Boyzone stuff

Last year I owned up to a childlike, innocent and sentimental streak that drove me to rate Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on stage as a magical evening. But I would have to be hard-pressed - or tortured - before striking a single drum for Bill Kenwright's flashy revival of this arthritic, 30-year old youngsters' musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Stephen Gately, the Boyzone star and soloist, makes an underwhelming theatrical debut as Joseph. Being small and fragile, with a sweet manner and appearance, you might think him natural casting for the bullied, dreamy Joseph.

But Gately's stage personality, although pleasant, is so tiny it's scarcely visible to the naked eye. And he sings in a scanty, often inaudible, voice, swallowing words and phrases.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with its winsome, touching up of the biblical story, belongs to a far-away age when entertainment was permitted a religious bent. At least, though, the show takes a camp, modish turn by interpreting ancient Egypt through contemporary music: there's a delightful pastiche of an Elvis

Presley figure singing at a lurid 68 BC special concert, amusing parodies of country and western, hot gospel, calypso and French ballad songs. But at a time when Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings are all the cinematic rage, is this tongue-in cheek, handon-heart little musical the best that musical theatre can manage for the young?

Bill Kenwright, who not only produces but also directs, has conceived a gawdy, cartoon Joseph. It's a spectacular, end-ofthe-pier occasion. Sean Cavanagh's simple, picture-book set design, with its flight of steps, star - spangled skies, animal heads, Egyptian effigies and childrens' choirs on stage, rather conflicts with the more sophisticated musical parodies.

Kenwright also imposes a slick style of romping, rocking song and dance, with the band sometimes drowning the singers. The production reaches a protracted climax, when Joseph in a golden dress and cranked up on a plinth sings Any Dream Will Do. James Head's Jacob, with his rolling eyes, cuts an unpaternal impression. Vivienne Carlyle's breathy narrator ingratiates. But Trevor Jary, making a strong West End debut, performs with humour and passion. Will the show really run? Perhaps. But a determined limp is more likely.

Booking until 19 July. Box office: 0870 890 0141.

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat