Aspiring West End stage writers Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber were, apparently, not overly thrilled at being asked to put together a short cantata, a story told through song, for a boys’ school concert in London, in 1967.
The unheard-of duo abandoned their original aim of writing a James Bond spoof and opted to base their show on a children’s book of biblical stories.
They plumped for a light-hearted modern musical re-telling of the Old Testament story of Joseph, son of Jacob, and his coat of many colours.
(Image: The Sunderland Empire Theatre) Rice, himself, played the role of Pharaoh, in an Elvis at Vegas-style for one of the show’s tub-thumping numbers.
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was well received by parents and guests at the school, it earned rave reviews in subsequent extended performances at Westminster Central Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral and landed the young Rice and Lloyd Webber with a Decca Records deal for a concept album, requiring extra musical content.
Its success culminated in Joseph earning an extended West End run, and the rest is history.
Scroll on half a century and Joseph is still packing them in, judging by Wednesday’s second-night performance in a six-night run at The Sunderland Empire Theatre.
The Michael Harrison produced show, which remains loyal to the original versions, featured real tours-de-force by leads, Adam Felipe, in the title role, and Christina Bianco, as the narrator.
(Image: The Sunderland Empire Theatre) (Image: The Sunderland Empire Theatre) But it also marked a return to the show for South Shields singing sensation Joe McElderry, back on home ground in the region after his recent panto appearance in Newcastle Theatre Royal’s seasonal offering of The Little Mermaid.
McElderry does not feature in the first-half of Joseph, but, wow, what an entrance, shortly after the interval, with the Elvis-style showstopper of the Pharaoh’s Dream Explained.
(Image: The Sunderland Empire Theatre) It is one of several, now well-known numbers, ranging in styles from Country and Western send-ups, to French chanson and Moulin Rouge high-kicking, to calypso and more.
Huge plaudits for the rest of the talented cast, including ten young performers from stage schools and academies.
Judging by the age span of the appreciative audience, Joseph appeals to young first-time theatre-goers to stage veterans.
In the midst of a cold and dreary mid-winter, it lifted the spirits of all in attendance and rightly earned a rapturous reception for the entire ensemble.
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What we thought of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Newcastle
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunderland Empire
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It leads you to think the originally unacclaimed school musical writers can only be destined for great things!
- Joseph runs nightly at the Empire until Sunday (January 19), with curtain up at 7.30pm.