Last Updated on 24 June 2024 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat holds a special place in my heart as it was the very first (and in fact only) musical I saw at the London Palladium circa 1992 when Jason Donovan played Joseph . . .
Fast forward some thirty years and I was super excited to be able to take Chloe (10) to watch Joseph at Manchester Opera House. Whilst I have fond memories of seeing Joseph myself at her age, and vividly remember singing the songs in the school choir, Chloe hadn’t heard of the musical before and didn’t really know much of the story.
For those of you not familiar with the story of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – it is based on the bible story from the Old Testament in which Jacob loves his son Joseph more than his eleven brothers – unsurprisingly they are jealous and sell their brother into slavery, taking his fantastic multicoloured coat back to their father and claiming his precious son has been killed. Later, Joseph’s ability to interpret the Pharoh’s dreams see him become Pharoh’s right hand man and he then successfully leads the country through a period of severe famine. His starving brothers come to Egypt to beg him for food but don’t recognise their brother.
In this latest incarnation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jason Donovan returns but this time taking on the role of the Pharaoh. The Song of the King was one of my favourites as a child, and I loved it just as much tonight – the over the top production was just brilliant and Jason’s Pharoh brought full Elvis vibes – so much so that I wasn’t actually convinced that it was Jason Donovan performing at one point. His look and voice were unrecognisable and I actually questioned if we had an understudy – had I not then seen him come back on stage later, welcomed by name and without his head dress on, I’d have probably still not been convinced even now! This is of course no bad thing as it means he did a great job of becoming the character of the Pharaoh and not just being a famous popstar from my youth in a fancy golden costume!
Jac Yarrow slips his arms into the golden lined, coat of many colours as if it were made for him! In fact, I read earlier today that the role of Joseph was Jac’s first job out of drama school and he’s been with the show for three years now!
But for Chloe and I, Alexandra Burke as the narrator stole the show. I could not take my eyes of her. Her incredible voice (which Chlo said gave her “Ariana Grande vibes – high praise from a ten year old), her dance moves (whilst six months pregnant no less!) and her comedy facial expressions were everything. Her performance was just brilliant and certainly got the loudest cheers from the audience at the end of the night.
Other highlights included the epic dances from the brothers – we particularly loved the tap dancing and we have to give a special shout out to the youngest performers who were amazing – their beautiful singing voices, their dance moves were faultless and they offered up some great comedy moments too.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is two hours of the brightest, campiest and loudest fun that I’ve seen on stage in a very long time – what a brilliant first musical to introduce my daughter too!
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat returns to the Manchester Opera House from Wednesday 26th February to Sunday 9th March 2025 – you can book tickets now!
If you need to find parking for Manchester Opera House, check out this post next or if you fancy a bit to eat before the show, check out this list of the ten best restaurants near Manchester Opera House.
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