Dreamcoat part of cultural fabric...

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

- ANDY PHILLIPS

EVEN if you've never seen Joseph before, it is surprising how many songs you realise you already know - such is the way in which it has become part of our cultural fabric.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice penned the original stanzas of what would end up becoming a West End and Broadway hit in 1968, having been asked to come up with something for a school concert by a former teacher.

It was another five years before their music - which had already been turned into a record - was the soundtrack for a quirky musical which debuted on the West End.

Yet the reception it received on returning to Theatre Royal Plymouth this week showed that it still has plenty to offer for fans both old and new.