In totally ‘Amazing Technicolour’
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT. Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin, with Earl Gregory, Bianca Le Grange, Jonathan Roxmouth and Dean Roberts. At Theatre on the Bay, Tuesday to Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm, and Sunday at 2.30pm, until November 5. STEYN DU TOIT reviews.
ANCIENT Egypt meets absolutely everything else in this quintessential classic by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I’m not joking. From hippies to hot pants, from reggae ‘riddims’ to Charleston kicks, just about every cultural reference is hurled at the viewer by the bucketloads.
Add to that a series of kaleidoscopic lights, acrobatic choreography, edgy sound cuts and a ridiculously good-looking cast, and you’re still nowhere near everything that’s on offer.
The success behind this current local staging of Joseph is largely thanks to the skill and vision of director Paul Warwick Griffin (Sunset Boulevard, Evita), who is backed here by a first-rate cast and production team.
Be assured, there is a method to all the extravagant excess on offer. Griffin knows exactly where the balance lies between overwhelming his audience and sending them home giddy with the spirit that is live performance.
Supporting the director in finding his own sense of self, within the boundaries provided by the script, are several of local theatre’s brightest creative minds.
Two such examples are musical supervisor Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (Cabaret) and musical director Louis Zurnamer (The Sound of Music).
In addition to creating a kickass soundtrack with lots quirks and new surprises, these musical chameleons still manage to make sure that all elements of why we originally fell in love with these songs remain intact.
Several numbers were executed as perfectly as can be during opening night. They include lush opening number Jacob and Sons, the cheekily jazzy Potiphar, Afro-Caribbean extravaganza Benjamin Calypso, and rousing finale Any Dream Will Do.
Similar to stage managers, lighting designers are the great unsung heroes of the theatre.
The better they do their job, the less the viewer is supposed to know they’re there.
Take a moment from all the action on stage, however, to appreciate how Gareth Hewitt Williams’s lighting cues find each scene’s cycles, rhythms and nuances. He’s a magician, and a lot of what you believe you see is because of his sleight of hand.
Another special mention has to go to costume designer Niall Griffin. An artist with an incredible reference frame and sketchbook, his immoderate designs are both visually arousing and very well constructed.
Slipping into Griffin’s creations is a 20-strong cast that are each an example of the kind of old school theatre professionalism this industry was built on.
Whether doing jazz hands, walking like Egyptians or coming together for one of Duane Alexander’s finely choreographed ensemble moments, they always remain committed to the cause.
Radiating and armed with that potent vocal weapon of hers, Le Grange (Blood Brothers) makes for a solid narrator. Going on this eventful journey with her makes for a lekker trip.
In a show with so many large personalities at once on stage, standing out as the title character - both physically and personality-wise - is by no means an easy job.
The moment that sealed the deal for me with Gregory, however, was during his disarming performance of Close Every Door To Me.
Judging by the spontaneous eruption of cheers afterwards that went on for a while in the auditorium, I suspect I wasn’t the only convert that night.
Serving sickening disco Pharao Presley realness is Jonathan Roxmouth (Sweeney Todd). Fiercely contoured and with a face beat to perfection, it is in seeing how comfortably in command of his craft he is that left press night’s audience gagging the hardest.
Which brings me back to Griffin’s costume design. Niall, how does one go about securing a pair of Pharaoh’s shoes for the Fleur du Cap awards next year? I’m asking for a friend.
Joseph arrives in Cape Town following a sold-out run at Montecasino’s Pieter Toerien Theatre in Joburg.
I’m told tickets are also flying fast here as well for this highly recommended, entertaining psychedelic pop oratorio.
To book: Computicket at 0861 915 8000, www.computicket.com