Audience Reviews - please email me with yours plus any photos you might have!!

New Audience reviews page of 2008 - (reviews from 2007 found here)

Karen C had two visits to see Jo and West End Live! 

Joseph Thursday 19^th June 08 and West End Live 21 June 08

I had a day off from work on Thursday for a bit of retail therapy with my mum combined with a trip to Jo in the evening. Walked the length and breadth of Oxford street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester square and the only thing a got was a T - shirt! and sore feet.

However my day was made on the way back, as we headed towards Charing Cross who should be striding up the road towards us? ….LEE!!  I looked at my mum who was oblivious to him, so I had a THUD moment to myself while he walked past very fast. When I told her that Lee had just gone past she was really annoyed with me for not having told her sooner, as she would have liked to have said hello and tell him we were going to the show. Mum, for the second time and me for the millionth! Slight exaggeration, can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been? Glad I kept quiet. Sorry mum!!  I think Lee was trying to be incognito wearing his beanie hat and his shades, but it didn’t work because I clocked him. He looked like he was in a hurry and it wasn’t fair want to bother him.

Then on to the show which was as good as always. The only differences to normal being: 2 of the brothers played tennis with the goats’ legs during the ‘Poor Poor Joseph’ scene and Lee managed to break the golden cup …again. I got a fit of the giggles as it was the first time I had witnessed that. This time the stem broke and lee pulled a few funny faces while holding the two halves and the audience laughed.

Didn’t do the scrum, as it had been a long day and limbs were aching.

 On to Saturday………

Dragged myself out of bed at 6:00am, looked at the rain and wondered if I was mad to be traipsing up to London in the wet.  I got to Leicester square at 9:00am and was surprised that a queue had already formed. Met up with Anne, Trish, Danni and RoRo (apologies if I have missed anyone out) People that had been there since 4:00am (not Loppies but Wicked fans), that’s dedication for you.  The atmosphere was really friendly and when they let the audience into the park area we managed to get a good spot close to the front of the stage near the middle.

 Christopher Biggins introduced the Acts beginning with The jersey Boys who were really good. We waited patiently through the other Acts, some were good some not so good, until 1:45 when Lee appeared in his coat of many colours with the Joseph Choir. He was given a tremendous welcome by the whole audience. The loudest so far!

When he sang 'Any Dream will do' he asked the audience to join in if they knew the words. So there I was having a good sing-along when Lee looked straight at me and smiled. For a moment he was singing to me and I to him LOL Then a thud moment while we stood and watched him remove his coat so that he was wearing his white t- shirt and white jeans. Phwoar! He finished with ‘Close Every Door’ and got a rapturous applause at the end! He asked the audience to thank the choir and said that he thought they had been a bit nervous.

After Lee's performance we hot footed it back to the Adelphi in time for the matinee performance. Brilliant as usual, the couple sitting along side me thought Lee was wonderful and said it was a fantastic show!

 Scrum was manic but saw a few familiar faces including Angela and her daughter.

All in all I had a great two days. Thank you Lee!!

 Emma and her mum had a fab day on 4th June!

Me and my mum set off bright and early to catch the train to London Euston from Crewe in Cheshire .

As we approached the theatre crowds of people were waiting to get in and inside you couldn’t move for people . I decided I wanted a souvenir so bought one of the big brochures with some really nice photos in it. The lights went down and they announced that Fiona Reyes was the narrator and I was praying that Lee was in the show. the show was amazing I had already seen it but with Lewis Bradley in it.

Lee's voice was a bit quiet in places think he was suffering with a cold .. also Dean's Collison’s voice wasn’t as good as the last time I saw him , although maybe being a matinee they weren’t going to strain their voices.

Waited outside for Lee afterwards and sure enough he came outside. Something that did make me laugh was one of the men acting as a body guard joked with us asking if we wanted Lee in his loin cloth ! We screamed yes please but he didn’t ! He did look lovely though. He handed some signed pics and also signed my brochure which made my day Both me and my mum enjoyed it I cant wait now for October 18th to have a Lee filled weekend!!!

Ruth*** and Laura only just made it to the show on the 27th!! but then got a bonus Lee sighting!! Read all about it here....

Ok, so here is a brief summary of mine and Laura's long awaited trip to the Adelphi on 27 May 2008!

Early start for me as I was travelling from Manchester to Sheffield to meet up with Laura and go down to London together.  We booked our tickets for 27 May way way back (he he) in December so as you can imagine, we were looking forward to it!

 Met Laura at Sheffield station and after a coffee, we got on our train and were due to arrive in London at 1:45pm giving us plenty of time to get ready and go for a wonder and something to eat before the show.  After getting a seat we settled down for the journey and inevitably the conversation was largely dominated by a certain curly haired bloke by the name of Lee Mead.  As we approached Derby station, disaster struck!!!!!!!  A signal failure meant all trains to and from London were cancelled and we were told we would have to get a coach to Leicester where we would continue the journey.  So we waited at the front of Derby station for 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES!!!!!  What a nightmare - all our free time was ebbing away!  After much chaos, a few slices of cold pizza and a crammed train at Leicester, we arrived in London at 5pm!!!!  Cue the manic rush to the hotel, the fastest ever change of clothes and application of make up - we arrived at the Adelphi at 6:45pm!!!!  So much for a few pre-show drinks and something to eat!

 The show was incredible.  As everyone who has been this week has said, the entire cast are something else at the moment.  The energy coming from those guys was incredible.  Loads and loads of ad-libs, general hilarity and Lee was perfect vocally.  Having seen the show a few times I can honestly say I think it was the best I have seen, no one put a foot wrong.  The man sitting next to us said before the show started 'I apologise if you can hear my children singing along' to which we replied with a great deal of laughter, 'no need to worry about that, we will also be singing along and probably dancing a bit too!' to which the guy started laughing, clearly not realising just how serious we were!

 We were the first on our feet for the mega-mix despite it being ridiculously hot in the theatre we sang and danced our way through the mega mix (by which time the guy next to us was beginning to understand that we are 2 hysterical 20-odd year old women who know all the words to the entire show!) and the cast got a full standing ovation which was thoroughly deserved.  Incredible show and the atmosphere that will take some beating. 

Made our way outside for the scrum and got near the front which was great.  Lee signed our album covers for us and asked the usual questions like where did you come from, did you enjoy the show etc.  I was in charge of photos and Laura was in charge of autographs and we did pretty well between us!  Laura got a great video but in the excitement afterwards, it appears we have deleted it!  Oooops!  Whilst Lee was talking to us, Laura said 'wish Denise a happy birthday from all the loppies' to which Lee replied 'Yep I will' and gave us a wink!  Swoon!

 After the excitement we decided to go to the tequila bar on Maiden Lane for some cocktails as we hadn't had time to do anything before the show.  Whilst sipping our way through the menu, we saw Denise arrive at the stage door with a friend and go inside.  Much later, must have been about 11:45ish we had moved to another bar up Maiden Lane to sample its selection of cocktails (can you see a theme here!) and just as we were chatting, we saw Lee and Denise arrive back at the stage door, nip inside and them came out with loads of bags of shopping and head off in taxi!  Awww so sweet!  Both looking very gorgeous despite the rain as the heavens had opened by this time. 

