A quick review for those that didn't venture to the Adelphi today.

I went to both Matinee and Evening performances and both were lively with approximately 900 tickets sold for each of the shows.

Approximately 30 - 40 fans were in Maiden Lane before the Matinee, waiting for the cast to pass through. No where near the numbers waiting on Lee's last day!

The Matinee was funny with lots of mischief taking place on stage, although not as much as Lee's last day.
Such as the wives coming on stage at the beginning reading OK, Hello and The Stage magazines instead of having the usual items that they carry on their heads eg knitting basket, sewing machine etc. (hope that makes sense)
Gareth Gates sang CED with one sock still on. Steven Tate appearing on stage in his chair knitting. Two of the girls in the Egypt segment appeared on stage with brown curly wigs.

The evening show was performed straight and there were a lot of friends of the cast and choir in the audience. So the evening performance was a little noisier than the matinee. Everyone was up at the beginning of the megamix for both shows.

There were no speeches at the end of the evening performance, just 3 curtain calls although Tim Rice was in the theatre. The end wasn't emotional for the cast as i had expected. When Lee left some of them had been in tears but there were none today, that i saw, just from a small number in the audience (you know who you were!) and also i spotted a couple of the kids in the choir who were a bit teary.

Gareth Gates performed very well today, i have seen him once before and he has improved greatly. However for me Lee was the definitive Joseph!

All in all it was a really lovely day, but no where near as emotional or as exciting as Jan 10th. Lee's last day was phenomenal and one that i don't think will ever be experienced again, so those that didn't want to go today as they wanted to keep Jan 10th imprinted in the memory, all i can say is that today didn't spoil that for me.

Anyone that was there today please add if there's anything i have forgotten.

Thank you Karen!! I'm a bit surprised about their emotions but for them it's probably just like leaving any job where as you get closer, you just want it to end.

Glad you had a good time though. End of an era.

Thanks for the review Karen! The end of an era but the start of a whole new chapter for Lee

Thanks for the review Karen.

I am glad that GG & the rest of the cast had a good send off.

Thanks Karen for the review. I don't think anything will ever top the 10th January when Lee left the show, but I'm glad everyone had a lovely day, and the cast were given a good send off.

Deb and I went to both shows too, it was fab meeting up with old friends and that was one of the reasons why I decided at the last minute (a few weeks ago) that I wanted to go, we managed to bag a couple of nice Returns.
To add to Karen's lovely review I can remember a few other funnies, When the wives came onto the revolve with their mags, at first I didn't notice but in amongst them was Brad dressed as a wife!!! . Later I heard mention of Jonathan too but I didn't notice him.
When Joseph gets his coat and the brothers take hold of it and walk around him lifting it at the back, they lifted it at the front so Gareth couldn't be seen, until it got to the front again and he peeped through the opening. During Benjamin Calypso The narrator came on with half a pint of Stella (logo stuck on glass) which a few of the brothers sipped including Gareth who took an almighty swig. The girls who stand on the stairs with waste paper basket headdresses had toy camels in them. Jenna came on at one point with luminous stripy legwarmers.
The Apache dancers Craig and Louise did an extra one handed lift at both shows, I could try to describe it but I may be best leaving that to a very observant Mouse I know!!!

I did see Danielle (who was directly in front of me) welling up at the start of the Jacob/Joseph reunion scene and she was in floods by the time the curtin came down but as Karen said there was not as much emotion as expected.
I was very puzzled that there was no announcement at the end of the show, no one coming on to thank the cast, no bouquets for the Leads etc I am not well up on all that so hopefully someone can tell me, is that sort of thing only done if you leave during a run? I was at AveQ's last night and there was Farewells done there. (just a quick edit) AveQ's last night before their break and move of theatre.

Thanks for the reviews, Karen & Woozie,
I'm another one who was surprised there was no speech or flowers at the end.
The end of an era!

Thanks Woozie for your review too. Glad you all enjoyed the day - very strange about no speeches at the end though. I'm very surprised about that.

Interesting reviews. I was at the matinee of Sunset Boulevard (their last day too) and bouquets were handed to the four leads as they took their bows.

Thanks for both of these lovely reviews.
Woozie, I liked all the funny extras that you could remember, sounds like they had fun. The ending must have a bit of an anticlimax for them though. I wonder how they all feel this morning.

Thank you for the reviews

THanks for the reviews :) Sounds like it was a lot of fun.

Maybe they didnt' do the big farewell because they just had one less than six months back????


Good bye Jo, good by our beloved cast! May all of you have happy and wonderful and successful careers ahead

Thanks for the reviews, everyone!

I hope all the cast go on to new shows soon.

One thing's for sure, there will never ever be an experience like the past 2 years at the Adelphi. We will remember it for the rest of our lives.

Evening ladies, can I just add the boys came on for role call in each others costumes, the two blue girls had blue makeup masks like lone ranger style masks and the two girls at the top of the stairs handing out the corn had stuffed toys in their hats. Craig hit Gareth when he was roped to the camel through the whole revolve and the boys had multi coloured glasses instead of sun glasses. When the boys lifted Jenna above their heads when they are singing about 'the dreamer' they didn't release her and she stayed in the air, airwalking, until they put her down. When Jenna came out with the 'chicken' it was a bag of fruit pastiles which she thrown into the air, being caught by Adam, however half the boys where chewings fruit gums by the end of the song. I don't remember if I heard this or imangined it - but I think Ricky shouted pastiles instead of chicken.

Thank you for the reviews – I feel almost as though I was there. I was with you all in spirit as I kept looking at my watch and reliving parts of the show.

It seems a shame that there were no speeches or presentations at the end. It has been such an incredible cast and it would have been good to have a formal acknowledgement for all their hard work and dedication. I hope they all go on to have very successful careers and I wish them all they would wish themselves. I also hope I’ll cross paths with many of them in the future. It is the end of an era and I think Jenna’s journal expresses my thoughts so well when she says ‘Joseph will live in our hearts forever’. It was a fantastic 2 years and will certainly live on in my heart.

Thanks for that extra snippet Abs. All in all, it sounds like they had quite a bit of fun in the matinee. I'm glad everyone had a good time too.

Thanks everyone for sharing your reviews
It sounds like they all had a lot of fun which is great! Shame there were no speeches considering it's the end of it's run. Very strange.

I love Joseph so much and it's sad to see it coming to end. Lets hope we can catch the touring production maybe
x

Thankyou so much to Karen C for posting the review on the last performance of Joseph.
I was so glad that I managed to go to both the matinee and evening performances of Lee as Joseph on l0th January, an experience I shall never forget. and what an amazing atmosphere there was in the Adelphi at both the matinee and evening performances.

You mention that the ticket sales on 30th May were about 900 at both performances. Was there a lot of empty seats, as I think the seating capacity for the Adelphi is approximately l,400. Only asking out of curiousity.

As previously mentioned, I doubt if there will be
anything to match Lees last performance as Joseph.

Thanks again for the review.

maggiemay