Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - the fun musical

Euan Doidge

Want a fun night out with the family? Go along to the Capitol Theatre in Sydney and see the fun stage musical of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It is full of song, dance and humour. In fact, there is no spoken  word in the entire show - everything is sung.

The show is an early work of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who composed the music, and Tim Rice who wrote the lyrics. Andrew went on to compose the score of many great musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, School of Rock, Sunset Boulevard and Jesus Christ Superstar. Time Rice went on to write the lyrics of Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Aladdin, and The Lion King.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tells the Old Testament story of Joseph, his father and his 11 brothers. His brothers are jealous of the popularity of Joseph so they hatch a plot of get rid of him. They tell their father he died, but in fact they sold him as a slave to Egypt. Joseph has a talent of interpreting dreams so helps the Pharaoh with the meaning of his dream. When famine strikes the 11 brothers go seeking help, and Joseph forgives them for what they did to him and helps them. 

The two standout features of the show are one of its main stars and an aspect of its staging.

Paulini

Paulini does an exceptional job in her performance of the Narrator linking the various scenes of the show together. (She also takes on other roles in the show). She is on the stage for most of the time, singing with power and clarity. Her moves on stage are captivating too. Paulini was bornPauline Curuenavuli in Fiji and moved to Sydney when she was four. She was a contestant in the first season of Australian Idol. Since then she has written and recorded many hit songs, and has appeared in musical theatre productions of The Bodyguard, Hair and Chess. 

The sets of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat are very simple and understated. It is the lighting that spectacularly shines the light on the actors on the stage and makes the entire production a delight to see from start to finish. Credit must go to Ben Cracknell the Lighting Designer. He did an amazing job with all the special lighting effects in the show. It would be interesting to know the number of LED's actually used in the show - the number must be huge. 

The other main actors and ensemble in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat did an admirable job with the singing and dancing. Euan Doidge is a handsome young Joseph. (Previosly he appeared in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pippen, Saturday Night Fever and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.) Trevor Ashley is the stunning Pharoah. He has a wealth of experience as an actor, writer, director and cabaret performer. 

Special mention must go to the talented children who perform on the stage, either acting their age or being aged into much older adults. The sheep and camels on wheels also deserve a special mention.

What else was enjoyable? The songs and the band that played the music for the singers. The good thing about Joseph is the varied styles of music utilised for the many songs. All tastes are catered for, with a French can-can, Elvis style rock and roll, country and western, 1920s Charleston, Calypso, jazz and a 1970s go-go song. Songs include Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door To Me, Jacob and Sons, There’s One More Angel In Heaven and Go Go Go Joseph. The band played non-stop with no breaks throughout the show, always providing uplifting toe-tapping music.

Pharaoh's palace, just after interval, looked impressive with the large golden statues. The moving heads and guitars added a Monty Python touch to the musical. It was a piece of Los Vegas in Egypt.

Trevor Ashley

Disappointments in this production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? Not many! The biggest one for me was Josephs technicolor dreamcoat. I suppose I was was expecting something more amazing. It was indeed colourful. However it looked like it was a just a simple trench coat created by a Paris fashion designer for wearing at a small intimate social gathering. It lacked the presence on the large stage it deserved by being just the size of a standard coat and not the size of a large technicolor parachute. 

To sum it up, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a light-hearted fun musical that people of all ages will enjoy seeing. It is a great way to spend the night out on the town with friends or family

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is on stage at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney now up until 16 April. Tickets can be bought online at Ticketmaster from $59.

For further information about the musical go to https://josephthemusical.com.au/