Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

“Joseph” is a show known and loved by many and a great choice for KYDS Youth Drama Society to celebrate their fifteen year anniversary.

As always when you attend a KYDS production there is an overwhelming feeling of community, friendship and love amongst it’s hard working volunteers and cast. We receive such a warm welcome and the enthusiasm from all involved is contagious.

We all know the story of Joseph and it is a big undertaking for any group. It requires a stand out lead and strong supporting cast. Vocally it is not as easy as one may think, the trick is to make what is actually quite a difficult score for young performers seem effortless. Take a bow Henry Lawrence as Joseph who did just that. I loved his modern interpretation of the role. Vocally he was exceptional and his rendition of “Close Every Door” was the stand out number of the show. A huge congratulations to Henry on a wonderful performance.

Henry was supported throughout by the narrators Emily Howell, Annie Wise, Matilda Cullen and Lilian McMichael. The role of Narrator is pivotal to this musical and I thought it a very good idea to have all four performers on stage together to share the vocals as they have such lovely singing voices. However, and in no way their fault, it was extremely difficult to hear them for the most part. There were issues with microphone feedback and the band were far too loud in places which was a real shame. Having said that, what I could hear was performed beautifully by these talented young ladies.

The role of the Pharoah was brilliantly done by George Govus. He looked fantastic in his costume and sang really well. I understand from his bio that this was a role that challenged him… you would not have known! A lovely, confident portrayal.

As always with Youth productions I wish I could mention each performer by name but there are just too many of you! However, I would like to give a special mention to Alexis Harding-Payne for the excellent solo work in “Those Canaan Days” complete with super French accent maintained throughout the number. Also to Daisy Howard as a very “cool” Judah. Daisy has great stage presence, and I enjoyed the number “Benjamin Calypso”.

All supporting cast members did very well and I appreciated the different personalities portrayed particularly amongst Jospeh’s brothers. Every single person on stage gave loads of energy and were clearly having a fantastic time.

As previously mentioned, sound was an issue. It seemed that most of the band were individually mic’d which isn’t necessary in this venue. However, there were some lovely individual moments from the band members and I noticed Sarah Clements on violin was particularly helpful to the cast in providing additional support. MD Leah Harding-Payne had the difficult job of conducting and playing at the same time.

Choreography was simple but effective and well executed by everyone.

As always KYDS shows are costumed beautifully and make up was excellent – congratulations to all involved, especially Tina Reynolds for Joseph’s coat. Scenery was also very good with lots of attention to detail and lighting was effective.

I do have one little niggle that I feel should be mentioned. While I appreciate this is a volunteer based group that depends heavily on donations and fundraising, I did take issue with the performance being stopped so that cast members could ask for donations. I don’t feel it was the appropriate time to be doing this. We lost some of the magic created by this wonderful cast due to the performance being stopped at this point. Perhaps this should have been saved until after the bows…

Overall this was a fabulous show just impeded by a few little issues which I’m sure can be ironed out going forwards. As always it is a joy to watch these enthusiastic and talented young people and a privilege to be invited along. Thank you to Alex Bisland and her dedicated team for a fun evening. I can’t wait to see you all again soon for your next production.

Victoria Carey

District 8

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