The Joseph Tonic Rolls Into Town

It's been around since God was a lad, but Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat is still better than a barber's tonic for making the hairs stand up on the back of your neck!

It is a feel-good musical that was penned in the 60's, expanded in the 70's and popularised over the years since, becoming as much an annual treat for many people as the Alhambra's 'Billy Pearce' panto.

And people continue to go back for more and more because the Webber Rice show is uplifting in every sense of the word. It is only in the wacky world of musicals that seven years of famine and attempted fratricide can be brushed off in a series of clap along songs....but Joseph achieves it nicely!

And as well as a medley of standards, including Close Every Door, Go Go Joseph and Any Dream Will Do, there's also something for teenage girls and those women of a more senior disposition still eager to mother their next child; the ubiquitous Joe McElderry, winner of X Factor, Popstar to Operastar and Channel 4's skiing programme The Jump!

And what a nice lad he still seems to be, despite his considerable fame and massive album sales, waving to his screaming fans at the end and calling out in his North-East accent: "Yu'v all bin grate!" But he IS a wonderful Joseph, full of life and enough enthusiasm to power a cast across the UK, the very job in hand.

McElderry is the boy-next-door and, apart from the fact that he has a great voice and is a good-looking lad, he is genuinely talented and likeable which makes life on the road a helluva lot more fun than with some celebs who, I know for certain, are a right royal pain in the backside!

This is a long-standing, fun show which has stood the test of time and become a favourite with younger audiences. Based on the Old Testament it is universally appealing because it has found a way of popularising the, at times, turgid Old Testament, with the likes of a 'Pharaoh' Elvis and a host of other wacky elements, all packed into Christianity's prime source of doctrine and given a dash of director, Bill Kenwright, magic.

If you've never been (surely there's no one left?) then treat yourself to a night at the theatre. Leave your cynicism and religious righteousness at home, don't be too judgemental (......let he who is without sin cast the first stone) and let your hair down. Even a bald vicar can't help but enjoy this one!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Bradford Alhambra
Until Saturday 8th April 2017