 Funnily enough, we had a problem free journey home yesterday (just our luck) but we managed to have an awesome time despite East Midlands Rail's best attempts to stop our fun!   Well worth the wait and a great time was had by all and we have added some photos to share with you guys. 

 Ruth*** & Laura

I (Kirsten!) went to the evening show on May 17th and it turned out to be VERY different!!!!!

I took my friend Mandy to this performance. She had never been before but she doesn’t meet any of the criteria for a Loppy, so only mild excitment coming from her!!

I have sat both in the Upper Circle and the stalls (Row A,  L and even Row R) before; these seats were dress circle Row D and probably I would say that they were the best. Ok, you are not right close to the boy, but the view is perfect for everything, especially the cherry picker.

The show started normally (not writing about my emotions here, been there done that!) and when Lee appeared, he floated down and just as he was about to sing the first line of ADWD somebody in the audience gave an almighty wolf-whistle! This made the audience laugh and Lee grinned madly before singing “I closed my eyes....”! Good start!!

We reached the scene where the brothers have just told Jacob that Joseph is dead and they have sung “one more angel in heaven”, and Jacob is led out through the door at the back of the set. At this point, normally, a brother lifts Jacob’s chair on to the revolve and it moves away to allow the brothers to “hee ha” and start the dance routine with the wives. I noticed the chair didn’t move and I guess the cast all realised as they held the positions before the” hee ha”, and just stayed there. The curtain came down, the lights came on and the announcement was made that the show had to be stopped due to a technical problem.

I texted Brenda and Karen P at this point.

10 minutes and another announcement was made, saying that the technical problem still hadn’t been resolved. This time the girl announcer was obviously trying to stifle a laugh as she made the announcement, so it came out very strangely, but this made the audience laugh.

Another 10 minutes and another announcement to say the show was re-starting. Everyone cheered and clapped.

The curtain came up to see all the brothers an wives in the positions we left them, the brother “hee hahed” and we were off!!

Everything seemed fine until that song ended and the next scene is Joseph being dragged to Egypt, but not by a singing camel with a singing snake behind him!!! Lee walked in tied to an Ishmaelite (who I think was a woman but had her face covered by a scarf). When this Ishmaelite sang the camels line (same voice as the camel) Lee dropped to his knees and the Ishmaelite took on a mocking role. She still burped in the face of Jenna! The Ismaelite walked all around Lee and then sang the snakes’ line,” poor poor Joseph.......” etc. Lee then stood up and made it appear that he was being dragged through the set doorway.

No laughs at all in this scene like there usually is.

Next we get to the Potiphar scene. When Mrs Potiphar and co showed up on the bed at the back of the stage all seemed ok, but then the bed did not move forward at all!! They all got off it and walked/slinked/danced to the front of the stage.

No bed for Lee to be chased round, so they were all just running round the empty stage and then Lee was literally pushed to the floor in the middle and all the ladies and men fell around him, pawing at him.

When Potiphar shouted “Joseph, you can rot in hell....” Lee jumped up on to his knees and pulled a shock/horror face. This was even funnier than when it’s done on the bed as everybody else was at floor level, laying down and Lee popped up suddenly like a Meerkat.The audience laughed at this.

Lee was pushed to the side of the stage for the start of CED, and Potiphar, wife and tribe all walked/slinked/danced back to the bed at the back of the stage and waited for the scenery to close in front of them.

 Everything after that was then normal but obviously I started thinking by the interval that if the bed couldn’t move forward, then maybe the chariot won’t in the second half. However, they had mended everything in the interval and the second half was ‘all present and correct’.

Just a few things to note in the second half:

Dean wasn’t limping but he didn’t climb the stairs with Joseph as he normally does.

Even more new ad-libbing from Dean that wasn’t there in the previous show I had been to, which was only 3 weeks before. He called Joseph a “devil in disguise”.

And Lee missed his cue slightly in the song he sings when the brothers come looking for food and he’s saying that they could be spies. The line he sings he had to sing fast to catch up with where he should have been in the song.

 The scrum was the best I have been to and for once I made the right decision to film instead of take photos!!! Lots of kisses asked for and given out and I managed to catch a lovely moment when a lady tells Lee that she was proposed to that night, in the Adelphi, by her boyfriend who was also there, but the other end of the scrum to her. Lee’s reaction is just priceless, and I captured it all!!! Yay!! Look for the link on ‘latest news’ , if you haven’t seen it yet!!

 Kirsten xxx

Chantale and her friend Carole went to see the show on 13th May and met Abs, Ringer and Carys!!

We arrived my friend Carole and I at about 6.30 at the theatre, took our seats and looked for loppies that I knew would be there and Carys was sitting 2 seats away from us on the next row back. We talked Lee until the show started also gave me a little present for me to treasure.

 Well at last my long awaited return arrived. Jenna came on and I took to her straight away; much more communicative I found than Preeya. then my magical journey started all over again ! HE came on and oh boy, I still have tears in my eyes, silly as I am. He was brilliant. I know that in CED he had a bit of a strain but he was still magical. The whole cast were terrific I loved Nathalien in the role of Judah and the megamix, oh boy oh boy! it was electric. I think it was the best of the 3 I have seen. My hands are still hurting. Lee had an ovation , then it all came to an end sadly. We went out, met other loppies, stage loppies, and Diana, and waited for GO to come out.  He did look when I asked him if how he was. He said much better thank you. I hope he gets back to his 100% self soon he must have had a very bad chest and throat infection this time and probably needed a few more days, but Lee is such a trouper that he would hate to let his public down.

Abs

                                             Abs2512           Ringer              Chantale                   Carys

The next day as we stayed in the same hotel as Carys she joined us for breakfast then we met again with Ringer we went our separate ways to meet up again at lunchtime , which alas we missed as my friend was anxious not to miss the train back to Cornwall so I never got to meet Shirley. Hey great excuse to go again!

                                                         Chantale       Carole                      Carys

We came back on cloud nine. Carole phoned me this evening missing the show already as she phoned I could hear Lee's dulcet tones in the background...!!!!

Another fan created hooray

 My only regret is that I did not take more photos of GO when he came out.

 xxx Chantale

Kazzer and her son met Lee at the stage door twice in early April; wow!!! two truly special moments!

5^th and 9^th April 2008

Down south with Alex for the Easter holidays, so got to go to see Joseph twice!

5^TH April 2008

We were waiting at the stage door, with some of the other LoveLees.

Lee arrived really early. I think it was just before 12.00. I was chatting and had my back to him. Rachey said "There's Lee" and I turned round and he was standing right beside me. He was looking gorgeous in his beanie hat and black coat. "LEEEEEEE!!!!!!" I exclaimed..... It was all I could think up at the time.

"Hi girls" he said grinning......"are you seeing the show today?" "OH YES" we all exclaimed!

"Er....Lee, We've got you a little present I said" handing it to him still a bit incapable of coherent speach. I'd meant to give it to Alex to give him, but I got a bit flustered. "Awwww thanks" he said. "It's a sheep" I said. "Ahhhhh" he said "is that from you" he said to Alex. Alex nodded, as he also seemed to be unable to speak, bless!!!. "I like your T-shirts" Lee said to Alex and looking at me. "Thanks" I said. “I’ve done matching team LoveLee t-shirts today" and I gave him a bit of a flash of mine! "Actually would you be kind enough to sign them for us and could we possibly have a photo? "Sure" he said. (I'd made white t-shirts with black LoveLee/Jr. LoveLee lettering and a pic of Lee singing PIB from SCD).

