Post by Tanith Messenger on Jul 18, 2007 21:18:06 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk
Stage hitch hits Joseph opening
Lee Mead won the role of Joseph in a public vote
Lee Mead on stage
TV talent show winner Lee Mead's first night in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was hit by a hitch when a revolving stage broke.
The West End performance had to be temporarily halted while the problem was fixed.
Mead won the chance to play the lead role through the BBC One programme Any Dream Will Do.
Critics were largely won over by his performance, although some said his voice was not always strong enough.
The Telegraph's Charles Spencer said Mead "has a powerful and expressive voice" but was concerned "his vocals were beginning to sound a little frayed" by the end.
Standing ovation
And Paul Callan of the Daily Express said of Mead: "He has a great talent, and will go far. His voice is clear, firm and convincing."
Tuesday's audience at the Adelphi Theatre was packed with critics and celebrities, including Jason Donovan and Stephen Gately, who have previously played Joseph.
Following a standing ovation, the losing contestants of the Any Dream Will Do show joined Mead on stage, along with the musical's creators Sir Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Mead was picked to play the part of Joseph by a public vote, having impressed a panel of judges during the competition.
The 26-year-old from Essex had already appeared in the musical, playing the Pharaoh character in a touring production.
Speaking immediately after the show, Mead said there had been an "amazing response" from the audience, and dismissed the technical hitch, saying: "That's theatre!"
©copyright bbc 2007
www.rte.ie
Critics praise Joseph star Lee Mead
Lee Mead, winner of the reality television show 'Any Dream Will Do', has been praised by critics for his preview performance in 'Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'.
Despite a technical hitch which caused the show to be halted ten minutes after the curtain opened, most reviews of Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest production were positive.
The Telegraph said: "What Lee Mead has in spades is charm, crucial in a role that could easily seem unattractively priggish."
Advertisement"He also looks good in a loincloth and has a powerful and expressive voice. By the end, however, his vocals were beginning to sound a touch frayed and he and the management need to take care he doesn't overstrain his greatest asset like Connie Fisher in 'The Sound of Music'."
The Daily Mail said: "Lee himself is not a natural comedian. He does not move particularly well. But he hurls himself into the honking cacophony and is almost as gorgeous to behold as Joseph's multi-coloured coat."
The Independent said: "Lacking in character and with a tendency to give out towards the end of a line, his voice is not the world's greatest, or even the greatest in the show."
"But Mead more than fulfils the requirements, with a mop of dark curls, a wholesome, sweet manner, and a way of filling a pleated loincloth that will appeal to all sexes."
© RTÉ 2007
www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
Famous faces in crowd for Lee's debut
Former Josephs, TV show judges and contestants were among the audience as Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead made his West End debut.
The Tv talent show winner's supporters included judges John Barrowman and Denise van Outen as well as the musical's creator Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jason Donovan and Stephen Gately - who have both famously worn the amazing technicolour dreamcoat as Joseph in the past were also in the audience.
Afterwards, they were full of praise for his, and the rest of the cast's, performance.
Lord Lloyd Webber said: "It was fantastic.
"He couldn't have done any better."
John Barrowman dismissed a technical problem which temporarily halted the show as part of live performances, saying: "These things happen in theatre. Lee was absolutely fantastic. The public made the right choice."
Fellow judge Denise said: "I loved it. It was fantastic. Lee looked so good."
Two of the beaten finalists in the BBC show also went along to support Lee and were similarly full of praise.
Lewis Bradley said: "Lee was brilliant."
And Keith Jack, who narrowly lost out in the final, said: "It was amazing, absolutely amazing."
He added that he didn't realise there had been a technical problem until the curtain came down, but praised all the cast for their professionalism in carrying on afterwards.
Reader comments
I SAW THE SHOW ON 6TH JULY.THE PREVIEW.WE CAME DOWN TO LONDON FOR THE WEEK-END.THE SHOW WAS FANTASTIC.LEE DELIEVERED EVERYTHING HE COULD POSSIBLE & MORE.THE WHOLE SHOW WAS A MAGICAL PROFORMANCE BY ALL THE CAST.CAN,T WAIT TO SEE AGAIN
Lucinda Moir, Leeds West Yorks
© Nottingham Post Group Ltd
www.thestage.co.uk
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
There is a different atmosphere about an opening night when the lead performer has been cast via television. From the cheers that greeted Lee Mead’s first appearance onstage, one could sense the audience willing him to succeed.
