My Joseph Diary
Richmond Theatre, Richmond
Saturday 19 May 2001
5pm Performance.

Dear Diary

Carl and I arrived in Richmond and decided to see both shows which we haven't done for a long time.  The only tickets we could get for both shows were standing ones at the back of the Dress Circle.  We had a great view, so it wasn't too bad.  The theatre was packed, it was a great atmosphere, lots of children getting excited. Before the show started Henry Metcalfe made an announcement, saying that the part of the Narrator will be played by Ora Davey, who has come directly from Miss Siagon.  It was to be her first performance in Joseph.  As the lights went down and the music started everyone went quiet and the children got even more excited.  Ora opened the show well with very little nerves showing, she has a beautiful and powerful voice.  The backdrop rose to reveal seven new faces amongst the cast.  They all seemed to get on well together, Glen was amazing as always, he has really fitted into the part well.  The show was fantastic, Ora took us through the story with ease, she has a great stage presence.  Its hard to believe she learnt the part in just FOUR DAYS!  The show seemed to fly by, everyone on stage danced and sung wonderfully.  Jacob's face in 'One More Angel in Heaven' was so funny as he looked at his sons then the audience as if to say 'what are they on about?', then it changed as he realised his favourite son had 'died'.  The cowboy style knees up was really energetic, the audience clapped along happily, until Jacob came back on stage and people started to stop guiltily.

The children in the audience loved it when Joseph dusted off people in Potiphar's
house with a feather duster!  Joanne Dockery was fantastic as Mrs Potiphar, tall,
elegant and seductive.  Joseph didn't know where to look, Joanne and Glen danced
really well together.  Glen sang 'Close Every Door' with power and feeling, his voice sends shivers down my spine, especially when he sings the last line.  The audience went wild afterwards and Glen got some screams too, not just from me!
The dreams of the Butler(Dan Greavey) and Baker(Russel Hicken) had the children laughing, until the Baker was told he was to be executed! 'Go, Go, Go Joseph' got the audience clapping away, and as the lights went up at the end of Act One everyone was smiling!

In the interval lots of people were humming or singing songs from the show, there
seemed to be alot of choir members from the rest of the week watching it.  As the
lights went down for the second half everyone was whispering excitedly.  As the
curtain rose to reveal a Sphinx, Ora walked forward with six children from the choir. Ora sang 'Pharaoh's Story' with amazing power which she received tremendous applause for.  Everyone loved the sound of Pharaoh's voice coming fm behind the Sphinx, but I don't think they were prepared for what he looked like.  The audience went wild, clapping and screaming, Trevor Jary did a great job as always, even though the children seemed to think him rolling his hips was funny though I have a feeling the Mum's thought otherwise!  

'Those Canaan Days' was sung well, though I must admit I miss the French Accent of years ago, ok so now that makes me sound old!  It was great to see Jenette Humphris dance the Apache with Karl, she does it so well, Glen came across as a great Prince Joseph, you could sense the fear of the brothers as they faced the him.  Benjamin (Jamie Read) made you feel really sorry for him as he was set up by Joseph and found guilty of stealing Joseph's' Golden Cup.  Greg Barnett (Issachar) sang 'Benjamin Calypso' with energy, he has a  great voice.  Benjamin looked stunned to see everyone standing up for him and was giggling with the girls as they pinched his cheeks and tickled his nose.  You just wanted to hug him and tell him everything will be ok. 

The reunion with Joseph and the brothers was as touching as ever, and when Joseph saw Jacob again it was an emotional scene.  Glen sang 'Any Dream Will Do' with such feeling, the whole audience was captivated.  The cast got great applause and Ora got shouts, screams and a tremendous applause, she will defantly do very well as the narrator and I look forward to seeing her again.  Everyone joined in clapping and singing through the mega mix and cheered loudly for Glen to sing again.  He sang 'Close Every Door' again with even more power than before.  When the cast came into the audience the children loved it, the show ended with everyone on their feet singing and dancing to 'Any Dream Will Do'.  We all left with smiles on our faces. 

