Post by claire on Jul 29, 2008 11:15:50 GMT
Hello everyone!
As promised, here is a little review from Saturday 26th July (matinee). I went with my Mum for my birthday celebration.
We have both seen the show several times before, both with Lee and over the years as the touring production has come up to Liverpool we have usually gone to see it nearly every time. We also saw Philip Schofield in the role many years ago, and we have always been big fans of Joseph the musical, and have never come away disappointed.
This particular West End production just blew us away, and the whole cast is so talented that no other can compare, in my view. No matter how many times I go to London to see the show, I always come away feeling a huge admiration for the standard of their performances.
As it turned out, on Saturday, there were a number of understudies in place for various reasons. However, as everyone in the cast is excellent, this didn't detract at all from our enjoyment of the show. Had we not been familiar with the usual cast, we certainly would not have been able to tell.
A few random points:
* Michael's head dress flew off during the Hoedown and he had to run offstage for a moment to put it back on. We had a good laugh at that point!
*The apache dancers were both alternates (I'm sorry, I don't know exactly who they were) but they completely nailed it and their balance in the Megamix lasted longer than I've ever seen it before. Brilliant job.
*The interaction between Stephen Tate and Lee Mead as father and son is so believable - I get the feeling that they have a very strong bond offstage.
*I love Jenna's way of playing the narrator. When I first saw Jenna and Lee together, some months ago, I wasn't sure if they were going to 'gel' in quite the same way as Lee had done with Preeya. I did notice how well Jenna gelled with Lewis, when I saw them at Easter, and I wondered whether that might be because Jenna's first couple of weeks in the role were played during Lee's holiday in January, so she had settled in initially with Lewis. There was a real spark between them. I also remember how good Jenna and Lewis looked together, as Jenna is blonde and taller than Preeya. However, since then, I have seen Jenna and Lee together several times, and their rapport has grown stronger every time. Jenna was actually in tears during the reprise of ADWD on Saturday. She really is a true star and it can't have been easy to join an established cast 6 months into the run, but she has managed that superbly.
*Michael was playing the Pharoah and he really impressed us too. My Mum adores Dean so I was nervous that she might miss him, but Michael had his own interpretation of the role and he was superb. Physically, he towers over Lee and is much more substantial, so he can really play up to the 'powerful Pharoah v lowly little slave' image. Considering that Michael has only played the role a few times in this production, he really did do an impressive job, and he got an excellent reaction from the audience too.
I have hardly mentioned Lee yet because I think I have run out of adjectives. There isn't a word in the dictionary to describe the admiration I feel when I see him onstage as Joseph. I'm no musical theatre expert, but I have seen lots of different Josephs over the years, and none has disappointed me. However, there's something that Lee has that you just can't teach.
I can't really explain it, but I think it's a combination of exactly the right look (dark curls are so Biblical), the right build (he's ideal to play the young Joseph because he's not too big, and fits in well as the slave against the far beefier Pharoah), as well as something quite enchanting about his performance.
He was so incredibly bouncy on Saturday that at one point I was scared that he might literally bounce straight off the stage and do himself an injury. He was so cheeky, cute and exuberant too - which must be very hard work when you consider that he still had another show to do that day, and was at the end of a long run leading up to his holiday week.
There's a stillness about him too which means that it's hard to tear your eyes away whenever he's onstage. His voice has a slightly husky edge which makes it very emotional, and I could listen to him all day without ever tiring of how he sounds.
As I have already said, I'm no expert, just one of the masses who voted for Lee on TV and bought a ticket to see him perform. Since then, I have kept coming back for more. It's a long way to travel, but it's worth it. I have only admiration for this talented cast, and as for Lee...well, in my view, he is a very special performer whose star will shine brightly for many years to come.
Love Claire xxx
As promised, here is a little review from Saturday 26th July (matinee). I went with my Mum for my birthday celebration.
We have both seen the show several times before, both with Lee and over the years as the touring production has come up to Liverpool we have usually gone to see it nearly every time. We also saw Philip Schofield in the role many years ago, and we have always been big fans of Joseph the musical, and have never come away disappointed.
This particular West End production just blew us away, and the whole cast is so talented that no other can compare, in my view. No matter how many times I go to London to see the show, I always come away feeling a huge admiration for the standard of their performances.
As it turned out, on Saturday, there were a number of understudies in place for various reasons. However, as everyone in the cast is excellent, this didn't detract at all from our enjoyment of the show. Had we not been familiar with the usual cast, we certainly would not have been able to tell.
A few random points:
* Michael's head dress flew off during the Hoedown and he had to run offstage for a moment to put it back on. We had a good laugh at that point!
*The apache dancers were both alternates (I'm sorry, I don't know exactly who they were) but they completely nailed it and their balance in the Megamix lasted longer than I've ever seen it before. Brilliant job.
*The interaction between Stephen Tate and Lee Mead as father and son is so believable - I get the feeling that they have a very strong bond offstage.
*I love Jenna's way of playing the narrator. When I first saw Jenna and Lee together, some months ago, I wasn't sure if they were going to 'gel' in quite the same way as Lee had done with Preeya. I did notice how well Jenna gelled with Lewis, when I saw them at Easter, and I wondered whether that might be because Jenna's first couple of weeks in the role were played during Lee's holiday in January, so she had settled in initially with Lewis. There was a real spark between them. I also remember how good Jenna and Lewis looked together, as Jenna is blonde and taller than Preeya. However, since then, I have seen Jenna and Lee together several times, and their rapport has grown stronger every time. Jenna was actually in tears during the reprise of ADWD on Saturday. She really is a true star and it can't have been easy to join an established cast 6 months into the run, but she has managed that superbly.
*Michael was playing the Pharoah and he really impressed us too. My Mum adores Dean so I was nervous that she might miss him, but Michael had his own interpretation of the role and he was superb. Physically, he towers over Lee and is much more substantial, so he can really play up to the 'powerful Pharoah v lowly little slave' image. Considering that Michael has only played the role a few times in this production, he really did do an impressive job, and he got an excellent reaction from the audience too.
I have hardly mentioned Lee yet because I think I have run out of adjectives. There isn't a word in the dictionary to describe the admiration I feel when I see him onstage as Joseph. I'm no musical theatre expert, but I have seen lots of different Josephs over the years, and none has disappointed me. However, there's something that Lee has that you just can't teach.
I can't really explain it, but I think it's a combination of exactly the right look (dark curls are so Biblical), the right build (he's ideal to play the young Joseph because he's not too big, and fits in well as the slave against the far beefier Pharoah), as well as something quite enchanting about his performance.
He was so incredibly bouncy on Saturday that at one point I was scared that he might literally bounce straight off the stage and do himself an injury. He was so cheeky, cute and exuberant too - which must be very hard work when you consider that he still had another show to do that day, and was at the end of a long run leading up to his holiday week.
There's a stillness about him too which means that it's hard to tear your eyes away whenever he's onstage. His voice has a slightly husky edge which makes it very emotional, and I could listen to him all day without ever tiring of how he sounds.
As I have already said, I'm no expert, just one of the masses who voted for Lee on TV and bought a ticket to see him perform. Since then, I have kept coming back for more. It's a long way to travel, but it's worth it. I have only admiration for this talented cast, and as for Lee...well, in my view, he is a very special performer whose star will shine brightly for many years to come.
Love Claire xxx