So yeah!!! We've got Lee Mead signed T-shirts. Signed while we were wearing them...Oh My!!!!. And I got a loveLee snuggLee hug with him to have our photo taken. I did have to apologise to him for giving him a bit of a squeeze, but he didn't seem to mind and laughed and squeezed me to him a bit harder in return.  No wonder I’m grinning like an idiot!

Thanks to Rachey for capturing the moment for me on my camera!

9^th April 2008
Back down to London for the Matinee with Alex.
I was on a bit of a mission to try and get a Birthday card signed for one of the LoveLee’s.

Janet H was at the Adelphi with her daughter and husband on the 29th April; and there was a kiss!!! Read all about it here............

After what seemed an endless countdown, the day finally arrived and we made our trip from the Isle of Wight to the Adelphi to see the show for the second time. We had row D stalls and I couldn't believe how close we were. Last time we had seen Preeya as the narrator, but tonight it was Jenna and we thought she was fantastic. Unfortunately Dean was not playing Pharoah which was a shame as I think he is fabulous, but I must admit that Paul Basleigh was great and had a superb voice. I love all of the brothers but was really impressed by Craig Scott and James Bisp. As for the man himself....WOW.. he was incredible, even better than I had remembered and the megawatt smile, it just makes you melt. CED was so powerful and during the reunion scene with Jacob you could have heard a pin drop, it was perfection. The show whizzed by and you just wish it would go on forever.

Thanks to Abs and Tricia, we managed to get a great spot in the scrum and my daughter Anna got right to the front. It was very civilised and we managed to have a chat with Abs and Tricia and a bit of banter with the security guard whilst we waited. Then when Lee appeared I was amazed how gorgeous he is close up. I managed to get my CD cover signed and think I managed to smile and say hello. Then he worked further along the line towards Anna, who had made a card for Lee and as she handed it to him, he said thank you and bent down and gave her a kiss!!!! I was utterly amazed and as those of you who saw the picture that Abs posted on the forum could tell, I couldn't believe that she had been so lucky. He then proceeded to tell everyone that she had given him a love letter ! She hasn't stopped talking about it yet (neither have I) and it made our trip so special. He was so lovely with the crowd and seemed to have a smile for everyone. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

We stayed in a hotel overnight and Wednesday turned out to be very wet and cold, so in my opinion there is only one place you should be in those circumstances.... the Adelphi! OH was surprisingly keen too as he had really enjoyed the show and we managed to get good seats again for the matinee. Won't review that show as well, all I can say is that it was superb and you would never have guessed that he was infact suffering from bronchitis and a leg injury. Lee you are a superstar !!!!!!

Karen saw the show on Thursday 24th April; seems like there was an extra special atmosphere that evening!

Very excited about seeing Lee and show again!! Met up with abs, Smittenbylee and Karen C, decided to grab something to eat before show!!
As we walked into the theatre we were all feeling excited, hearts 'thudding' !! When we got through the stalls doors and realised just how close (even in row E) we'd be I think we were all shaking!!
 
Took our seats and waited for those notes.....
 
Fiona was narrator and was brilliant. Then, the dry ice......
 
LEE!!!! Huge cheers, whoops, clapping greeted him, he gave that lovely, delicious smile and looked so pleased at the response!
 
I shan't go into detail over all the scenes etc. they were all faultless!
 
As previously posted - the show and Lee were PHENOMENAL!!!! Yes, I know we're biased but abs (that well known veteran (not in age! LOL!) of the show!) said she felt that it was the best she'd been to!!!
The interaction was amazing and the atmosphere - words fail me.
The Pharoah scene - Dean extraordinary -abs has already mentioned the adlibbing re: 'teddy bear', it was all Lee could do not to burst out laughing! From where we (I anyway!) sat, tighty whities in evidence! Glimpses of them throughout!
 
CED - beautiful. As people have said before, you could see the sweat rolling down his chest - v.v. nice!!(understatement) 
 
I'm not going to make this a long review as the experience was so wonderful that I can't think of words to describe it! That kinda speaks for itself I guess!
Megamix - fantastic! Most of the stalls were up and joining in and the cast and Lee were really enjoying themselves.
 
All in all a truly memorable performance and night out!!!

The Giggle Sisters' (SueX and Lin) London Adventure 9^th to 13^th April (settle down with a cup of tea for a good long read!!)

 Lin and I arrived in sunny London at midday on Wednesday 9^th April. Lin  (Scotty Lin) travelling from Edinburgh; me from Liverpool. We started planning this trip in December after arranging a ticket transfer when Lee was ill with bronchitis.  Bookings being such, April was the earliest they could offer, so we decided to make the most of it; stay a few days, and cram in as much as we could! Swift check in at our hotel and we were off!  We had discussed the issue of stage dooring long and often and after much deliberation we decided to take the plunge to ask Lee to sign my thud shirt. We agreed that we wouldn’t wait if there were lots of people there. Got there just in time to see a large group of girls walking away from the stage door, we missed him! Oh well, decided it was not meant to be. We spent a few minutes chatting to Pipz and a couple of LoveLees who were waiting for other cast members to arrive. They told us that Lee had spent quite some time with everyone and seemed really happy signing and posing for pictures …….  Aaarrrggghhhh ! if only I  hadn’t started the shall-we-shan’t-we debate again as we unpacked, we would have been there. So off we trotted for a leisurely lunch and headed for the afternoon scrum where I had arranged to meet up with SarahG and her Mum. Sarah bounded out of the theatre with BIG smiles and was Buzzing from yet another fantastic show. We had a great time catching up while waiting for the GO. We had our :thud: shirts on and lots of ladies approached us to tell us they lurk on LMAS and love it but they are not the sort to post! Met lovely Ann who had come on her own and described herself as more of a lurker Loppy than a poster. And, was that you Baloo? I know I spoke to you at some point but we did 3 scrums and it’s all rather hazy. Anyway, it was nice to meet you. Lee emerged from the theatre to loud cheers and screaming girls. (I took a video, will put it on YouTube - turn down the volume if you listen to it though, it’s quite ear piercing!). Must get some lessons on screen caps as Lee looked directly into my camera and said Hello…..thud…thud….thud…..I lost the power of speech mid sentence oh help! So, with a smile and a wave he was gone and the five of us headed off to Café Nero to swoon together!

 So, to the Main Event of the day.

We had great seats in the stalls row D for the eve show. It began. How can I describe this moment? It’s a mixture of relief- Lee is performing, tension – don’t really believe I’m here and a jelly like wobblyness that starts in the toes and takes over the whole body! The show was Brilliant as usual, too much dry ice at start although no swimming required! Lee’s voice was not quite as strong as I’ve heard before but still very beautiful and emotive. I think he was protecting it, thought he may have had a bit of a throat problem.

John Alistair played Jacob and Mark Oxtoby Ruben. I really liked the way Mark delivered One More Angel – he played the it like a naughty boy, fiddling with his belt and looking all guilty as he told Jacob he now only had 11 sons.