Carl and I dashed to the Box Office to buy our tickets for the next performance, the girl in the box office must of thought we were mad.  Then we ran round to the stage door and asked for Jenette.  She was happy to see us and sat chatting to us along with Jaime Read(Benjamin) and Faye Michel(Handmaiden).  Both Jaime and Faye are enjoying being in the show and hope to stay on for a long time.  Stuart Tayler rang whilst we were chatting, he's fine and doing well, he starts in Starlight Express in Germany next week.  Jaime and Faye have visited the site and are going to keep on popping in to have a look.  Saw Trevor, who stopped to say hi before going for a coffee, saw John Melvin too.  Vivienne Carlye arrived whilst we were chatting, as she has been the Narrator for the week.  Had a quick chat with Henry Metcalfe, and then we left to go and get our seats again, we told Jenette,  Faye and Jaime where we be so when the house lights come on at the end of the show they could look for us.


Richmond Theatre, Richmond
Saturday 19 May 2001
8pm Performance.

The main difference with this performance was that the audience were mainly adults.  There were children but a lot older than the ones who watched the 5pm show.  I also spotted Michael Garner (Jeff Pearce in London's Burning) and his family, in the audience. I think he saw me looking at him, I was trying to work out where I'd seen him before, (I don't watch London's Burning anymore) as he gave me a big smile!

Vivienne was the narrator this time and as usual she was stunning.  Her voice just gets more and more powerful every time we see her.  She puts her own style to the part, its going to be a shame not to see her as the Narrator again, it's funny how many cast members come back into the show from time to time.  The show was as good as the last one, everyone was singing and dancing as good as ever, you wouldn't of thought that they'd only got off stage an hour before.  Carl and I managed to get the same spot as last time, standing behind the Dress Circle in the middle.  We had a great time dancing away and miming along.  Glen sang 'Close Every Door' with ever more power, and got a great applause.  'Go, Go, Go Joseph' was great, with the audience clapping away.  Everyone was smiling and happy in the interval. 

The second half started with Vivienne singing 'Pharaoh's Dream' with amazing power.  Trevor sang brilliantly again as Pharaoh, and his hip rolling got screams this time.  Even the theatre staff were joining in this time, you could tell who their favourite character in the show was!! Carl and I did the hand jive along with two choir members Mum and sister.    The whole show this time seemed like one big party, it was great.  No one wanted it to end.  The mega mix at the end was great, everyone was singing and clapping away and the four of us at the back were bopping away.  When the lights came up for the cast to come out into the audience, we were doing the hand actions to 'Go, Go, Go Joseph' along with the Mum of two of the choir.  I managed to get Jenette's attention and she waved as she left the stage.  As the show came to and end, everyone got up to dance and sing 'just one more time' in the words of Mr Pharaoh!  It was a great show. 

I'd just like to say that David Rose and the rest of the orchestra did a fantastic job on both shows as always, and I'd like to wish Darren Humphries all the best in whatever he goes on to do, as I won't see him again, stay in touch! The Joseph choir were fabulous too, they were so well behaved and seemed to really enjoy themselves.  Well Done The Young Set of Twickenham.

Carl and I dashed around to the stage door to say goodbye to Jenette who had to dash off to catch a train.  We saw her and Lisa Quibell quickly before they went.  We managed to see most people, though we didn't get chance to speak to any of the new cast apart from Faye and Jaime again.  We spoke to John Melvin, Trevor, Glen, David Rose, Greg Barnett, Darren Humphries, Russel Hicken, Brain Graves and Vivienne.  We took some photo's, they will be on line soon.  We had a great time and I'm going to miss the show as I'm not seeing it until September.  So this is my last diary entry for awhile.  If you see the show, please email me and tell me all about it!

Thanks to all the cast for making Carl and I welcome and also thank you to the woman on stage door for allowing us to wait inside.

Bye for now
Tanith