‘A STORY OF FAMILY SEPARATION THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT THE PERIOD'
Wha ever the Webber
As its latest incarnation arrives in Edinburgh, Steve Cramer explores the ongoing success of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
uch as Micros grumhling about Andrcu l.lo_\d \Vchhcr's musicals across thc thcatrc \sorld. it‘s hard to dcn_\' thcir hankahilit}. .-\s thc 'xcars pass. thcrc might also hc a ccrtain nostalgia l'or such monolithic star \chiclcs as .lmt'p/r and [lit' .'\Illtl;‘lllg’ 'Ii'i‘liiiit'u/ur lN‘t’tt/itt‘uul. But pcrhaps nostalgia is thc \trong \xord. gi\cn that. liar l'rom somcthing long sincc past. .lmt'p/i sccms to rctttrn c\cr_\ l'c\\ months. _\car ttpon )car.
Still. at lcast .lf’H’l’ll docsn't truitc lall into thc calcgot') ol‘ thc ‘.\lc.\lusical'. \thcrc rolcs arc dcsigncd so thc actor p|a_\ing thcm has no scopc tor intcrprctation. and can thcrcl‘orc hc rcplaccd h} anothcr actor at an} point. l’crl'ormcrs such as .lason |)ono\an and Philip Scholicld \scrc ccrtainl) ahlc to stamp a particttlar charactcr on thcir .loscphs tc\cn il‘ thc lattcr \\;ts sotttclllltcs L‘l‘lllclscd l-Ul' doing s0). s0. unlilsc. sa_\. .llumu .llm. thcrc isn‘t that scnsc ol~ \\atching thc tcll} at thc thcatrc. .lfMt’P/l. h_\ contrast has an undcniahl} thcatrical qualit} to it.
l'ittl' ttll l[\ littsls in lliC Bihlc. RlL‘L‘ LlllLl l.ltt}tl \Vchhcr's musical has littlc to itnpart to ('hristians. and not much tnorc to thc gcncrall} spirituall) inclincd. th. its stor_\ ol thc scparation ol~ lttlllll} spcaks \olumcs ahout thc pcriod in \thich it \\ as crcatcd tit \xas lirst pcrl‘ormcd in 1908 as a school pla) and had its prolcssional dchut hcrc in lidinhurgh in l072l. 'l‘hc ccntral motil ol' thc ’l‘cchnicolor Drcamcoat. as “ch as thc piccc‘s insistcncc upon drcaming and suhicctn it_\. though. is hard to scparatc l‘rom thc pcriod it \\as crcatcd.
'l'hc .scnsc ol‘ hipp). and possihl} drugg}. cclchration in thc \xork. as well as thc amictics attcndant on hrokcn families comes from an angst about new
l‘orms ol‘ pcrsonal l'rccdom. scxual and political. \thich characlcriscd thc cra. 'l‘hat thc prcdictions ol' hrcakdoun in thc nuclcar lamin hasn't happcncd to thc dcgrcc prcdictcd ttl thc tintc is ncithcr llL‘l'c ltttl‘ thcrc. hccausc this ansict} ahout lamil} is still \cr_\ much part ol' ottr culturc. so ./U\(’/)/I cart still plat) to its as a rcassurancc that hrothcrs and lathcrs cart still hc rcunitcd.
'l‘hat l.lo_\ d \Vchltcr is a latttil} (or in his casc thrcc l'amil}l \alucs 'l'or} u ho thrcatcncd to lca\c thc cotmtr} ili'l‘on) Blair \scrc clcctcd in l‘)‘)7 is mcrcl} an intcrcsting sidc issuc. lior as long as \\ c \torr_V ahout liamil} hrcakdoxsn. .lUH’fl/l \x'ill hc \tith tts. .\'or should it hc hcld against thc musical that it is commcrciall) succcssl'ul. \Vcrc this our old} ohjcction. thcn Shakcspcarc tcasil} thc most commcrciall} succcssl'ul dramatist of his gcncrationl \Httlltl hc hanishcd l‘rom our stagcs along \\llll \Vildc and ctcn l’intcr. hoth ol \shom turncd a prctt} pcnn} in thcir da_\. 'l‘hcrc arc good and had pla_\s. and a good onc attcndcd h} millions is as good as thc good pla} which can‘t Lll';t\\ an attdicncc. QlllIL‘ \\ hcthcr. this is a good pla}. though. gixcn its slightl) untid} structttrc. might hc a morc I'L‘allsllc ohicclion.
\Vhatcwr thc Lill\\\Cl‘ to this qucstion. ./(I\(’/)/l is hacls. this timc \\ ith a cast ol lornicr glut /)I’(’(U)I Hill No linalists. 'l‘hc lcad. (‘raig (’halmcrs. an lidinhurgh lad born a dccadc al'tcr thc piccc‘s prolicssional dchut
just doun thc road. looks likc making )ct anothcr
nc\\ .loscph lor thc crouds to flock to. But not an}
.lth‘p/l will do. so thc lad had hcttcr he on his mcttlc.
Playhouse, Edinburgh, until Sat 13 Jan.
Theatre
Hit
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King '3 Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 12 Jan
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* Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's long running hit musical returns again. this time with several of the finalists for Any Dream Will Do in its cast. The story of Joseph's betrayal, forgiveness. and of course, his snazzy threads should play strongly again at Edinburgh’s Playhouse. Playhouse, Edinburgh, until Sun 13 Jan
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' 223': THE LIST 89