There were a few moments that cracked up the cast. First was at the pit, something happened, I don’t know what, but giggling was evident and some of the brothers struggled for a few seconds to keep from cracking up. Second was Nat Morrison (Napthali) at the end of One more Angel when he got his foot tangled in the coat as he took it off to give to Jacob. He shook his foot, one of the wives tried to untangle it but it wouldn’t budge. Much foot shaking ensued and he had to pull his boot off a bit before it was released. He coped admirably. We were treated to a MEGA THUD moment during the prison scene. The candle flickered as Jenna passed it through the bars and it went out completely while it was sitting on the floor beside Lee. As Jenna sang “a candle was his only light” Lee looked straight out and RAISED those eyebrows to the audience. The expression on his face was priceless. I don’t know whether the laughter was louder than the gasps and thudding but it was a great moment. Interval time and we had a glass of red and a chat with Ro in the bar.  All too soon we were at the belting megamix with most of the stalls on their feet by the end. Off we headed to the scrum, it was crazy and I thought I was going to fall over at one point. I think we collapsed into our hotel that night – happy tired loppies.

We went to the Dr Who exhibition at Earls Court on Thursday morning – had a good laugh, stroked Captain Jacks Hero coat and ran away from the scary mannequins! We walked our little legs off along the embankment on Thursday afternoon and went to the Royal Opera House for the ballet in the evening dahling - Sleeping Beauty. Very nice but no LEE! Couldn’t quite get the thought that we could have seen Jo again out of my mind! Champagne Bar was delightful and we took advantage of it.

 Friday am .Vanity Fair exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery – fab photos. Met up with fellow Stage Loppies Carol and Shirley and had a wonderful time over lunch. Lin persuaded me (didn’t take much) to try to see Lee at the stage door again. So off we set and met up with Hazel (Frandlec). Again, we agreed that we wouldn’t stay if there were lots of people. Got there and it was very quiet, just two people, so we stood by the stage door and waited. Not surprisingly, we got quite giggly and increasingly excited as time went on.

And then HE appeared; striding down the road, looking very relaxed, big smile when he got closer. I stood rooted to the ground! Lin, hurriedly took my camera from me – we hadn’t discussed this bit!  A few more girls appeared from nowhere and stopped him for pics. Hazel asked him to sign a picture her grandson had drawn and he asked about it, how old was her grandson? what was his name?….. Lin by this time was giving me The Look and nudging me coz I still hadn’t moved an inch and she was waiting to take photos.  I stood clutching the shirt in one hand, pen in the other when Lee turned to me and said “Oh Hi!”  I know I said that I didn’t want to intrude on his time and that I had designed it and organised the printing and distribution and would love him to autograph it if he didn’t mind but quite what order it all came out I’m not sure.   He was delightful, smiling, he said something but I’ve no idea what it was……..….those eyes….…thud…. he tried to autograph it but the pen wouldn’t work very well and OMG he looked at me with apologetic eyes and said oh no! it won’t work very well…. Think I said that’s ok and took it back and then he asked if I wanted a picture. I, (swooning) said; are you sure you don’t mind? or maybe it was “sqkiggsle” ? :THUD: (sorry  that was me just now, not then, re-living it!!!)  “course not” said Lee and as we posed for Lin to take the pic (which she took while we were still talking – as any little sister would) he gave me a little hug! (well I thought I was imagining it but Hazel and Lin saw it and did the OMG you got a hug thing afterwards) .

All of three photos were taken during this time because for some reason – Leeitis? Lin decided to turn the camera off after each shot??? Well, we know Brain = mush in the presence of the GO, so I let her off coz I luv her dearly and she’s my bestest friend.

Now, my sister likes Lee, very occasionally posts on here, of course she voted for him but has never quite ‘got’ the total loppiness, she joins in with me etc but didn’t want a picture and was only there to………..but, wait a minute………...she suddenly thrust the camera at me and leapt to Lee’s side for a picture too.  Glazed but beaming expression on her face…..yes, she has crossed over. Being in the presence of the GO was just too much !  

Much questioning from Lee during all this.  Are you girls seeing the show tonight? (he could see we were under 27, all loppies are for those of you who don’t know) Where are you from? Are you enjoying yourselves? Bye………..nice to see you, enjoy the show…..

And in a breath he was gone! He disappeared into the backstage world of the Adelphi. We were left; shaking and staring at each other in disbelief.To say we were buzzing would be the understatement of the year! And we hadn’t even seen the show yet nor been to the scrum!!!!

Lin was unbelievable – OMG, OMG…. He’s so gorgeous. Now I know what you mean!!! Yes Ladies, this is where she crossed the line. (well who wouldn’t) Hazel was so excited too, he recognised you ! No, he couldn’t have, they agreed, yes he did – there was real recognition there. He recognised you from the scrum. And you got a hug!!! You mean I didn’t imagine it?  Rewind back to the Wednesday scrum  - I asked him if it was ok to video and he said hello to my camera. Well me behind it really …..Surely not?

 Next stop the Porterhouse for coffee and had wine, we were confused!  Then off we floated to the front of the Adelphi for our much awaited VIP transfer from December.  Knowing there would be lots of Champagne on tap as part of the package, we had invited Hazel, Anne (Abs) and Amanda (Millie Mollie) to join us as they were at the show too.  The three of us were high as kites by the time Anne and Amanda joined us. They thought we had downed a fair bit of champers already! Strangely enough we hadn’t; it was Lee love that had us floating!

Lin, Anne and I were shown to our seats in row A of the Dress Circle and I was immediately aware of the young man next to me munching away on sweeties. We’ll call him Munching Minstrel Man (MMM) Hazel and Amanda were in the stalls , we gave them a wave, they didn’t look. Think they were distracted by something?? – MMM frowned- was not impressed!

 And so it began……tension as the announcements were made,,………….., ooooh, there’s all that jelly and stuff again!………phew!  The orchestra struck up, then a big shout as the children ran into the auditorium and onto the stage……...considering this was the eighth time I had seen the show, I was still apprehensive….will he perform? Yes I’d just seen him arrive but you never know.  For me, the intensity has deepened with each show.  Butterflies …..….focus on Jenna and the children, strong performance from her, great voice……….….oh dear! Can’t keep eyes from that spot……..…there was a tangible air of anticipation all around and then HE appeared. Serene. Beautiful. Joseph.

Oh my.! Deep breaths, deep breaths….the theatre erupted with whoops and applause. Big, big smile right from the start tonight but Lee still seemed to be protecting his voice. Nevertheless, he sounded wonderful and gave a fabulous performance throughout. The whole cast was just as enthusiastic and committed to the performance. Mark played Ruben just as comically as he did on Wednesday. MMM was really bugging me and I made some obvious glances in his direction to hopefully give him the message that he was disturbing me, all amounted to nothing so when he reached for the bag as the prison bars were lowering down for CED I shifted my weight toward him and without looking at him (coz couldn’t take them off the GO)  and said “please don’t rustle your packet during this”. He passed the packet to his girlfriend without a sound. GOOD!

 We had an excellent view of the whole stage form the Dress Circle and I can report that Mrs Potiphar’s handmaidens were VERY frisky hence I am applying for a role of handmaiden.  OH! Darn it!!!! Just been told I’ve got to be able to sing, dance and drop 30 years. May have a bit of a problem there! (as I’m only 27 in Loppy years). Although there are benefits from the Dress Circle I would much rather be in the front stalls where you feel a real connection with the performers.

