View from the Green Room: A technicolour kaleidoscope of fun in Waterford
Cian Kennedy as Joseph in De La Salle College's production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat', which took place at the college hall. Photo: Joe Evans
De La Salle College’s gym is packed for tonight’s production of the ever popular ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and the audience reaction throughout the two-hour production would awaken a deaf man in a coma in Ballybricken.
I’m in early and I’m delighted to see the age-old tradition of sweeping the stage, as the last production move before curtain, is still alive and well. A clever and largely token set with a couple of oasis palms, a brace of side-flat pyramids, chariot wheel-ons, wells, chair sedans, along with a rear cyc warmed by pinks and ambers and a token campfire facilitates a Jack Cunningham show where dance and movement is everything.
When Joseph (Cian Kennedy) closes his eyes and draws back the curtains on the Joseph legend, the fun never stops until the final blackout.
‘Joseph’s’ enduring appeal is as strong as ever. The story is based on the ‘coat of many colours’ story of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical and debuted in 1973 in the West End.
The show has only a few lines of spoken dialogue; it is almost entirely sung-through and is probably the most popular musical with schools. Three excellent narrators (Bronagh Steenson, Kitty Dwyer and Layla Sadhbh Kidi) in inky-black night club trouser suits carry the bizarre storyline. Starving brothers end up in a smokey-bluesy café with a wonderful chanteuse, Joseph’s funeral becomes a wonderful yee-haa hoedown featuring Apache dancer Alex Reinl, while rock-star Pharaoh’s (Billy Dwyer) palace – with, as pompous as a posh penguin, Potiphar (Thomas Harpur) and his glam-gal misses Romey Carroll — becomes an over-the-top Elvis Las Vegas show complete with a marvellous troupe of glamorous dancers. But…just somehow…it all just seems to hang together.
And the band of brothers (Niall Broderick, Timothy McCoy, Ryan Burke, Cillian O’Keefe, Bobby Crowley, Henry Lyons, Luke Brown, Tom Power, Cillian Corrigan, Ferdia Cooke and Dara O’Shea) are just that. A band of brigand scoundrels in shades and tea-towels who sell their brother into slavery because they’re jealous. But the fun they bring to the show is infectious. Riotous dancing, crazy comic capers and sometimes dead-pan humour has the audience laughing all night. Everybody’s favourite brothers – provided they’re not yours!
I’ve seen Joseph Cian Kennedy before as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda and this is real talent. Likeable, warm and engaging, he is everything you could want in a Joseph. This performance is superb. He holds the stage well, moves easily between the various singing styles and has a fine baritone. Kennedy is a real talent and I look forward to seeing him in many roles in the future.
Hairs and wigs from Jane Kennedy assisted by Elaine Whyte and Louise Power and costumes from Jack Cunningham and Avril Musgrave, assisted by Patrice Power and Lauren Kearns, are beyond glamorous. Golden Egyptian headpieces, glam-rock Egyptian-themed dresses, Stetsons and warrior-helmets and elaborate eye make-up add an over-the-top feel to the show.
Chair sedan for Pharaoh and chariot for Joseph make their way up through the body of the hall for marvellous entries and EveryEvent’s lighting plot is colourful and moody-broody when needed.
Director Jack Cunningham and Choreographer Jennifer White have their feet squarely on the fun pedal. The show zips along with multiple chorus lines entering and exiting at breakneck speed. Musical Director Conor Lyons has his chorua well-drilled with clean entries and exits and a punchy score that never stops.
This is DLS College’s 47th show in Waterford. A massive achievement when you consider all that happened in that last half-century. My late friend Brendan Drohan, who taught Physics and produced or stage-managed the college musical for many years, once remarked that 'just keeping the show going was the hardest thing of all’. He never said a truer word.
DLS’s Joseph sent us out on a gloomy night with a smile on our faces and a song on our lips. You can’t ask for more than that.
