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Back in April, theatrical titan Andrew Lloyd Webber announced he was streaming his biggest and best shows for free to keep us all entertained during lockdown. The first broadcast on the new YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On! was the 1999 film version of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’. Now the series is wrapping up (for now), and the final show is… ‘Joseph’ again! The encore performance of ALW’s biblical smash will screen online this weekend.
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’: what to expect
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's first success is a cheeky pop-rock Bible story about a flashy dresser who gets sold into slavery and then rises to power after a false accusation of sexual assault. First presented as a 15-minute cantata in 1968, when Lloyd Webber was just 19 and Rice was not much older, the show was expanded after the team's breakthrough with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, another modern take on the Holy Book.
This direct-to-video 1999 film version is pure camp and a lot of fun. Donny Osmond has the central role, and is frequently without even a shirt much less a coat, but Maria Friedman does most of the vocal lifting as the Narrator; Richard Attenborough and Joan Collins have cameos as, respectively, Jacob and Potiphar's Wife.
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ will be available on YouTube for 48 hours, starting Friday July 10 at 7pm BST (2pm EDT, 4am AEST). Watch it here:
Here’s everything you need to know about streaming Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals.
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