The public’s response to the recent BBC series Any Dream Will Do has already resulted in a staggering amount of advance ticket sales, not to mention all the free publicity. Lucky then for the producers that the relatively experienced Mead comes up with the goods and appears relaxed and assured doing so.
While Mead’s acting could benefit from an injection of warmth to temper the arrogance on display, he is in excellent form vocally. His rendition of Close Every Door, encapsulating both tenderness and defiance, is a highlight.
The production itself is dedicated to the late Steven Pimlott who directed the London Palladium staging in 1991. Indeed the show is very much based on Pimlott’s interpretation, revived by associate director Nichola Treherne.
Together with choreographer Anthony Van Laast and designer Mark Thompson, who worked with Pimlott on that hit nineties production, this team creates an entertaining evening full of colour and high energy dance routines.
These ingredients are never more evident than when Egypt meets Las Vegas in Act II, allowing Dean Collinson an opportunity to give his all as a hip-swaying, Presley-inspired Pharaoh. In contrast, Preeya Kalidas disappoints as the Narrator, lacking charisma and despite a good pop voice occasionally straining vocally.
While I gradually tired of the show’s mismatch of scenes and musical spoofs, there is no doubt Rice and Lloyd Webber’s score remains as infectious as ever, especially when performed by a hugely talented ensemble and a charming children’s chorus picked from the Carmel Thomas Youth Singers.
Not long in to opening night and a technical difficulty with the revolve meant an awkward pause in the proceedings. Embarrassing for the producers, but a small hitch in what is likely to be a hit, whatever the critics say.
copyright © 2007 The Stage Newspaper Limited
www.variety.com
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(Adelphi Theater, London; 1,200 seats; £49.50 $102 top)
Biblical pain and suffering? Get outta here. There used to be a stage makeup color called "light Egyptian," and that's exactly what's on offer here. There's darkness in the one (much reprised) song "Close Every Door," but the rest of this revival of Steven Pimlott's 1991 giant hit production (filmed with Donny Osmond and Maria Friedman) is all about brightness. Previously unknown leading man Lee Mead, cast by TV viewers, may have built the show a $20 million advance, but its one singular sensation is actually Mark Thompson's production design, which is brilliant in all senses of the word.
Clearly, the title's a bit of a clue when it comes to the prevailing tone likely to be dreamed up by anyone designing "Joseph." But Thompson takes it further than anyone could have, er, dreamed. Indeed, the only reason Thompson didn't bag the design Oliviers back in 1991 was that he won both set and costume awards for other shows.
Thompson and Pimlott winningly reconceived "Joseph" as a rainbow-colored riot. In a cobalt-blue stage box inside a giant, gilt picture frame, the cast parade and prance in a literally dazzling array of hundreds of supremely witty costumes. Question: Are the backstage dressers the hardest working members of the entire company?
The colorful palette is supplemented by endless visual set gags. It isn't just Joseph's coat that is multihued but the sheep as well. The enormous mummy at the back of Pharaoh's palace dispenses corn by doubling as a slot machine. About the only obvious update for the production is a golden model of the London Eye that zips incongruously by on the twin revolve.
As expected from the most professionally qualified of the contestants of BBC's star search "Any Dream Will Do," Mead makes a highly respectable Joseph. He has more charm than charisma, but when it comes to the necessary energy, empathy and, above all, strong voice, Meads delivers. And, to the evident delight of screaming fans, he looks good in a loincloth.
While serious acting was always off the agenda here -- Rice and Webber's show has more of a storyline than a script -- there is a sense of superficiality about the event that stems from its status as a revival. Pimlott passed away earlier this year, and although the cast has been well drilled (Nichola Treherne serves as associate director), the detail and wit in the design are not matched by the performances.
One of the brothers doubles as the baker and pulls identical facial and physical expressions in both roles. Pharoah Dean Collinson's Elvis impersonation is pretty broad, but a miscast Preeya Kalidas as the Narrator suffers most.
Teetering around in the highest of heels, she smiles but rarely looks convinced, as if she has been left to her own devices. Kalidas has a lustrous, dark-toned mid-range, but attempting the high notes she screeches -- a problem exacerbated by the sometimes aggressive sound design.
There are times when the upbeat mood is so relentless, you wonder if the creative team actually noticed that this production, conceived for the London Palladium with over 1,000 more seats, is now in the smaller Adelphi Theater.
