Young company brings new life to classic

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Mossley AODS Youth Company, George Lawton Hall, Mossley

SURELY this Lloyd Webber-Rice money-spinner has been done to death and boredom by now, getting on for 50 years after it first saw the light of day?

Not a bit of it, if this lovely production by the enormously impressive Mossley company’s youth section is anything to go by.

The show was so popular it virtually sold out over a month ago — and an extra day, squeezed in before Wednesday’s official opening night, sold out well in advance, too.

Does the evening justify the faith audiences have clearly put in it? The answer is an emphatic yes.

This is the “youth” version of the show — identical to the adult version, except all the performers must be under 18. Mossley have gone one better and have also split the narration role among two young performers, Emily Lyons and Katherine Farrow, both of whom have strong voices and tremendous confidence, used to good effect in harmonies otherwise unheard when a single actor takes the role.

It’s a nice touch in a show that positively runs along from start to finish in little more than 105 minutes, buoyed up by the extraordinarily well-drilled energy of a cast of 72, some of them of infant school age.

Despite the everyone-in approach, the show moves with precise and high-octane choreography, driven by a terrific band set in the middle of the thrust stage.

The company has done the performers proud with great sets and costumes, not to mention some of the best sound and lighting set-ups I’ve seen at the George Lawton Hall over the years, too.

Ultimately the show rests on its leading performers — and the self-assurance of these teenagers is palpable; mostly strong voices (particularly from Joseph himself, Jordan Lavin) giving a powerful boost to confident performing and dancing from every member of the cast.

You might still find a ticket and if you can, buy it: this is a terrifically entertaining production of a theatre classic.