A glorious, genre-hopping spectacle, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat returns to Birmingham Hippodrome and delivers colour and charm in equal measure.
Other than knowing a couple of songs, I’d never seen Joseph before. But a friend assured me: “You’ll come out with a big smile on your face.” They forgot to mention the glittering Elvis Pharaoh, the cowboy hoedown, a varsity number, a disco mix and a children’s choir that holds the whole dazzling thing together.
This much-loved musical has returned to Birmingham Hippodrome in a revival so gloriously entertaining, it feels less like a traditional musical and more like a technicolour fever dream that ransacked the dressing-up box. This is a show that doesn’t just break the fourth wall – it bursts through it dressed head to toe in glitter.
Musically, it’s a genre-hopping joyride. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s songbook careers from hoedown to French ballad, reggae to rockabilly, with a fun-fuelled finale thrown in for good measure. One minute you’re in Vegas – with panto stalwart Matt Slack delighting the audience in full-on Elvis regalia; the next, you’re in a moody Parisian café watching Joseph’s brothers lament in faux-French accents. It’s utterly ridiculous, in the best possible way.
And just when you think it’s all jokes and jazz hands, in comes Close Every Door. Adam Filipe’s performance here is a masterclass in stillness and sincerity – his voice echoing through the silence, cloaked in shadows and stripped of spectacle. It’s a goosebump moment that somehow manages to ground the entire production in something real. And then, true to form, we’re hurled straight back into a glitterball of joy.
Filipe is a vocally flawless as the magnetic Joseph, but the backbone of the show lies with the Narrator. Played with unwavering energy and crystal-clear storytelling by Christina Bianco, she steers us through the sparkle with stamina and just the right amount of sass.
Visually, it’s a maximalist’s dream. Morgan Large’s set and costume design is a riot of colour, kitsch and creativity from the golden sphinxes of Pharaoh’s lair to the swirling rainbow splendour of that coat, which arguably deserves its own billing.
In an increasingly grey world, this show is a kaleidoscopic blast of technicolour happiness. It knows exactly how weird and wonderful it is, and leans all the way in. And yes, my friend was absolutely right, I came out with a big smile on my face.
