Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

As I walked into this new venue, to me, it was with an anticipation of seeing another good CTC show. This was without doubt a very special Joseph and amongst the best I have seen. Bridie Rowe adds so much extra business with her excellent musical staging and this coupled to the exciting choreography ensures that everyone’s abilities are used to the full

We are guided through this biblical story by a narrator (Maia Elsey) and this young lady is one to watch in the future. What a voice! She worked her way through so many genres of music with control and quality of sound way beyond her years, a pleasure to listen to.

This is a show of many layers and it is important that they all work well together. In the title role is Sam Brown who sang and acted his way through this with ease and a confident air, just what the part needed. (I have seen Sam develop as a performer in various shows and it is great to see him now taking on leading roles) The layers below are filled with a talented pool of young men portraying the brothers and the various other parts. They acted and “over acted” their socks off to great comedic effect in all of their ensemble numbers and had the audience virtually screaming with laughter in “Those Canaan Days”.  A showstopper.

It would be wrong to think that only the boys made this show, the Dinah Mites added the support group to the principals and ensemble with some excellent harmony singing. The principal dancers showed us all some well drilled and tricky choreography, which they make look so easy.

What Joseph always needs is a strong ensemble and a powerful choir to add the extra push in some of the numbers. CTC has this, young members being guided by older ones to achieve a very pleasing overall effect. What an asset these young ones are, the next generation waiting to move up and enjoying every minute. It is great to see.

The quality of the show is determined by the strength of the team and this combination works so well. The orchestra are never intrusive and this is great credit to the MD. The young cast looked so confident of what they were singing which shows how well they had been rehearsed. The choreography added so much to the performance. Final accolade must go to the Director to see what is needed and then push it that little bit further but all the while remaining within the capabilities of the cast. This was an pleasure to watch, and the company need to be justly proud.

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