Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Congress Theate Eastbourne

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Congress Theate

Eastbourne

5th-10th April 2011

(show seen 6th April)

Cast

Joseph - Keith Jack
Narrator - Jennifer Potts
Jacob/Potiphar - Henry Metcalfe
Pharaoh - Adam Jarrell
Benjamin - Kevin Grogan
Mrs Potiphar - Camilla Rowland
Butler - Fabian Hartwell
Baker - Richard J Hunt
Reuben - Will Tyler
Gad - Michael Ward
Judah - Richard J Hunt
Asher - David Gwyn
Zebulun - Nathan Vaughan-Harris
Simeon - Fabian Hartwell
Issacher - James Jacob-Lomas
Dan - Scott Matson
Napthali - Stiofan O'Doherty
Levi - Adam Jarrell
Handmaidens - Collette Coleman, Anouska Eaton, Camilla Rowland

Swing - Craig Creelman

Joseph was last in Eastbourne just 2 years ago. It is normally a popular musical in the town, however this audience was unusually small at around 500.

Whether the relatively low head count was down to the economy, a fear that the show would be the same as last time or some other factor I don't know. What I do know is that I thought this was a much better show than the 2009 offering.

Keith Jack, who was runner up in the BBC's Any Dream Will Do, made an excellent Joseph and I thought that vocally he was more impressive than Craig Chalmers who undertook the earlier tour.

In my view it is the narrator who has the major role in Joseph and Jennifer Potts was outstanding. With beautiful clear vocals and 2 very proud grandparents watching in the audience she was a real star in this show.

A good advert for Eastbourne tourism too that her grandparents had chosen to see her in Eastbourne rather than at several venues more local to their home (Nottingham I think) because it is a nicer place to stay in.

Adam Jarrell made a good Pharaoh. Not the most spot-on Elvis impersonator I've seen in Joseph but perfectly adequate and entertaining.

And where would Joseph tours be without dear Henry Metcalfe? Henry's CV goes back many, many years and covers  a wide range of TV and theatrical shows in which he has continually demonstrated not only his acting skills but also his expertise in choreography and directing.

These days Henry is almost permanently 'married' to Joseph and he is like part of the furniture. The roles of Jacob and Potiphar are perfect for the oldest cast member and of course he is responsible for the great choreography as always.

The rest of the cast were excellent with all Jacob's sons putting on a great show. Collette Coleman deserves a mention not only for her great voice but also for doing some stunning choreography including some really impressive moving splits!

I've now seen several of these Joseph tours and it's a mistake not to go because 'you have seen it before' because it is always different in so many aspects.

In this case in addition to the cast change there was new choreography, a new bright colourful set and I thought the lighting was extremely good. I had issues with the sound quality back in 2009 but the band sounded great tonight.

The Congress Theatre's programme priced at £2 was good value, interesting and informative.

Highly recommended and look forward to seeing Joseph's return in a couple of years to see what has changed once again.

Incidentally not all musicals reult in us going home and downloading the lead artist's albums off iTunes but in Keith Jack's case this has happened. A terrific voice and 2 great albums both of which have very good reviews.

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