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Meet the Stars of JOSEPH at the London Palladium
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Oct 26, 2022
Last night the West End revival of Tim Rice andamp; Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat played to a full capacity audience at the London Palladium for the very first time, having begun socially distanced previews at the iconic venue on 12 July.
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0:00
Hey guys, I'm Alexandra Burke
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Hi, I'm Jack Yarrow. And I'm Jason Donovan. And you are watching Broadway World UK
0:08
Greetings and salutations, folks. And well, the world and I, we have been waiting, still hesitating
0:15
But yes, the wait is now finally over. And although it may be a whole year later than originally scheduled
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Joseph and the amazing technical Adrien Coat has finally made it back to the stage of the London Palladium
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and I'm here today to meet the stars of the show Jack Yarrow, Alexandra Burke and Jason Donovan
0:38
Oh I mean it's really it's really difficult to put it into words to be honest with you with
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the feeling that theatres are back and that we can perform again because it makes me quite emotional. It feels strange it feels as if no time has passed in a way
0:52
I think it'll be weird tonight seeing a socially distanced audience, but at the Palladium, a socially distanced audience feels like a full house anyway
1:00
because it is such a big house. So it's going to be exciting. It's going to be very emotional, I think
1:05
The fact that it's been a long time that performers have not been able to do what they love
1:12
it's really hard to digest that one, do you know what I mean? Because there's so many things that have made a transition
1:19
you know like with Wimbledon's been able to open and people been able to go to football matches and
1:24
do whatever and theatres have kind of been the last thing that's that's been kind of thought of
1:28
this is a poignant moment in in in you know in history in terms of you know reopening after
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what has been a very tough time you know particularly for our industry you know because
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it's it's very nice to be able to protect these institutions and these theatres but it's the people
1:47
inside them that matter the most. The performers and you know we've been you know well not me
1:54
personally but you know I think we've been the forgotten sector of this this pandemic and and
2:01
and so it great to see people back working and you know doing what they Yeah And it just I feel like it the right time now
2:14
I'm beaming because this show is joyous. This show is full of love and fun and it's infectious, you know
2:22
And I didn't realise that about this show because I'd never seen it before. Well, I think she's just reinvented the role yet again
2:27
She brings so much of Alexandra to the role. Yeah. And she's very funny in real life
2:32
So she brings the comedy too, but the vocal is just out of this world
2:36
I mean, everyone knows Alex can sing, but I think she's singing in this in a way that people haven't necessarily heard before
2:43
And she's just incredible and brings this youthfulness and this fun energy, which is exactly what people want to see right now
2:51
I think it's infectious. It really is. Yeah, she's quite urban, you know, that's sort of how I see
2:56
She's got a little urban, you know, relatable sort of twist to how she does it
3:03
She's different than Sheridan, you know, so she should be. And even Michael said that to me. He took me for a coffee and Michael Harrison said to me
3:08
look, I said to him, look, I don't feel ready. Like, I don't think I can do this last week
3:12
And he said, Alex, the narrator, that role is to have fun
3:16
You have to be yourself. And then Lawrence, the director, said, what we see with you offstage with the kids joking around and doing this and doing that
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that's what we need onstage. So I was like, oh, so you're telling me to just be me
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And they were like, yeah, this is not perfection. We don't need Rachel Marion in the bodyguard to be perfect
3:31
We don't need Roxy from Chicago. We don't need Dolores from Sister Up. We need Alex
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And that's the first time I've ever been given that permission because of the role. And it allows you to be yourself
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So for me, I've struggled just being me on stage. I walk off stage and I'm just myself
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But because I'm so used to being a perfectionist, I've struggled with not being that
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And now I'm like, oh, I wish every role was like this. Just be myself
3:57
It's brilliant. But you know, with this show, you can bring in your personality
4:02
Maybe not so much the Joseph thing, but the rest of the characters can start to bring in
4:07
It transcends that wall, this show, which is why people love it so much It taken me a long time to get to this point I feel like it was only last week that I went I actually can do this So I just showing you how much I been quite anxious about the role
4:25
and also just been anxious full stop about doing it justice. And to be the first black woman to play this role, for me
4:33
it's just mind-blowing and it's a real privilege and I feel really honoured that I've been asked to do it
4:41
I'm a big theatre geek, so I'm having a bit of a moment working with Lindsay
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Yeah, she's cool, man. She's a cool girl. She really is. Yeah
4:50
She's amazing. And so different to Alexandra, too. So audiences can come to the show twice, see two different curators
4:56
and it just changes the entire dynamic of the show. Both incredible, but both completely different
5:02
Yeah. It's great. It keeps it fresh for us, too. I saw Lindsay's audition
5:06
Yeah. Wow. Yeah, in 1990. Wrong clip. Yeah. Yeah, you know, I saw her audition
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I was sitting up at one of these theatres somewhere. Wow. They said, come and look at this girl
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What do you think? You know, don't ask me, Jesus. That's incredible
5:21
I did not know. Yeah, yeah, I saw her audition. You know, of course I knew who Jason Donovan was
5:31
But I think it's like the ladies were actually a little bit older than me
5:35
Like, I've got friends who are a bit older than me, and they're the ones that are going real crazy for Jason Donovan
5:39
Look, I think, you know, there is an aspect to the pharaoh which, you know, is part of my narrative, you know, which is, you know, playing Joseph, then coming back to play sort of the pharaoh, the king of the kingdom
5:55
And to me, he's just like a normal, lovely man. And then I think about it and I go, oh God, it's Jason Donovan, you know
6:01
It's Jason Donovan in the hot pants. Sort of. You know, it seems right, you know, and the audience react to that
6:08
And I've got a lot of friends who are very jealous, to be honest with you, and I get it
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And, you know, I know how to take that on and make the most of it, but not overdo it
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because then it becomes a sort of a parody And that not what we want to do We want to stay true to the rhythm of the show
6:30
He's a legend. He's Jason Donovan. Come on. Yeah. I think because the material is so iconic, so relatable, and just joyous
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The whole show feels like a celebration. And it's so ingrained in British theatre culture
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It feels as if, you know, every time you come back to see it, it feels like you're seeing an old friend
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And it's short, and people love a short show. I know why it's so iconic, and I know why it's timeless
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Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice are two people who are geniuses
7:07
They are. What they do is just genius. I think also, you know, it was their first
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one of their first written pieces, Tim and Andrew, you know, and there's always something to be said about that
7:21
It's simple. You know, it's very simple yet it's relatable. And this show was only, you know
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it's three quarters of an hour long and it's actual storytelling. We stretch it out for two hours
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There's a lot of repeats in this show. A couple of dance breaks. Yeah, yeah
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But, you know, it is part of your culture. It's part of the UK culture
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It will keep going when we're long gone and that's what's really special about it
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and it's a privilege to be a part of this beautiful moment where it's opening again, given the year we've had
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and I'm playing this fantastic role. Joseph and the Amazing Technicola Dreamcoat
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continues its limited engagement here at the iconic London Palladium through to the 5th of September
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So go, go, go and book yourselves a ticket for this feel-good musical event of the summer right now
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and I'll see you next time, folks, on Broadway World UK. It's Jason Donovan singing this tune
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and I'm just sitting there and I can see everything. This is great. Broadway World UK
8:25
Does it look like I have a tiny hand? You want to do this? You look like... You look like... Nyaaaah
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