Tag Archives: Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Not many more old theatre memories to go now… May to July 2009

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  1. Oliver! – Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, 2nd May 2009

It was TV’s search for a new Nancy, if you’ll pardon the expression, that first brought Jodie Prenger into the public’s eye, heart and affections, and our nieces insisted that we took them to see the show – and how could we resist? It was a superb production, not only with the divine Ms Prenger who was happy to say hello at the Stage Door, but also with Rowan Atkinson as Fagin, and Burn Gorman as a very threatening and underplayed Bill Sikes. We all loved it.

  1. Little Shop of Horrors – Milton Keynes Theatre, 13th May 2009

This was the successful Menier Chocolate Factory production that we hadn’t seen first time around but which undertook a big UK tour. Clare Buckfield was brilliant as Audrey, with Sylvester McCoy as Mushnik, Damian Humbley as Seymour and Alex Ferns as the dentist and everyone else. Very enjoyable.

  1. Alphabetical Order – Oxford Playhouse, 22nd May 2009

Michael Frayn’s early comedy of office politics, set in the cuttings library of a provincial newspaper, was given a good production by Christopher Luscombe, and starred Imogen Stubbs, Gawn Grainger and Ian Talbot. Can’t remember too much about it, but I know it was pretty good.

  1. Ayckbourn at 70, A Celebration – Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 24th May 2009

To celebrate Alan Ayckbourn’s 70th birthday, the Royal and Derngate had a big Ayckbourn summer season, which involved either performing or reading all of his plays. We (somehow) got an invitation to the gala night, which included an interview with the great man on stage by Artistic Director Laurie Sansom, who had worked with him at Scarborough in his younger days. I must say, it was distinctly an honour to be there! And the subsequent productions of the plays that we saw there were all excellent.

  1. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 1st June 2009

Like Oliver! (four shows earlier) this was another show that followed on from a TV search show, but this touring production starred Craig Chalmers, who was one of the finalists in the search, as opposed to the Proper Winner (who I think was Lee Mead). Enjoyable, of course; it’s tough to do a production of Joseph and for it not to work.

  1. Just Between Ourselves – Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 12th June 2009

The first of the big three productions from the Alan Ayckbourn celebration season, I remember seeing Just Between Ourselves in London in 1977 and absolutely loving its bitter sweet cruel humour. Mark Rosenblatt’s excellent production showed how well the play has stood the test of time, with a brilliant performance by Kim Wall as the appallingly insensitive Dennis and Dorothy Atkinson as his deeply troubled wife Vera. A wonderful production.

  1. La Cage aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre, London, 13th June 2009

Breaking my usual rule of not discussing shows I’ve seen before, but this production was so very different from the original Palladium presentation. This was another successful Menier production, transferred to the West End, and starring Philip Quast as Georges (although we saw his understudy, Robert Maskell), and Roger Allam as Albin – as far from Endeavour’s Inspector Thursday as it is possible to be. Extremely good.

  1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Milton Keynes Theatre, 17th June 2009

I’d never seen the film but it was one of the staples of Mrs Chrisparkle’s childhood – and I remember it as being very refreshing and enjoyable, and with brilliant choreography from Chris Hocking. The cast was led by Steven Houghton and Susan McFadden.

  1. Private Fears in Public Places – Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 1st July 2009

The second of the big Ayckbourn productions, Laurie Samson’s brilliantly inventive production had the audience sharing the Royal Theatre stage with the actors, seated on couches, or at a bar table, and so on. It made for an extraordinarily intimate theatrical event, and I found the whole thing completely thrilling. Sadly, from where we were sitting, we couldn’t see what monstrous videos Lucy Briers’ Charlotte was watching.

 

  1. The Winslow Boy – Milton Keynes Theatre, 8th July 2009

The Theatre Royal Bath’s touring production of Terence Rattigan’s timeless play starred Timothy West as Arthur Winslow in a role he was born to play. A very fine, moving production.

Some theatre memories, you say? Why not! December 1986 to November 1987

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With the return of live theatre looking further and further away let’s immerse ourselves in these memories. A couple of concerts here too, but, as I have the programmes, I might as well include them!

  1. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Royalty Theatre, London, 23rd December 1986

We’re used to seeing Joseph come round every couple of years or so nowadays, but I think back in ’86 a London production was quite a rarity. The Tomorrow People’s Mike Holoway starred as Joseph in this brash and bright little production, which we remember enjoying but in comparison with all the big shows we’d seen throughout the year, it was perhaps slightly underwhelming. I’d like to be able to say more about this production, but I’d be making it up. The Royalty, if you’re wondering, is now the Peacock.

  1. Carmen – English National Opera at the London Coliseum, London, 3rd January 1987

Miss Duncansby’s first exposure to the world of opera. You can’t go wrong with Carmen – wasn’t it Stephen Sondheim who described it as the best ever musical? This was a heavily criticised production that the purists loathed, as it brought the famous cigarette girl kicking and screaming into the twentieth century, with a translation by Anthony Burgess. Carmen was sung by Sally Burgess, Don José was John Treleaven, Micaela was Rosamund Illing and Escamillo David Arnold. We really enjoyed it, and were patronised by the pompous asses around us for doing so.