All too soon the megamix began and we were clapping along. To say the D/C audience was sedate would be an enormous understatement. Some were positively comatose! I didn’t feel we could stand as it would have been rude as no one behind us was up. Then what do you know? MMM turned to me and asked me to stop waving my hand in his face! Hmmmmm maybe I was clapping rather enthusiastically!!! I felt like telling him to get a life but resisted and changed the direction. We stood as the cherry picker descended and stayed on our feet for the curtain calls, slowly some people stood with us but everyone was clapping and looked happy.

Lin (baby loppy – full of new found enthusiasm) kicked into lighting mode and secured us a good spot at the front of the scrum.  There wasn’t as much pushing and shoving as we had at the wed show and it didn’t seem very long before Lee appeared looking drop dead gorgeous. Lee remembered us from the stage door and said I could send my thud to him for a ‘proper’ autograph, I went all soppy and forgot everything brain = mush? Yes that was me! Lin told him she had travelled from Edinburgh and his eyes widened “I’ve been there!” he exclaimed and went on to chat to her about the festival. Bless him; he was surprised that she had travelled so far to see him!  I moved to the back to let others in – not an easy task when everyone is pushing forward.

 We all had a night cap back at our hotel and spent ages looking at our pics and going over the night’s events. Not a wink of sleep was had!

We met my gorgeous Son and his Fiancée for lunch on Saturday and went to the Peter Doig Exhibition at the Tate in the afternoon. Brenda and Kirsten had gone to the matinee show and joined us for coffee at our hotel afterwards. I had planned to join them in the scrum but decided against it. Lee had recognised me the previous day – wouldn’t want him to think I was a stalker!

Last item on our itinerary  - the Old Vic to see Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldbloom in Speed the Plow. I must say, KS blew my socks off with a magnificent performance!

Well, we rounded off our adventure standing in the pouring rain watching the London Marathon on Sunday morning and planning our next trip in June!

Wednesday 23rd April - Vicki S and her OH had an amazing time!

Saw the Wednesday matinee show with our replacement tickets which were the best I've had and quite near the front in the stalls from which we were able to see all Lee's expressions.

This is my third visit and I can't believe it but Lee gets better and better. My husband hadn't seen the show since the opening night so I was keen for him to love it as much as I do. He thought it was even better than that night because the whole cast were obviously more relaxed and gave a wonderful performance. Lee sang beautifully and his performance is gaining strength all the time. Considering how good he was on the first night, that is saying something. We have been to several other shows recently, all of which were in some way disappointing - but not Joseph.

My husband is very critical but he couldn't fault it. This show has the best sound system, the best performances from the whole cast and the show is so enjoyable because although highly professional, it is such unpretentious fun.I was disappointed that the rather elderly audience in the stalls stayed in their seats for the megamix; I was therefore forced to remain seated myself but even they were drawn into the standing ovation at the end.I was at the front of the scrum with a group of LoveLees and it was great to have a chat and share our enthusiasm. Lee 
signed my album cover and I asked "How did he manage to be better and better every time I saw him? He smiled his wonderful smile and said Thank you and gave me a wink.

He stayed out quite a long time and my husband was watching and agreed that he is so lovely with the crowd and tries his absolute best to sign as many things as possible.I had left a copy of that lovely review I posted on the forum at the stage door explaining that it was so special I thought they should all see it and do hope he received it. I also added a note, explaining how Scott originally came to call people Loppies. You will remember that Lee asked about this on his most recent Q & A on the Joseph site. He obviously knows what it means but didn't seem to know how it came about.

I am on cloud nine again. We have some pics and attach the best. I wish I could keep my hands steady, but it is hard when Lee is so gorgeous and charming.

Wednesday 9th April - Jane was left speechless after her encounter with the GO!

I didn’t think April the 9th would ever come after buying our tickets way back last summer but from New Years Day I have been driving everyone crazy counting down the days!!. Then at last the great day arrived and we set off for London bright and early. As we were relying on public transport I was worried that we would be lost in the city but I needn’t have worried, every other vehicle was a taxi and we were at our hotel before our room was ready so we dumped our cases and went shopping ending up in Hamleys toy shop!!

Once back at the hotel and settled into our room we prepared for pre theatre dinner and by this time I was more than a little excited. The staff had got us a taxi which was waiting by the time I had got my coat and after checking that I had got our precious tickets it was destination Adelphi Theatre. Once there I took photos and then bought my goodies in the gift shop before ordering champagne for the interval. After being assured that it was indeed the lovely Lee performing and relieved that our tickets were not fake we took our seats- 22 and 23 in row B and then the orchestra struck up but I still couldn’t relax until the God appeared and he was gorgeous, curls everywhere and wow!! can he sing! I didn’t really take any notice of anyone else as I couldn’t take my eyes off him. My poor long suffering husband who was adamant that he was going to hate every minute was soon tapping his feet to the music and really loved Dean who was excellent and Jenna, but the best was yet to come......

As I was making my out to join the scrum again my fears proved unfounded, it wasn’t raining and Lee was coming out shortly when I was stopped by a really nice lady who asked me if I wanted to meet Lee? I think my face said more than words as she told me to fetch my husband who had disappeared outside and bring him back in as people in wheelchairs would be put at the front. As we waited for what seemed like an eternity a security guard pushed him out with me trotting behind and then Lee was there saying 'hello' to me and I was so shocked that I couldn’t get any words out - my husband has never known me to be speechless and has teased me ever since but I got my poster signed and the camera was working and I walked away from the Adelphi on cloud nine repeatedly telling hubby that the wonderful one had spoken to me and I haven’t come off my cloud yet!! I am proud to be a Loppy forever.....

Monday 7th April - Sunny Mead's account of a fab outing!

As I posted a while ago my OH booked tickets for us last month, so we could go to see the show while we are on a caravanning holiday to London, he hasn’t see the show, so I think he wanted to find out what all the fuss is about.

We arrived a lovely caravan site at Chertsey, right by the side of the Thames. Had a shock when we woke up Sunday morning to an inch of snow. Oh what if this lasted till Monday and we couldn’t get there, OH said we did not need to worry.

Monday came and we caught the underground into London at Lunch time, spent the afternoon at the War Museum for other OH. Then at 5.30pm headed of to Covent Garden for something to eat.     7pm we arrived at the theatre stalls row E 32 & 33. So much closer than last time in the DC.

I really enjoyed the show from this seat felt so close to the stage Lee seem to spend a lot of time just in font of me.

As the show started there was a lot of dry ice could hardly see him a first but it soon cleared, and  I could see him smiling. As he began to sing I just melted, he just got better and CED bought tears to my eyes, and from this seat I could see every expression on his face.

Last time I saw the show Preeya was the narrator but I think I like Jenna better. The Brothers were so funny as was Dean and the rest of the cast.

It’s just over all to fast but what a happy feeling you go away with.

I haven’t  converted OH  But he did say that he enjoyed the show much better than he thought he would, and how good the whole cast were.

After the show we went out the front, I had bought the album OH got me for Xmas and wanted to get it signed.

We stood on the left side by the posters, and I noticed a lady in front of me with a large photo of the GO. I asked if she was a Loppy and she said yes, Abs it was nice to meet another Loppy and have a chat. When the Go came out to a big cheer Abs got her photo signed and I got my CD signed. We walked back to the underground with Abs and said our goodbyes, and I was Humming all the way back.

