Opening Night of Joseph...May 4th 1993....the view by Chez
Phillip Schofield handed the coat over to Darren in Tuesday March 30th and Darren commenced his time as Joseph on Monday May 3rd 1993.
I had mixed feelings when I discovered that Darren Day would be playing the role of Joseph for 3 weeks whilst Phillip had a short break.
On the one hand, he wasn't Jason, but on the other, he seemed nice and friendly! I had seen him on Newsround, CBBC and Saturday Disney. He also didn't look
dissimilar to Jason.
Julie and I were the only ones waiting at the London Palladium stage door that day. We got there at midday and at quarter past he arrived in a red car. He looked nice but perhaps a little nervous at seeing us waiting there for him and, of course, at the prospect of having to go on stage later in front of 1,000's of people!
We got very excited about actually seeing the show and saw many celebrities arrive.
The show was absolutely fabulous. He seemed very nervous during the first half but by the second half he had relaxed into it. We had the best seats in the house, in my opinion - middle of the front row.
As soon as we got out of the Palladium we were interviewed by the Newsround team!
Joseph at the Palladium - review by Pam Blackband
From the moment the smoke clears and we glimpse the long blond locks and loin cloth as they descend on the riser ,you just know that DARREN DAY is born to play JOSEPH .
You could be forgiven for thinking that following on from JASON DONOVAN and PHILLIP SCHOFIELD would be a daunting prospect but not for our boy . DARREN took the part and made it all his very own ,his rapport with AUBRAY WOODS was evident as we are treated to the tale of pride ,greed and attempted fratricide(!) as well as several belting tunes!
It was at this point that the theatre going public stoped looking at DARREN DAY as a pretty boy kiddie presenter and realised that he could act and boy what a voice
The highest compliment that I can give the show is that I left the theatre singing ,be it ANY DREAM WILL DO or the pathos of CLOSE EVERY DOOR, DARREN carried it off magnificently .
All I can say is COME BACK JOSEPH WE MISS YOU!
During the overture, Linzi sounded as great as usual, and the children choir sounded fantastic in real life(I mean, not the only the voice out from the mics, but their real voice).
When Darren appeared behind that half-ly transparent curtain, he looked just so great, he looked quite funny in that Joseph hairstyle, I must admit that, but he seemed to be totally into the character, his eyes were sparkling with confidence, he was no longer the Darren I had met b4 the show. when he started singing Any Dream Will Do, I was totally facsinated by his stunning voice(of him singing live), you can see that he wasnt Darren anymore, he's Joseph.
All the other brothers were great actors, they were so much into their characters. Darren looked fantastic in that 'dreamcoat', and when he was 'thrown' into the well, sold to the Egypt merchants, he looked just so pityful, but funny when that snake was talking to him.
The brothers and wives did so well in One More Angel In Heaven, they're so funny and they actually made you feel that you're in the show, feeling their enjoyments on the loss of Joseph. they made really good contacts with audience, just like they're singing for you.
During the scene of Portiphar, Darren looks sooooo sexy and cute in that custom(which is the loincloth later on), and the best bits of the night is erm... Mrs Portiphar pulled Darren's originally-very-sexy loincloth up and flashing his underpants for a second!!! that causes loadsa screamings from the audience, and me of course, as he right in front of me, not more than 3 metres away!
When Darren was in the cell, looking really despaired and singing
Close Every Door, it was really moving, he sounded soooo sad. on the
other hand, he looked like an angel, a really beautiful angel... I was
so deeply touched that there was tears in my eyes(for the second time!
the 1st time I watched Joseph I was so much touched that I shed my
tears and now, again!!)
But when it comes to Go, Go, Go Joseph, the whole atmosphere became much more cheerful, hopeful and energetic. this was my 1st time seeing Darren dancing, and the whole song is just so great that I enjoyed very much. also, those '60s customs are so funny, which makes everyone laughed and cheered thru the song:) and this is the last song of Act1, 45mins were like a blink, it's intermission time...
After the 15mins of intermission, they were back! with the very
much Elvis lookalike and strong Pharoah came on stage, everyone just
screaming so loud that hurt your ears. he did a great job, but Darren
was looking really funny there, trying to imitate those Elvis moves,
moving around the ensembles, looking so curious at everything on
stage, and another great time to admire his great body, he's just so
fit! and my fave bit there was when Darren tried to use that Elvis
type voice to talk and shake his hip!
Another great moment of the Act2 is the song Those Canaan Days. Tony(Simeon) has got a very great French and funny voice and when he 'ate a fly', it was funny! you felt so sorry for them!
When Darren appeared as the 2nd Pharoah, he looked so grand and seemed like everyone should be afraid of him. he's just fabulous in acting, changed from a pityful Joseph to a very-much-respected-and-feared-by-people Joseph, the 2nd Pharoah. he's really a great actor!
Towards the end of the show, during the reprise of Any Dream Will Do, some of the older choir girls started to cry, which made Darren looking a bit sad about that, and he kept blowing kisses to them, using his sparkling eyes to tell them not to cry. it was such a touching scene.
Here comes to the end, i was so sad that it was the end when the megamix started, coz i've been enjoying so much. but the Megamix was the best part of the night, all the audience were very much into the show, and we were clapping, singing along. and at last Darren came out, wearing the 'dreamcoat'. it looks so well on him! and all the cast looked really much enjoy the show and Darren kept blowing kisses to the audience! it was just so fantastic, everyone was so happy, enjoying the show to maximum.
Right after the Megamix i stood up and gave them a big clap and there was ONLY me standing there clapping at the moment... but when the show really ended(ie, the curtains were down), and the lights went on again, i found out that all the people in the auditorium were stood up and still clapping and cheering.
That was really an AMAZING, Colourful show, i'm sure everyone who had been to the show had enjoyed it as much as me.