  1. The Maintenance Man – Comedy Theatre, London, 14th February 1987

This was the most self-indulgent Valentine’s Day celebration ever, with Miss D and I going to the Equatorial Restaurant for lunch (a Singaporean place that was a favourite, sadly long gone) and the Paradiso e Inferno on the Strand for dinner (now replaced by a similar Italian restaurant) and fitting in The Maintenance Man (so to speak) for its first house in between. A comedy by Richard Harris, best known for his TV writing, it starred John Alderton, Gwen Taylor and Susan Penhaligon.

Divorced Bob can’t stay away from his ex-wife’s house, much to the annoyance of his new girlfriend. I remember it being very bittersweet (much more bitter than sweet) and without that many laughs. This performance was right at the end of the run. No wonder we remember the meals more that day.

  1. Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket in The Arkley Barnet Show – Comedy Theatre, London, 24th March 1987

Filling the gap left by The Maintenance Man, the “Dear Ladies” launched themselves on the Comedy for a short season with their Arkley Barnet Show, an excuse for some wonderful Hinge and Bracket shenanigans, which if you loved, you loved, and if you hated, you hated. I loved them. Their act managed to mix the historical and the modern in a really clever way. I remember at the time that fear of AIDS was everywhere, and many much-loved performers were sadly losing their lives to it. This prompted Dr Evadne to modernise the old song A little of what you fancy does you good into A little of what you fancy kills you off. Sharp intakes of breath all round, as you can imagine – but devilishly brilliant.

  1. When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout – Whitehall Theatre, London, 2nd April 1987

We saw this with our friends Mike, Lin and Barbara, and I remember we were very late leaving the restaurant beforehand so we had to run to make the curtain up, and thus sat there panting and sweaty for the first half hour, which is never a great start to a show. The play had won Sharman Macdonald the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, and I remember it going down with the audience very well, but not much else.

It’s very much a young woman’s play, involving understanding relationships, disappointing parents and struggling to discover yourself. Maybe it didn’t speak much to me? Not sure. Mrs C can’t remember anything about it either. Fabulous cast though; Sheila Reid, Julie Walters, Geraldine James, John Gordon Sinclair.

  1. The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Savoy Theatre, London, 18th May 1987

Tipping a wink to a touring production of A Chorus Line that we saw in April for my birthday, at the Apollo Theatre Oxford, and starring Caroline O’Connor as Cassie (and with a young Ruthie Henshall as Maggie), our next London show was The Mystery of Edwin Drood, to which we also brought the Dowager Mrs C, and she really enjoyed it. A moderate success in New York but a flop over here, Rupert Holmes’ inventive and interactive musical, took Dickens’ unfinished novel and challenged the audience to solve the murder. Notable for the star billing given to comedy legend Ernie Wise as the Chairman, the production also boasted such talents as Lulu as Princess Puffer, Julia Hills as a cross-dressing Edwin Drood, David Burt as John Jasper and Martin Wimbush as my namesake, the Reverend Crisparkle. This should have been a hit, and I’m still not quite sure why it wasn’t, but it only lasted ten weeks.

  1. Kiss Me Kate – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Old Vic, London, June 1987

Another of the Dowager Mrs C’s favourite shows, we took her to see this RSC production, which I think was played heavily for laughs with a relatively straightforward production by Adrian Noble. By far the best thing about it was Nichola McAuliffe’s fantastically tempestuous Lilli, almost matched by Paul Jones’ smarmy Fred. Interesting to note that Tim Flavin and Cyril Nri appear in the cast, in relatively minor roles. Thoroughly enjoyable, but there again it would have to be a bad production of Kiss Me Kate that wasn’t thoroughly enjoyable.

  1. Three Men on a Horse – National Theatre Company at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, 3rd October 1987

This highly successful production, directed by Jonathan Lynn, had transferred from the Cottesloe earlier in the year. John Cecil Holm and George Abbott’s comedy premiered in 1935 and concerns a mild-mannered chap who discovers he has a supernatural gift of picking the winning horse, provided he doesn’t watch the race. A fantastic cast was headed by Geoffrey Hutchings, and also included Toyah Willcox, Ken Stott, Desmond Barritt, Cyril Shaps, Alison Fiske and Nicholas le Prevost. Extremely funny and it deserved its success.

  1. The Spinners – Civic Centre, Aylesbury, 6th November 1987

Miss D (as she still was) was very keen to see the Spinners as they had been part of her childhood, being a Liverpudlian who grew up in Australia – the connection couldn’t be stronger. I knew nothing about them, apart from the fact they tended to have late night shows on BBC TV when there wasn’t anything much else to watch. I think you had to be a real fan to enjoy this show – and there were plenty of those in the audience.

  1. Incantation – Civic Centre, Aylesbury, 10th November 1987

We were both huge fans of Incantation, the group that arose from the band that played the music for Ballet Rambert’s Ghost Dances, and who had a number of hits with their Pan Pipes of the Andes style. Incantation took their music very seriously and did much research on the streets of Cuzco to achieve truly authentic performance quality, as their line-up consisted of three Brits and three Chileans at the time. Timeless music, brilliantly performed.