Joseph...

When I was little I fancied myself as somewhat of a budding thespian and one of my first roles on stage, was as the brother ‘dan’ in Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat. My friend Marigold stole the limelight as Joseph and to this day, there remains some residual bitterness (and it’s not just me- one of my friends from primary school contacted me and the first thing she said was ‘do you remember when Marigold got picked to play Joseph?) It was not a happy childhood memory. However, I soon got over the gross injustice and decided to throw myself wholeheartedly into the role of Dan- learn my 3 lines perfectly and deliver them with passion, vigour and pride.

On the big night I nervously prepared myself alongside Marigold in the junior’s classroom. To be fair she had a lot more to worry about than me, but I was seriously bricking it. I shouldn’t have worried, Marigold carried the performance and it was a massive success. At the time (I was 9), there weren’t really camcorders, but the flash bulbs were dazzling the cast and I remember feeling giddy with happiness.

Tonight I am going to re-live some of those memories by going to see Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre, starring none other than Lee Mead of ‘BBC’s Joseph’ fame. Tickets have been near impossible to come by, and so I’m particularly tickled pink to be going. Unfortunately, my mum isn’t so happy. She made me promise when I was 9 years old if I ever went to see Joseph at the theatre that we would go together. Unfortunately, Steve wasn’t to know about this solemn pact, and I was met with a frosty silence when I announced my impending theatre trip last night. Fair enough, as my mum was my staunch supporter in learning all of the Joseph lyrics for my big performance. We had the tape on loop in every family journey we went on and it drove dad and Stephen absolutely crackers.

The shocking thing is that the lyrics were not only embedded into my 9 year old grey matter, they have also carried with me into my near 30’s, and are as clear to this day as they ever were. Last night I threatened Steve that I intended to sing along loudly to every song and he laughed nervously. I feel that tonight, some inner diva might once more be discovered. I feel like I’m back in that classroom next to Marigold, waiting nervously for our cue to get on that stage and sing our hearts out.