful writing of Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Sir Timothy Rice.

By now there surely must be no one who does not know the story and at least a few of the songs from this incredible soundtrack, so I do not need to outline the plot about Joseph, sold into slavery by his scheming and jealous brothers and his rise to fame.

Oscar Drake takes on the lead role of the Dreamer, Joseph. You could say that he was born to this role because Oscar's middle name is Joseph, because his Mum is obsessed about this very musical! His voice is strong, powerful and precise; his stage presence is as brilliant and bold as the colours of the Dreamcoat itself and his confidence is off the scale. 

There are two Narrators for the show, Hope Lo Monaco (Thursday evening, Saturday Evening and Sunday Matinee) and Isla Spencer (Friday Evening, Saturday Matinee and Sunday Evening). Hope's voice soars to the theatre's rafters and, as with the role of the Narrator, also has to sing, dance and act all at the same time as she is the glue that pieces the scenes together and keeps the story moving on nicely.

Pharoah is played by Billy Sweet, who also doubles up as Jacob, but it's Pharoah that scene-steals with "Song Of The King" as he releases his inner Elvis. What I liked though about Billy's Pharoah is that he didn't lean too heavily on being an Elvis soundalike, which allowed us to hear more of Billy, rather than Elvis.

Potiphar is played by Ben Mather. Love the characterisation in this role and a nice clear set of vocals.

The Baker is played by Lilliana Simons-Clark, also doubling her roles by playing Jacob's wife as well as Potiphar's Servant.

Simeon is played by Taylen Brodsky and Simeon's wife is played by Phoebe Litherland.

The oldest of the brothers Reuben is played by Ben Mather, in his other role in the musical, and Reuben's wife is played by Tia-Louise Shaw, who also plays one of Potiphar's Dancers.

Issachar is played by Teddy Osborn and his wife is played by Daisy Hamilton, who is making her Derby Youth Musical Theatre debut. Daisy also doubles as a Potiphar dancer.

Naphtali is played by William Hall, who makes his debut with DYMT, and his wife played by Connie Thomas.

Levi is played by Riley Chambers, also making his debut with the group, and his wife played by Kara McDermott.

Zebulun is played by Finley Williams with his wife played by Katie Kirk. 

Dan is played by Daniel Pimperton, his wife played by Millie Dalziel.

Asher is played by Stevie Kirkham and his wife is played by Caitlin Smith. Caitlin also doubles up as the seductive Mrs Potiphar, who is caught in a tricky situation with poor Joseph, which results in Potiphar throwing Joseph into prison.

Benjamin, the youngest brother is played by Quillen Parker, who makes his debut with DYMT, and also appears with his real brother Findlay. Benjamin's wife is played by Emilia Shapcott, as well as being one of Potiphar's Servants.

Judah is played by Eddie Clarkson and Judah's wife is played by Trinity Hramkova.

Gad is played by Findlay Parker, with Gad's wife played by Bella Syson, who also doubles as The Butler as well as Potiphar's Servant.

The Brothers as an ensemble group are incredibly good. Their harmonies, especially on one of my favourite songs from the score "Those Canaan Days", are insane, and their group choreography with "One More Angel In Heaven" is one of my favourite pieces from the show.

The Girls Chorus are made up of Maddie Gillham, Holly Gooding, Amelia-May Olivier, Amelie Aldridge, Hannah Lake, Isabella Cooke, Libby Bestwick, Autumn Quach, Ava Hicklin, Aila Hussain and Isabella Olivier.   

The Boys Choir is made up by Henry Williams, Casper Martin, Evan Gore, Jack Baker, Ethan Adamson, Ralph Garnham, Louie Drake and James Bailey.   

Directed by Caroline Green and Chris Moss. There are so many things that I could mention about this musical that I love and preserved in this show, and then there were other things like the camel puppets that were like the Bernie Clifton style emu act that he used to (and still does) do. The musical is only a short one but it seemed to fly by even quicker on Thursday night. Brilliant casting and some excellent character pairings.

Choreographed by Caroline Green and assisted by Ellie Beech. Practically everything choreography wise in this show are highlights for me. Love the hoe-down of "One More Angel In Heaven" which has such energy and spread from one side of the stage to the other. I also loved "Those Canaan Days" routine, and especially one section involving an upside down female dancer and the facial reaction of her dance partner which caused a wave of belly laughs from the packed Thursday night audience. That whole routine was brilliant and to inject even more comedy into the section was beautifully done. And I must not forget that Massive Megamix right at the end; a cracking piece of choreography.

Dance Captain is Caitlin Smith.

Musical Director and Conductor is Charlotte Daniel. With a musical that is sung through, the Conductor is working for the whole show, as well as playing the piano as well. I did enjoy the small changes in musical arrangements in some of the songs, as that gave a fresh sound to a soundtrack that I practically know back to front.

The soundtrack to this musical is one of the most recognised with classic pop songs like "Close Every Door", "Any Dream Will Do", my absolute favourite "Those Canaan Days", "One More Angel In Heaven", "Go Go Joseph", "Benjamin's Calypso" and more. My toes were tapping all night long.

You can see just how big the cast is and keeping everything behind the scenes running smoothly is Stage Manager Pete Roberts and Deputy Stage Manager Izzy Longson and Assistant Stage Managers Reece Bland, Kate Borrington, John Howarth and Lauren Wells.

Set Design is by Chris Moss and Lianne Sheridan with various entry and exit points allowing the large cast to either enter or exit quickly when needed and on various levels.

Completing the set visuals is Scenic Artist Rachel Chester.

Sound Design is by Harry Greatorex. There was a couple of mic issues near the start, especially with the Narrator's sound, but that seemed to be cleared up pretty swiftly. It is opening night so if anything is going to go not quite as planned, it'll be then. Other than that we got the sound quality and clarity that I always expect from Derby Theatre. Sound 2 and Sound 3 are Simon Birchall and Jack Clark with Trainee Sound Technician being Eddie Burton.

Lighting Design is by Jamie Vella. The lighting is as vibrant and colourful as that Dreamcoat. The scene for "Song Of The King" was like a scene from a Vegas show with all of the excitement visually of one of The King's shows in his heyday. Trainee Lighting Technician was Sam Jackson.

Head of the Wardrobe Department is Georgia Cooper. I was really pleased to see that Joseph's Dreamcoat replicated the same style as worn in the West End versions.

This really is a musical for every age, and I spotted quite young children in the packed auditorium, as well as Grandparents, and possibly Great Grandparents, all enjoying the same show; there's not many nights out that can cover that age range, but this certainly does.

"Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" is at Derby Theatre until Sunday 16 November.