And yet for all its lack of subtlety, there's a joyousness about it. Even the rampantly shameless, energetically performed disco-megamix finale has an undiluted sense of fun that only a real curmudgeon could dislike.
What's the overall commercial temperature of the show? That of a forgone conclusion. Mead is contracted for at least a year. For as long as he chooses to continue in it, "Joseph" is, commercially speaking, the safest of bets. And when he decides to hang up his coat, there are all the runners-up to cast.
© 2007 Reed Business Information , a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
www.thesun.co.uk
Winner Lee's first night
By BILL HAGERTY
Sun Theatre Critic
July 18, 2007
A DREAMCOAT came true for new Joseph Lee Mead last night.
It wasn’t the leap to stardom made by Connie Fisher, who went from the sound of telesales phones to The Sound of Music.
Lee had already appeared in Joseph as the Pharaoh before he won TV’s Any Dream Will Do.
But he fitted comfortably into the Technicolor clobber previously worn by Phillip Schofield and Jason Donovan.
He sang beautifully and — especially bare-chested — looked a million dollars, which is what he’ll earn in no time flat.
Stars guests including Connie, singer Katherine Jenkins, Denise Van Outen and many of Lee’s TV rivals were there.
If they wished he would really break a leg, they didn’t show it.
His first entrance, hair dressed within an inch of its life and all gleaming teeth, was met with rapture.
He sang Any Dream Will Do to three dozen children on stage, who were vocal throughout the night.
The show has grown from half an hour when it was written in 1968 to a two-hour extravaganza — helped by the longest set of encores in history.
This 1992 version ain’t broke and any temptation to fix it has wisely been resisted.
The show is fun and funny — catch the singing camel and a guest appearance by the London Eye — and has its heart in the right place.
Narrator Preeya Kalidas is powerful and Dean Collinson’s Elvis-style Pharaoh rock ‘n’ rolls splendidly. Joseph’s siblings deliver hilarious French send-up Those Canaan Days in sensational style.
At the finale, as he rises above the orchestra pit all in white, Lee Mead’s Joseph is every inch a winner — and earned a standing ovation.
When it comes to stardom, it was a dream debut.
© 2006 News Group Newspapers Ltd. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks
Stage hitch hits Joseph opening
Lee Mead won the role of Joseph in a public vote
Lee Mead on stage
TV talent show winner Lee Mead's first night in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was hit by a hitch when a revolving stage broke.
The West End performance had to be temporarily halted while the problem was fixed.
Mead won the chance to play the lead role through the BBC One programme Any Dream Will Do.
Critics were largely won over by his performance, although some said his voice was not always strong enough.
The Telegraph's Charles Spencer said Mead "has a powerful and expressive voice" but was concerned "his vocals were beginning to sound a little frayed" by the end.
Standing ovation
And Paul Callan of the Daily Express said of Mead: "He has a great talent, and will go far. His voice is clear, firm and convincing."
Tuesday's audience at the Adelphi Theatre was packed with critics and celebrities, including Jason Donovan and Stephen Gately, who have previously played Joseph.
Following a standing ovation, the losing contestants of the Any Dream Will Do show joined Mead on stage, along with the musical's creators Sir Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Mead was picked to play the part of Joseph by a public vote, having impressed a panel of judges during the competition.
The 26-year-old from Essex had already appeared in the musical, playing the Pharaoh character in a touring production.
Speaking immediately after the show, Mead said there had been an "amazing response" from the audience, and dismissed the technical hitch, saying: "That's theatre!"
©copyright bbc 2007
www.rte.ie
Critics praise Joseph star Lee Mead
Lee Mead, winner of the reality television show 'Any Dream Will Do', has been praised by critics for his preview performance in 'Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'.
Despite a technical hitch which caused the show to be halted ten minutes after the curtain opened, most reviews of Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest production were positive.
The Telegraph said: "What Lee Mead has in spades is charm, crucial in a role that could easily seem unattractively priggish."
Advertisement"He also looks good in a loincloth and has a powerful and expressive voice. By the end, however, his vocals were beginning to sound a touch frayed and he and the management need to take care he doesn't overstrain his greatest asset like Connie Fisher in 'The Sound of Music'."
The Daily Mail said: "Lee himself is not a natural comedian. He does not move particularly well. But he hurls himself into the honking cacophony and is almost as gorgeous to behold as Joseph's multi-coloured coat."
