Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The Alhambra

IT started life as a 15-minute 'pop cantata' for a school, and became one of our best-loved musicals.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice family favourite, inspired by the Biblical story of Joseph, his 11 brothers and that coat of many colours, is back in Bradford - and had a delighted audience on its feet last night.

Racing along at a cracking pace, it's a high energy show culminating in a Joseph Megamix club anthem-style medley, but it retains the simple charm of a show school cast could still perform.

The simple staging, with the action moving up, down and around two flights of stairs, still works, and effective lighting transformed backdrops from Jacob's cornfields to a fancy Egyptian household. The camel masks and cuddly sheep added a nice comic touch.

With crooning cowboys, swooning cheerleaders, square-shouldered American football hunks and a Vegas Elvis-style Pharaoh, the lively production embraces an array of musical genres, from country (One More Angel in Heaven) to gospel (Go, Go, Go Joseph), calypso (Benjamin Calypso) to tortured French torch song (Those Canaan Days).

Joe McElderry is a natural as Joseph, the boy banished by his brothers, only to return in triumph. The cute teenager who won X Factor all those years ago has come a long way, and these days Joe is an accomplished singer with an impressive classical cross-over repertoire. His vocal range shone brightly in showstoppers Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do and, with enough charisma to power the entire Alhambra, he proved himself a decent actor too.

Former Britain's Got Talent runner-up Lucy Kay was a terrific Narrator; with the voice of an angel, she carried the action along in style, and Ben James-Ellis, a semi-finalist from BBC1's Any Dream Will Do, was a hoot as Pharaoh, rocking 'n' rolling to the delight of squealing, pom-pom shaking cheerleaders.

Henry Metcalfe gave, as ever, a lovely, quietly dignified performance as Jacob and an imposing one as Potiphar, and Joseph's lively brothers stole the audiences' hearts. "I like the curly-haired one," whispered the girl next to me to her friend.

A special mention too to the impressive Joseph choir, comprised of the Young Showstoppers from Heckmondwike.

Runs until Saturday.

MORE STAGE HEADLINES