Abs See you in June when I go again can’t wait.

Louisa shares her excitement with us too!

It's not easy being a Loppy based in Scotland so many hundreds of miles away from all the Joe action. Thank goodness for all the squees on this site.

Somehow, though, I managed to persuade my hubby that we should spend a week in the Big Smoke with our two wee girls and, "while we were there anyway", fit in a visit (or two) to the Adelphi.

So, finally, on 29 March, I found myself back in the Adelphi accompanied by my 5-year-old daughter, Sioned. It was my third time and Sioned's second. Don't know which one of us was the more excited!

The fact that we had flown down that morning in time for the matinee meant that every possible scenario of things that could go wrong had entered my mind, from us having a puncture on the way to the airport, to Lee eating another dodgy pizza. I don't think I relaxed until the heavenly sight of Lee finally descending on his platform, and even then I forgot to breathe for a moment or two. I just love the anticipation from the first few notes of the orchestra to the opening number from the narrator, topped only by Lee's beaming smile.

One of the first reviews of Joseph referred to the "dusky mellifluousness" of Lee's voice and, to me, that's a wonderful way of summing up what makes listening to him so wonderful. I'm a translator so I'm always on the look-out for the perfect word – one dictionary definition of "mellifluousness" is "flowing with sweetness or honey". How apt is that!

Lee is great throughout the show but CED was just sensational - don’t know how he manages to sum up so much emotion performance after performance. I don't know much about the technical side of singing but he did seem to chop up the final few lines to help with his breathing, and he did something different with "promised" at the end – both times I saw the show, in fact. This isn't a criticism, it just sounded different from how I remember it.

I wasn't sure if I would take to Jenna, as I really liked Preeya. I just loved her sparkly stage presence, which for me made up for any dodgy high notes. Jenna, though, was great and you certainly never felt like she was going to struggle to hit her notes. She gives her eyebrows a good workout too with lots of raising at the end of each line!

I wasn't too keen on her outfits in the second half. I didn't think that they did much for her great figure and every time she goes for the big money notes she tends to bend her knees and outstretch her arms, making her already tiny skirt all the tinier. Don't suppose the men in the audience were averting their eyes, though!!

This time we were in row J in the stalls, which was the furthest forward I'd been. I had hoped to be close enough for the facial expressions, but didn't expect to be close enough to see spit (sorry, if that's tmi) and makeup stains on the loincloth. You wouldn't think it would take much to put it though the wash between shows, would you? I was also so impressed by how expressive the brothers and wives are in every number.

The bit at the beginning when Lee pretends to yawn and then lies down to sleep always makes me laugh now, as the first time I saw it I was right at the back of the UC and thought he was stifling a cough – cue lots of panicking that he was unwell and might not make it through the show....

 The audience were possibly a little bit muted, but then the last time I saw the show was CiN night, so that had to be a tough act to follow. Sioned and I were both on our feet by the time Lee came out at the end of the Megamix but I wasn't quite brave enough to stand up before then.

I did notice that when Stephen Tate came out carrying the coat in the Megamix he looked a little uncertain about what he should be singing but I don't think he did anything different from normal.

 And so, to the scrum. Well, my mission was to place Sioned near the front and hope she could get the photo we'd brought along signed. When we saw the show in September we saw little more than Lee's arm over our heads in what was a manic scrum. This time, though, we managed to keep our spot at the front to the left of the door. I did notice lots of people – mainly men, it has to be said – coming out of the theatre giving us sympathetic looks as if we were very sad people to be waiting outside. One lady came bounding out and, obviously assuming that we were waiting for the next performance, shouted out "Oh, you'll love it – it's great!" Anyway, Lee appeared looked very bouncy and happy. There were some other young kiddies in the front row and one granny asked Lee if he would give her two granddaughters a kiss as they were big fans. Lee bent down and offered his (stubbly - swoon!) cheek to the wee girls so that they could give him a little peck on the cheek. Sioned stood quietly alongside and at first I was worried she would be forgotten on the end of the line but I shouldn't have worried. Lee signed her photo for her, then asked her what her name was - so far, so good - then asked his usual "Did you enjoy the show?" Now, I've always thought it funny that he asks this. As if anyone would say no! Well, Sioned, bless her, didn't say no but just gazed at him shyly so that he seemed a bit unsure if she had in fact enjoyed it and raised his eyes up to me. I enjoyed my "superior" moment – "Oh, she's just gone shy", I said, and got a knowing grin from the man himself. It's probably just as well he then carried on along the line or I would have been going very shy too!!

 You'll all recognise that "floating" feeling that the two of us had as we made our way back along the Strand to our hotel.

I then felt really guilty when I had to admit to Sioned that I was going again on the Tuesday night and hadn't got her a ticket too. I already felt like a bad mother not taking my three-year-old to the matinee. I had no doubts that she would enjoy it but I did doubt whether she would be able to keep quiet and decided that she was just too little. Anyway, both of them have been promised a visit on 18 October so that's helped lessen my guilt a little bit!

I can't add much about the performance on 1 April, other than it was even better than the Saturday matinee. Lee's voice was even better, and the cast had even more energy.

I was sitting next to a Lovelee (in Row D, near the middle) who said that she'd seen Zoe Tyler in the audience and I also spotted her during the interval signing autographs.

Despite being so close and having such a wonderful view, I do have to confess that I don't notice Lee's disappearing chest hair that's been mentioned on the forum. The fact that I did notice that Jenna's left leg was strapped up, though, is a bit worrying – I don't remember focusing on her legs!

 Funnily, when I saw the show again on the Tuesday night, I thought that Lee seemed to do a Jenna-esque gesture at the end of CED - arms out and knees bent, in what didn't really look like a typical Lee move.

 From Row D I was mesmerised by the look of sheer joy on Lee's face when he was reunited with Benjamin. But I enjoyed seeing all of the facial expressions so close up – particularly noticed the women's faces when they were doing the "thin cows" bit – I loved the sucked-in cheeks.

 The other thing I noticed is just how tiny the platform is when you're sitting right underneath it.

Again, nobody was really up dancing during the Megamix but my Lovelee neighbour and I were among the first on our feet as Lee was raised up on the platform, and there were certainly loads standing in the stalls by the end.

Having enjoyed my prime spot in the scrum on the Saturday, I was happy to let the little ones to the front this time, though wish I could have managed at least one photo. There were actually more children on the Tues night than at the Sat matinee, probably due to the school hols, but I did see at least one wee one being carried out asleep!

The only downside after all that excitement was that I had to cope with another three days in London staying in a hotel just 10 mins walk away from the Adelphi. I would really have loved to have gone to the show every night.

We did decide on Wed though to try the TKTS booth for bargain tickets for something else. Anyway, I was keen to see Les Mis that afternoon, so hubby agreed to take the girls to see Angelina's Star Performance by the English National Ballet. He had the last laugh though. I stayed in Eat on the corner of Maiden Lane to finish my sandwich as he dashed off with the girls to Angelina, only for them to see Lee signing autographs outside the stage door. Sioned's first words when we met up again were "We saw Lee!" - for a moment, I though OH was a closet Loppy after all and they'd all been to see Joseph....