The Independent said: "Lacking in character and with a tendency to give out towards the end of a line, his voice is not the world's greatest, or even the greatest in the show."
"But Mead more than fulfils the requirements, with a mop of dark curls, a wholesome, sweet manner, and a way of filling a pleated loincloth that will appeal to all sexes."
© RTÉ 2007
www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
Famous faces in crowd for Lee's debut
Former Josephs, TV show judges and contestants were among the audience as Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead made his West End debut.
The Tv talent show winner's supporters included judges John Barrowman and Denise van Outen as well as the musical's creator Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jason Donovan and Stephen Gately - who have both famously worn the amazing technicolour dreamcoat as Joseph in the past were also in the audience.
Afterwards, they were full of praise for his, and the rest of the cast's, performance.
Lord Lloyd Webber said: "It was fantastic.
"He couldn't have done any better."
John Barrowman dismissed a technical problem which temporarily halted the show as part of live performances, saying: "These things happen in theatre. Lee was absolutely fantastic. The public made the right choice."
Fellow judge Denise said: "I loved it. It was fantastic. Lee looked so good."
Two of the beaten finalists in the BBC show also went along to support Lee and were similarly full of praise.
Lewis Bradley said: "Lee was brilliant."
And Keith Jack, who narrowly lost out in the final, said: "It was amazing, absolutely amazing."
He added that he didn't realise there had been a technical problem until the curtain came down, but praised all the cast for their professionalism in carrying on afterwards.
Reader comments
I SAW THE SHOW ON 6TH JULY.THE PREVIEW.WE CAME DOWN TO LONDON FOR THE WEEK-END.THE SHOW WAS FANTASTIC.LEE DELIEVERED EVERYTHING HE COULD POSSIBLE & MORE.THE WHOLE SHOW WAS A MAGICAL PROFORMANCE BY ALL THE CAST.CAN,T WAIT TO SEE AGAIN
Lucinda Moir, Leeds West Yorks
© Nottingham Post Group Ltd
www.thestage.co.uk
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
There is a different atmosphere about an opening night when the lead performer has been cast via television. From the cheers that greeted Lee Mead’s first appearance onstage, one could sense the audience willing him to succeed.
The public’s response to the recent BBC series Any Dream Will Do has already resulted in a staggering amount of advance ticket sales, not to mention all the free publicity. Lucky then for the producers that the relatively experienced Mead comes up with the goods and appears relaxed and assured doing so.
While Mead’s acting could benefit from an injection of warmth to temper the arrogance on display, he is in excellent form vocally. His rendition of Close Every Door, encapsulating both tenderness and defiance, is a highlight.
The production itself is dedicated to the late Steven Pimlott who directed the London Palladium staging in 1991. Indeed the show is very much based on Pimlott’s interpretation, revived by associate director Nichola Treherne.
Together with choreographer Anthony Van Laast and designer Mark Thompson, who worked with Pimlott on that hit nineties production, this team creates an entertaining evening full of colour and high energy dance routines.
These ingredients are never more evident than when Egypt meets Las Vegas in Act II, allowing Dean Collinson an opportunity to give his all as a hip-swaying, Presley-inspired Pharaoh. In contrast, Preeya Kalidas disappoints as the Narrator, lacking charisma and despite a good pop voice occasionally straining vocally.
While I gradually tired of the show’s mismatch of scenes and musical spoofs, there is no doubt Rice and Lloyd Webber’s score remains as infectious as ever, especially when performed by a hugely talented ensemble and a charming children’s chorus picked from the Carmel Thomas Youth Singers.
Not long in to opening night and a technical difficulty with the revolve meant an awkward pause in the proceedings. Embarrassing for the producers, but a small hitch in what is likely to be a hit, whatever the critics say.
copyright © 2007 The Stage Newspaper Limited
www.variety.com
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(Adelphi Theater, London; 1,200 seats; £49.50 $102 top)
Biblical pain and suffering? Get outta here. There used to be a stage makeup color called "light Egyptian," and that's exactly what's on offer here. There's darkness in the one (much reprised) song "Close Every Door," but the rest of this revival of Steven Pimlott's 1991 giant hit production (filmed with Donny Osmond and Maria Friedman) is all about brightness. Previously unknown leading man Lee Mead, cast by TV viewers, may have built the show a $20 million advance, but its one singular sensation is actually Mark Thompson's production design, which is brilliant in all senses of the word.
