Colourful 'Joseph' A Smash Hit For St Brendan's CS
Thursday, 1 December 2011
MT48292
'Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was brought to life by the students of St Brendan's Community School, Birr last week in their annual school musical.
The show was lively, energetic, colourful, featured excellent singers and plenty of eyecatching dance routines.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical is a very popular one on the circuit, particularly for school groups, and it gave the students the opportunity to showcase their wonderful talents, which they did with aplomb.
School musicals are an excellent opportunity for youngsters to get up on stage and gain confidence from performing in front of big crowds and the audiences who gave a tremendous reception to the students in Birr last week, were certainly delighted and impressed by what they saw on stage.
It is 30 years this year since St Brendan's Community School first staged a musical and 'Joseph' was the very first show they did. It has been performed twice more in the interim (1992 and 2003), so this was the fourth time it has been staged at the school and no doubt this year's production matched the previous efforts.
The story of 'Joseph' is fairly well known. Joseph is one of 12 brothers but is the favoured son of their father Jacob, who gives him a dazzling coat of many colours. The other 11 brothers are jealous of Joseph and decide to throw him in a pit, where he would face certain death. But when a band of Ishmaelites pass, they instead sell him as a slave but return and tell their father he has been killed. Joseph is initially sold to the wealthy Potiphar but after Potiphar's wife takes a fancy to Joseph, Potiphar throws him in jail, where he starts explaining the meaning of their dreams to fellow prisoners. Pharoah hears of his and gets him to translate his dreams and he becomes a wealthy man. Meanwhile his brothers are suffering pain and famine in their own land and travel to Egypt in search of good. They meet Joseph but initially don't recognise him but after passing a test he set them, he reveals himself and the family is reunited once again.
'Joseph' features many memorable numbers, of which 'Any Dream Will Do' is probably the best known. But there are many other great songs, featuring a variety of musical tastes. 'One More Angel In Heaven' has a country twist, there is a French slant to 'Those Canaan Days', the sounds of the Caribbean are found in 'Benjamin Calypso' while Pharoah appears in the guise of an Elvis lookalike for - appropriately - 'Song Of The King'.
There were some great dance routines and chorus numbers. 'One More Angel In Heaven' turned into a real hoedown, 'Go, Go Go. Joseph' brought the first act to a rousing conclusion, while 'Poor, Poor Pharoah/Song Of The King' and 'Benjamin Calypso' were also very impressive. The show ended with a 'Joseph Megamix' with a much more modern twist to the music and dance and brought the show to a fitting finale.
The singing all round was of a very high standard. All the main roles were very good singers and they got plenty of support from a lively chorus, backed up by a strong orchestra under the direction of Musical Director Enda O'Connor.
The role of Joseph was played by Kevin Fleury and he did an excellent job. He possessed a lovely singing voice and acted very well. He gave an almost impish slant to the character, which worked very well in a fine portrayal of the role.
The two narrators were played by Ava Haines and Rachel Spain and both performed to a high standard. Looking dazzling in those glittering dresses, both were very much at ease on stage. They both sang beautifully, displaying fine voices, and they complemented each other very well.
Jonathan Bourke played the role of Pharoah. It is always a very popular role because of that Elvis imitation and Jonathan captured that very well with a strong and commancing performance, giving it all in 'Song Of The King'.
Joseph's 11 brothers were a very strong group. They combined very well together, featured some very good singers and they acted well. They worked well as a group and their performances of 'One More Angel In Heaven' and 'Those Canaan Days' were among the highlights.
Similarly the wives performed well, showing plenty of dancing ability and singing well.
There was plenty of colour in this show and the costumes were excellent. The set was simple but effective and the large Pharoah at the back of the stage with the moving eyes during the Song Of The King was a very good touch.
The show was directed by Paul Norton who had the students will drilled and the show moved at a good pace throughout. All the main characters were very strong and overall the show went very smoothly.
After 30 years, St Brendan's still continues to produce shows of the highest standard and this year's show certainly maintains their excellent reputation. Long may it continue.
Cast
Joseph - Kevin Fleury; Narrators - Ava Haines, Rachel Spain; Pharoah - Jonathan Bourke; Jacob - Peter Horan; Potiphar - Jonathan Bourke; Mrs Potiphar - Axelina Heagney; Butler - Nicole Kelly; Baker - Ceola Campbell; Reuben - Ryan O'Meara; Simeon - David Carroll; Levi - Aidan Ryan; Napthali - Christopher Pingree; Issachar - Conor Bracken; Asher - Ciaran Cooney; Dan - Michael Cashen; Zebulum - Jack O'Keeffe; Gad - Cian Hart; Benjamin - Conor Nolan; Judah - Sean Stone; Wives - Shauna Byrne, Hannah Corrigan, Eimear Delaney, Aoife Dempsey; Julie Fanneran, Muire Kennedy, Grace King, Hannah McLoughlin, Patricia Nolan, Ayesha Sayers, Laura Sheils.
Senior Chorus - Ceire Bluitt, Danielle Boyd, Emma Burke, Erin Byrne, Sarah Cleary, Jessica Davis, Amy Deegan, Aine Delahunt, Laura Dunne, Laura Grant, Kahlia Hart, Catherine Hoare, Shaun Hogan, Ailbhe Kenny, Megan Lavin, Anthony Loughman, Leanne Madden, Maria Maher, Sarah Mahon, Aine Murray, Diarmuid O'Carroll, Aisling O'Connor, Josephine O'Donoghue, Edel O'Meara, Serena Pilkington, Hayley Ryan, Kara Sampson, Orla Shanahan, Kayleigh Sheils, Jennifer Teehan, Roisin Watkins, Claire Yeates.
Second Year Chorus - Ali Cloonan, Lorcan Conn, Alana Connolly, Tara Connolly, Andrea Cooke, Nicole Dempsey, Ryan England, Avril Fleury, Stephen Guilfoyle, Thomas Guinan, Mark Haines, Sorcha Hand, John Hanlon, Stephen Hanrahan, Nikita Kane, Ellen Kelly, Alison Lyons, Alanna McEvoy, Sarah McLoughlin, Aisling Meaney, Dylan Murphy, Finn Nichol, Daniel O'Meara, Dylan Quegan, Dermot Sheils, Breanne Thompson.
Dancers - Erin Byrne, Shauna Byrne, Ceola Campbell, Jessica Davis, Amy Deegan, Aoife Dempsey, Axelina Heagney, Nicole Kelly, Hannah McLoughlin, Aine Murray, Laura Sheils.
Production Credits
Director - Mr P. Norton; Musical Director - Mr E. O'Connor; Asst Musical Director - Ms M. Finneran; Choreographer - Ms J. McNamara; Show Co-Ordinator - Mr J. Dunne; PA To Mr O'Connor - James Glennon; Pit Singers - Rachel Corboy, Katie Masterson, Ronan Murphy, Caitriona Nolan, Sam Pearson, David Sheils.
Set Design & Builder - Mr P. McGovern; Stage Construction - Mr J. Maher; Stage Managerment - Fr P. Gilbert, Mr S. Bray, Mr S. Egan, Mr J. McArdle, Mr E. O'Connor. Stage Crew - Oisin Clarke, Jack Cleary, Aaron Coffey, Ciaran Connaughton, Colm Gath, Dylan Hutchinson, Donal Mahon, Evan Moylan.
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