 It all seems a bit of daze now, though I put the CD of the show on and realised I can now block out JD and completely visualise Lee and the cast, so it was all going in even if it felt a bit surreal at the time.

Have tickets booked for 18 October, as I said, but am not sure if I can hold out that long without another visit....

Jazzylou’s wonderful account (sorry it has taken so long for me to get it online!)

I've had a rollercoaster of a week, it started with the dreaded news that Lee was ill and the worry about getting the school of my choice for my son and both of my children have been ill.  I was so pleased on Thursday when someone posted that Lee was back at the theatre, it lifted my spirits no end.  My birthday began today when I woke up with a knot in my stomach.  My first thought was that it might be my daughters tummy bug , nooooo I don't need that, not today!  But no, I was just really excited at the prospect of seeing Lee tonight.

With the children packed off to the neighbours for a sleep over, and a last minute call to the stage door, I was finally on my way!  Hubby and I were a bit late leaving for London so we didn't have time for a proper meal.  Instead we grabbed a pasty at Waterloo and took it to Trafalgar Square to eat  - very romantic, the air of anticipation was all around.  We then made our way along the Strand, as soon a I set eyes on the lit up JOSEPH sign, I became really excited.  We collected our tickets and got a drink at the bar.  I looked around, wondering if there were any Loppies present.  Then we took to our seats, I knew which seat numbers Alex, Claire & Helen were in and I counted along and worked out what they looked like in hope of meeting them later.

Then the show started, Jenna was very good, my OH said that he liked her better than Preeya and I think I agree, lovely voice.  Then Lee came down, I was slightly worried that his voice might show signs of his illness but, OMG, he sang like an angel.  He started very softly at first, then increasing as the song progressed.  I was spellbound, it was so good to see and hear him again even though I only went on Jan 3rd.  His hair was all over the place but this only adds to his charm.  The coat was swishy and the show had so much vibrancy and energy, also the cast seemed happy to have Lee back, the brothers were as funny as before .  Close every door was as awesome as ever, again his voice was so soft and expressive. Noticed a bit more sweat tonight, the theatre did seem quite warm.  Body beautiful and loincloth swishy but firmly fixed!  Act I is my favourite, it has all the bits that I like, especially the last part where Lee wears the garland and gets lifted high.

Dean was on top form in Act II, he gave his scarf as usual and got lots of laughs.  The one thing I noticed much more this time was Lee's transition from boy to man, he really does transform into an older Joseph.  I was waiting for the cup to break as I have heard that it does quite a lot, but I think he had been told to be a bit more careful this time!  As for the bit where he meets up with his father......you could hear a pin drop in the stalls, the whole theatre was silent, only to be broken by Lee's beautifully soft voice (I know I keep saying it but you all know what I mean) singing ADWD again, it brought a tear to my eye, such an emotional scene.  All too quickly we were into the megamix and I was ready to dance!!  I thought Lee did a bit more dancing tonight or maybe I just enjoyed it more.  Everyone puts in so much effort and energy into the dancing.  At that point lots of people were clapping hands in the air, and as Lee came out, I was up!! couldn't hold off any longer, needless to say, I wasn't alone.  He seemed to notice everyone and was clearly delighted.  I always love the hoist bit, he seemed to go even higher this time and fortunately didn't swallow any confetti!  He got a good applause with lots of whistles and cheers and (I think) many people were standing I was so swept away by it all by then I was oblivious to anyone else), his face lights up when he sees everyone enjoying themselves.  A glittering performance tonight!

I got in a good position for the scrum, there didn't seem to be too much pushing tonight, despite the large crowd.  I got talking to a nice lady who was with her young daughter.  I think it was her first time and she didn't even know that Lee had been ill.  I gave her the low down on what happens and we got her daughter to the front.  then I spotted the girls I thought were Claire , Helen and Alex.  I decided to ask them their names and fortunately I was right, it was them!!  What a great feeling to finally meet someone from our site, strangely, it seemed as if we already knew each other.  The lady I had been talking to was amazed that we had only been talking on a forum over the internet. 

Lee came leaping down the stairs out to the front doors.  He reached over me with the pics but I didn't mind because I already have one personally signed that he sent in the post..  Then he started signing.  I got my tux pic ready.  While he signed it, I told him that I was glad he was better and that I hoped he would enjoy his holiday.  He said thank you.  He wasn't as vocal tonight, probably guarding his voice for the last two shows and I don't blame him.  I said a hasty goodbye to the girls and made way for others to get to the front.  I watched from the back until Lee went in and shouted goodbye.

Oh what a night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I hope you have enjoyed reading my story, I'm not as witty as some but I always enjoy reading other reviews so I thought I would do mine for you!Thank you Donna for giving us all this opportunity to make new friends and for us all to share each others experiences.

Jazzylou XX

Emma Jean had a top night with the Meadster too!

My family and I went up to London on the Tuesday to see the show on Thursday. Needless to say, I was very excited and could not wait for Thursday to come. The day finally dawned, and 7:30 pm didn't seem that long away after all!

We turned up outside the theatre at 7:15, and couldn't believe that we were actually going in to see the show we had been waiting 6 months to see...We had excellent seats, row J in the stalls (to be recommended) - you were close enough to the action, but also far back enough to be able to get a great view of the whole stage. Suddenly the show started, and for the next two hours, I had one of the best times of my life.

When Lee appeared through the mist, all the audience started cheering, including me - the atmosphere was amazing!!! The GO had a gorgeous cheeky grin on his face - he was obviously very appreciative of the audience's reaction!

We had Jenna Lee-James as our narrator, and I must say, she really blew me away. Her voice was outstanding, she put everything that she had into the performance, and she connected extremely well with the children's choir (which was magnificent in its own right - well done to all the youngsters!!). Her acting really brought the show alive, and her diction was perfect - she told the story like any narrator should.

Lee's Any Dream Will Do was wonderful - he looked calm, cool, and really worked well with the choir (such a family man!!!). I had a lot of trouble containing myself after he'd finished singing it (sorry to the people behind me if I was waving my hands around a bit too violently!!). The introduction of Jacob and his sons was outstanding - there was so much energy everywhere you looked! Lee stood out as being a true star, the perfect Joseph - he played the beloved son to absolute perfection, his surprise at receiving the coat from his father being a really poignant moment, I felt.

The next part of the story was so well acted and very funny - loved the way Lee came on with his DREAMS book!! The song that the brothers sang before beating Joseph up was probably one of my favourite moments - the sunglasses worked so well, and the rap style of the song was just hilarious! Loved it when the camel came on (I was secretly wishing that it wasn't going to break down - scenes from the Winner's Story kept flashing through my mind!!!). Lee did the 'snake bit' wonderfully - he just knows how to act so well, his 'But I don't speak Egyptian very well' line really bringing Joseph's character to life.

I thought that the Hoedown was brilliant, and the contrast between One More Angel In Heaven and the joyous dancing was great - you didn't know whether to laugh or cry (for Jacob's sake).

Loved the talking snake and camel bit - the confusion and surprise on Jenna and Lee's faces was magic! I also liked the London Eye appearing in the background as Jo was on his way to Egypt - all the sets, props and scenery was amazing, come to that. Well done to the stage manager people!

