(Warning this could be a long read :-) )
As a few of you will know I went to see the touring production of Joe last night. I have seen it before in Cardiff so knew what to expect, but I took a few friends with me who hadnt (one has been to London with me to see Lee though). I had already asked the theatre if we were allowed to get up and dance for the megamix and was told that it was expected ;-) One of the girls in work volunteers at the theatre and when she worked on Wed she was given a list of things to find out for us. When I spoke to her on Thursday she said that no one danced, no even stood up at the end, plus Anthony, Craig and Chris came out to the foyer afterwards but were only allowed to sign copies of their album. There was no way I was buying one and Sue had already said that she would cause a scene if they didnt sign the programmes. So we didnt really know what to expect.
There were 4 of us, 3 girls and a husband, who had been warned what we intended to do and came anyway, bless. We let him sit in the middle of the row, so that he could pretend he wasnt with us when we got up to do the megamix ;-) We had end seats and the plan was that if anyone behind us complained we would move out into the aisle. At half time an usher came round making sure that there was nothing in the aisle that would trip them up when they came off the stage, so I checked with her where we could go if people complained about us standing up, and she basically said to sod them and do it anyway, as we couldnt really go into the aisle as we would get in the brothers' way. We spent the 20 mins before the curtain came up looking round at the rest of the audience to see if any of them looked like they were up for it.
Show started, Craig was Joseph, Chris was Benjamin, Anthony was Napthali and Keith the Narrator. Keith has had some kind of vocal training or something. When I saw it in Cardiff his voice was very smooth and even though you could hear his accent it didnt matter as he sang it very well. Last night he was emphasising the words to much and was basically spitting them out, which was a shame as I did like him as the Narrator before, now I am not so sure. Craig was ok as Joe, every song was note perfect, but there didnt seem to be much emotion in it. There were no goosebumps in CED, even though he did nail the last note. The meeting with Jacob at the end didnt bring tears to my eyes (but that could be because Sue decided to start singing ADWD with him, there wasnt a sound in the theatre, so it sounded so loud I actually had to put my hand over her mouth :-) ) He was good during Pharoah's story, his interaction with Pharoah (who was played by the guy who won the Grease contest) was really funny.
Chris as Benjamin was brilliant, he showed so much more emotion all the way through. Anthony seems to have grown up a lot, I didnt recognise him at first. Henry Metcalfe as Jacob/Potiphar was causing Sue some issues. She said that he looked like a "dirty old man" and was waiting for him to "put his teeth in", she had us in hysterics :-)
The guy that made the show for me was Chris Dilley as Levi / Baker. He pulled so many faces during the whole thing I just couldnt stop laughing (even when i shouldnt have been. )
No-one got up for ADWD so I was starting to worry, when the megamix started I turned to the woman behind me and asked if she mind if we stood up and danced, she said it was fine so I grabbed Sue and started dancing. Our other friend got up as well, but no-one else did. We were the only 3 daft idiots stood up, clapping and cheering. We were enjoying ourselves so much I even smacked one of the brothers as he ran past me, I did apologise to him and he giggled at me. We all sat down again for Craig to sing CED, then they started the last ADWD and he said that he wanted everyone up and singing, which to our amazement they actually did (or at least half of them).
When it was finished and everyone piled out to the foyer, Sue asked again about the signing bit, and was told that they probably wouldnt sign anything other that the CD's, but she thought she would have a go anyway and got in the queue. I was having none of that and went to the stage door to see the others, as they were the ones that really made the show. Had a few words with Keith and a few of the brothers, then went back to check on Sue. She had got to the front and they refused to sign her programme, when she complained to the security guy, she was basically told to complain to Bill Kenwright. What an attitude, the tickets werent that cheap for a small theatre and if parents had taken their 2 kids they had to buy a CD as well to get autographs????? I told Sue that Keith was still at the stage door and I was going to hang about to get some pics. When the boys were getting up, I just went over to them and asked could they sign the programme now, as there werent many people about and they actually did, so I really dont know what the problem was earlier. Then I went back to the stage door to pick up Sue and she was talking to Keith and I spotted the guy who played Levi, so I went to have a chat with him as he was really good. He actually signed my programme to me and not just singed his name like the others had done. Sue did manage to get her other sigs (apart from Chris) as the others came out the back door anyway. We walked back to the car with Craig having a quick chat along the way.
So all in all it was great fun, and even though we were the only silly sods to dance, we had a wonderful time
Only a few weeks till I go to London again though, and I cant wait as its so much more a better show.
Here are a few pics (sorry that I look so awful, I was very hot and sweaty after dancing about like a fool :-) )
You can just make out my LoveLee badge on my jacket :-)
This is my mate Sue with Anthony
And this is both of us with Chris Dilley, the man is a star :-)
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: Maybe the sales of the CD are not going as well as hoped and this is the way that they get the sales up???? The rest of the cast were off to a near pub, so we asked the boys if they were going as well, but they were all going home to Anthony's as they had 3 shows on Saturday. I think if they had been off to the pub as well, we would have all ended up going ;-)