Clearly, the title's a bit of a clue when it comes to the prevailing tone likely to be dreamed up by anyone designing "Joseph." But Thompson takes it further than anyone could have, er, dreamed. Indeed, the only reason Thompson didn't bag the design Oliviers back in 1991 was that he won both set and costume awards for other shows.
Thompson and Pimlott winningly reconceived "Joseph" as a rainbow-colored riot. In a cobalt-blue stage box inside a giant, gilt picture frame, the cast parade and prance in a literally dazzling array of hundreds of supremely witty costumes. Question: Are the backstage dressers the hardest working members of the entire company?
The colorful palette is supplemented by endless visual set gags. It isn't just Joseph's coat that is multihued but the sheep as well. The enormous mummy at the back of Pharaoh's palace dispenses corn by doubling as a slot machine. About the only obvious update for the production is a golden model of the London Eye that zips incongruously by on the twin revolve.
As expected from the most professionally qualified of the contestants of BBC's star search "Any Dream Will Do," Mead makes a highly respectable Joseph. He has more charm than charisma, but when it comes to the necessary energy, empathy and, above all, strong voice, Meads delivers. And, to the evident delight of screaming fans, he looks good in a loincloth.
While serious acting was always off the agenda here -- Rice and Webber's show has more of a storyline than a script -- there is a sense of superficiality about the event that stems from its status as a revival. Pimlott passed away earlier this year, and although the cast has been well drilled (Nichola Treherne serves as associate director), the detail and wit in the design are not matched by the performances.
One of the brothers doubles as the baker and pulls identical facial and physical expressions in both roles. Pharoah Dean Collinson's Elvis impersonation is pretty broad, but a miscast Preeya Kalidas as the Narrator suffers most.
Teetering around in the highest of heels, she smiles but rarely looks convinced, as if she has been left to her own devices. Kalidas has a lustrous, dark-toned mid-range, but attempting the high notes she screeches -- a problem exacerbated by the sometimes aggressive sound design.
There are times when the upbeat mood is so relentless, you wonder if the creative team actually noticed that this production, conceived for the London Palladium with over 1,000 more seats, is now in the smaller Adelphi Theater.
And yet for all its lack of subtlety, there's a joyousness about it. Even the rampantly shameless, energetically performed disco-megamix finale has an undiluted sense of fun that only a real curmudgeon could dislike.
What's the overall commercial temperature of the show? That of a forgone conclusion. Mead is contracted for at least a year. For as long as he chooses to continue in it, "Joseph" is, commercially speaking, the safest of bets. And when he decides to hang up his coat, there are all the runners-up to cast.
© 2007 Reed Business Information , a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
www.thesun.co.uk
Winner Lee's first night
By BILL HAGERTY
Sun Theatre Critic
July 18, 2007
A DREAMCOAT came true for new Joseph Lee Mead last night.
It wasn’t the leap to stardom made by Connie Fisher, who went from the sound of telesales phones to The Sound of Music.
Lee had already appeared in Joseph as the Pharaoh before he won TV’s Any Dream Will Do.
But he fitted comfortably into the Technicolor clobber previously worn by Phillip Schofield and Jason Donovan.
He sang beautifully and — especially bare-chested — looked a million dollars, which is what he’ll earn in no time flat.
Stars guests including Connie, singer Katherine Jenkins, Denise Van Outen and many of Lee’s TV rivals were there.
If they wished he would really break a leg, they didn’t show it.
His first entrance, hair dressed within an inch of its life and all gleaming teeth, was met with rapture.
He sang Any Dream Will Do to three dozen children on stage, who were vocal throughout the night.
The show has grown from half an hour when it was written in 1968 to a two-hour extravaganza — helped by the longest set of encores in history.
This 1992 version ain’t broke and any temptation to fix it has wisely been resisted.
The show is fun and funny — catch the singing camel and a guest appearance by the London Eye — and has its heart in the right place.
Narrator Preeya Kalidas is powerful and Dean Collinson’s Elvis-style Pharaoh rock ‘n’ rolls splendidly. Joseph’s siblings deliver hilarious French send-up Those Canaan Days in sensational style.
At the finale, as he rises above the orchestra pit all in white, Lee Mead’s Joseph is every inch a winner — and earned a standing ovation.
When it comes to stardom, it was a dream debut.
© 2006 News Group Newspapers Ltd. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks
