Joseph

Tonight, I returned to The Brindley Theatre to see CODYS opening production of 2019 – Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat!  We all, (should) know the story of Joseph’s journey from his home with his father, Jacob, and his eleven brothers to his incredible rise to fame as the interpreter of dreams in the neighbouring palaces of the Pharoah!  Despite the fun, camaraderie and entertainment in this musical – there lies a fundamental subtext about most of the seven deadly sins.  CODYS have produced big shows over the last ten years and it was a pleasure tonight to see a society very well supported by their community and audiences -especially in times of uncertainty. 

The director of this production was Nick Cupit.  A multi NODA nominated director, Nick has done well to produce this visual treat.  The set, costumes and lights have helped to make the audience entranced into this story.  A lot of hard work has gone into make this production visually stunning.  Whilst set traditionally with traditional costumes, Nick has given it a modern twist with his futuristic set which looked like it was a time machine to take us back to the different era.  The set mostly consisted of static stairs at the sides of the stage which were used well throughout.  The movable stairs underneath, and both sets of doors, enabled the actors to have use of multiple entrances and exits.   I felt that there were further opportunities to enhance the comedy in numbers such as ‘Those Canaan Days’ and ‘Potiphar’ which then would’ve made the serious bits in the second half stand out more.  Saying that, there was a nice change of tone from ‘Jacob in Egypt’ into ‘Any Dream Will Do’.  I was moved and glad to see the different aspects of this show – which some productions miss.

The choreographer was Laura Cupit.  Whilst the choreography is repetitive (the songs repeat a number of times) it was suitable and reflected the musicality of the songs.  It was clear that a lot of hard work has gone into the choreography and all dancers were very well rehearsed – they were very strong.  As I mentioned above, I felt that there were a few missed opportunities to enhance the comedy even further, such as ‘Those Canaan Days’ but overall the choreography helped the audience engage with the different styles (French/calypso etc) and helped to make this show a visual treat.

Simon Pickup was at the helm as Musical Director.  Although the band were backstage, I could hear and appreciate each of the different sections of the band.  They sounded so well, I forgot there was band and thought it was backing tracks.  A particular favourite was the oboe and clarinet, both of which sounded fantastic! I imagine this score is a great score to play due to the differing styles – the band and the musical direction was great.  Some of the harmonies of the brothers and the narrators sounded fantastic and I was very pleased that the tempo of the megamix was faster than normal!

The set was fantastic and used very well throughout.  I liked how the lights were incorporated into the set which brightened up the whole show.

The costumes were equally good and helped establish location and individual characters.  You cannot ‘do’ Joseph without have an Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and this production didn’t fail.  A lot of hard work has gone into making these costumes – I appreciate that they weren’t just ‘hired in’.  Well done to the costume team for their efforts.

The sound, for me, was a little hit and miss.  Some of the levels didn’t quite work and a lot of dialogue was missed.  Some of this was lazy diction and articulation from the actors but Josephs mic was particularly low.  Some of the levels of the narrators were too different which meant that more dialogues was lost.  When the whole cast sang with the orchestra an outstanding wall of sound was created but in the individual bits of the chorus numbers, that’s where I lost the dialogue.  As this is a sung through show it is vitally important to get the levels right and unfortunately the storyline and the dialogue wasn’t clear enough as I would’ve liked.  The levels of the band were brilliant, and I liked the blend with the brothers.

Lighting for this production was great.  I loved the colours used and appreciated how they reflected in the songs.  Great use of spotlights and movers too.

Joseph was played by Ollie White.  Ollie certainly looked the part and had very good stage presence.  For me, Ollie lacked a lot of projection and, at times, it was hard to hear him, particularly in the first act.  Ollie had a great singing voice and I really enjoyed both his acting and singing in Any Dream Will Do.  I would’ve preferred if he had shown a little more range during Close Every Door, but these are just personal preferences.  Overall, he was well cast and did well in this role.

Ewan Schooler did very well in the role of Pharaoh.  Ewan had a great confidence in this role and did well to convey the comedic side of Pharaoh in his song. 

Jenna Pomphret and Jaime Pollard did well as the Baker and the Butler.  I was impressed with Jenna’s vocals!

Dan Wilson was funny as Potiphar and Emily Walker as Mrs Potiphar danced beautifully in their song.

I felt that the character of Jacob was a little stunted due to the heavy-set beard and wig, but the audience enjoyed the few scenes that he was in.  As I mentioned before, the team of dancers were fantastic.  Well done to the team of dancers and chorus members.  You were on stage a lot and had a lot to remember.  Well done for your contribution.

The Narrators were played by a team of six females (Ella Heavey, Mary Hemington, Poppy Williams, India Poulaud, Erin Smith and Megan Walsh).  The six young ladies sang beautifully throughout.  Some of the songs in this show require a high soprano voice for the Narrator and this show didn’t disappoint!  Having six narrators was a stroke of genius and it allowed the musical director to introduce a range of harmonies – which sounded amazing!  Some of the girls were stronger than others (my particular favourites were Erin Smith and Poppy Williams), and at times I lost some diction and articulation – this may be partly down to the mic levels?

There are far too many brothers (eleven) for me to mention individually.  I will say that these parts were amongst the strongest overall.  I was very impressed with their energy, commitment to character and theatrics!  Your harmonies were fantastic, and it was delightful to watch you all on stage tonight.  I do of course have to mention the three soloists who all sounded brilliant in their songs – Ryan Coxon (Judah), Colby Fisher (Naphtali) and Clayton Roberts (Gad).  I really enjoyed your musicality and your storytelling; especially Clayton Roberts who gave a masterclass in storytelling, diction, articulation and projection!

Overall, CODYS have produced yet another hit!  Their first production of 2019 had enabled their audiences to be captivated in this great piece of theatre.  I certainly hope that they return again for your next production of Bugsy Malone in September.  I thank CODYS for their hospitality and wish them all the very best for the regional NODA awards in May!

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