I really liked the way they did the Potiphar scene - so 'clinical and logical'! The actor who played Jacob and Potiphar was amazing - he changed his character in such a convincing way that it was only afterwards when I looked at the programme in more detail that I realised that it was the same guy playing these two parts! Ultimate respect to you, Stephen Tate! I thought Lee's acting during this scene was exquisite - his little strut and his inquisitive look were wonderfully done, and he really came alive on that stage.

Mrs. Potiphar's seduction of Lee was really well done: she played the temptress to perfection, while Lee's unfailing innocence just fitted the part so well. I felt so sorry for poor Jo - Mrs. Potiphar, leave him alone!!! Their acting was so convincing that it made you want to get up on that stage and stop Mrs. P from doing all of her sly seducing.... Great scene!

Now for the infamous (or famous?!?) Close Every Door (might I just add that the opera glasses came out here....though they were only used for looking at his facial expressions, I promise you....(as if!) ). Lee was superb here - he really put every single bit of emotional energy he had into it, and his voice was so powerful. He blasted out the notes as though it was opening night all over again, and what I especially loved about this song was that he put some 'Lee' magic into it. (I was reminded of the stage director's comment in the Winner's Story about how Lee hadn't quite found the confidence to make Joseph his own character yet - this song really proved that he had come such a long way since those early rehearsal days). The crowd went wild after he'd sung this - it was such a triumph for Lee, and his voice just blew us all away.

The Baker and the Butler scene was just brilliant - the Butler was hilariously funny, his 'But I had to give up'  line sending me into a giggling fit. I also loved the Baker's facial expressions, as well as his flour-covered costume - I don't know how Lee kept a straight face throughout it! (The guards pushed Lee back at one point when the Baker and the Butler came in - I was not a happy bunny!!!).

I really loved Go Go Go Joseph - it was so colourful and energetic! A great end to a great first act!

All of the Pharaoh scenes were wonderful - Dean Collinson was a magnificent Pharaoh, and Lee acted really well during all of the song. Loved his little desperate look as he tried to interpret the dreams - it really made you realise that this was the matchpoint in Joseph's life. His big break is just around the corner - but he's got to get Pharaoh's dream right first... I thought the Pharaoh's song was very touching - I hadn't heard it before, so it was very exciting to hear a fairly newish song. I thought it gave the Pharaoh a chance to show us his calmer, softer side, and it made a nice contrast between the previous, action-packed scene - thought he was a great actor, too.

Those Canaan Days was another one of my favourite bits - the accent was really well done, and I loved the dramatic grief of the brothers. Thought it was brilliant when they decided to 'go, off to Egypt to see brother Jo'. The next few scenes were really exciting - loved the costume, Lee!!! The suspense when Joseph was about to accuse Benjamin was amazing - when Lee walked forward towards Benjamin, holding the cup, the whole auditorium was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. It really showed you how capable Lee was of holding an audience's attention - nobody dared breathe before he slammed the cup down on the stage. The next song, Benjamin Calypso, was amazing - loved the way Lee was trying to do the little dance!!! I must put in a special mention here for Neal Wright, the actor who played Judah - he was absolutely stunning! He really pulled the Calypso off, and stood out from the brothers many a time. The bit when Joseph reveals his true identity was pure magic - it brought a tear to my eye. The way Lee whispered 'it's me' was so emotional, and I loved the way he took his Egyptian hat off to reveal his curls and his identity to the brothers. The way the music swells at this point just got me - I always get very upset when Joseph finally greets Benjamin, as it really demonstrates his forgiveness and love towards his family.

The scene after this, when Jo meets his father again, really showed just what a brilliant actor Lee is - there he was, standing proudly at the front of his chariot, but when he notices his father kneeling down in front of him, you see his face change, and he suddenly becomes the beloved son all over again. I found the reprise of Any Dream Will Do extremely touching - the coat was so special to him when he was still with his father in Canaan, but now, having become that son all over again, he finds it is ruined....Even though Joseph has everything now, he still looks at his spoilt coat with great sadness - it is a truly great moment in the show, and a weepy one at that.

The reprise of Close Every Door was just as wonderful as the first time round - the power that Lee has in his voice never ceases to amaze me. The megamix then started, and I could hardly contain myself - it was so boppy and fun! I was jigging about in my seat, desperately looking around to see if anybody was standing up so that I would at least be justified in doing so!!! I stood up and cheered like a mad thing when Lee was lifted up into the air on that podium, his coat streaming out behind him...I can hardly remember the details of that moment, it was so wonderful.

And then it was all over. My hands felt hot and heavy from clapping and waving - the sign of a good show. We rushed outside to try and get prime position in the scrum, which we did, thank goodness, and my sister and I found ourselves at the front of the crowd, talking to some ladies and explaining to them that Lee actually came out the front each night to greet his fans - we mentioned that we were Loppies, so perhaps we'll get a few more newbies soon!!! Lee soon came out, and when he came round to us, I asked him if the he recognised the technicoloured hat I was wearing (we'd met him at the Princes' Trust Awards on the Tuesday, and he said how he'd liked my hat!!!). I think he had a vague recollection of us - we congratulated him on his performance, and he gave us a lovely smile and said something like 'Oh thanks, that's so kind of you.' We got him to sign our programmes, and I asked him if he'd had a nice holiday, I think he said 'yes', but it was all a bit quick and over in a flash, so I'm not quite sure about that bit... We moved to the back of the scrum to let some other people through, and when he was told that he had to go back in, an elderly lady made her way up to Lee, anxious to speak to him. Lee turned round, bent down towards her, listened to what she had to say, then gave her a kiss on the cheek ... It was such a lovely moment - Lee probably had a million and one other things to do, but he still waited and listened to her, the perfect gentleman, as he always is (a girl had asked him for a photo at the beginning of the scrum, and he'd replied 'Well, yeah, but I'm a littlle bit busy at the moment...'. How modest!). Anyway, suffice to say that it was a good scrum, brief, but very exciting too.

All in all, the show was outstanding. Lee particularly impressed me with his dancing and acting, the two sides of his talent that we hadn't really seen that  much of on ADWD. His voice was superb, and you could just tell that he was born to play this role. Thanks to all of you for your advice on where to stand in the scrum (priceless information!), and I hope that I have done justice to what was one of the best nights of my life (looks like I'll be booking some more tickets very soon!!!). :)

What’s on Stage Awards and Concert 24th Feb 2008 from Deanna

With a crash of drums and a flash of light – whoops – wrong theatre! Only joking but the concert was an amazing event made even better by the fact that Lee was in attendance and I and my friends were sitting only about 8 feet or so away from him for the entire evening. Not a lot can top that, apart from sitting next to him of course.

here was chaos when we arrived at the theatre, with loads of fans waiting to see the celebrities arrive along with a number of paparazzi. The regular theatregoers - we who are not so well known - didn’t have to run the gauntlet of the fans. We were directed in through the other entrance doors to the left. It appeared at first that we were being kept apart from the celebrity guests but as we made our way downstairs we found that wasn’t the case, we were all in it together so to speak. Celebrity hospitality was next to the main bar and everyone was milling about together.

We were sitting in the row directly opposite the entrance door and when we sat down we could see everyone coming into the stalls and we appeared to be in a prime position as Dame Diana Rigg sat down in front of us. In the same row was Mark Gatiss (League of Gentleman) wearing the most appalling brightly coloured suit I’ve ever laid my eyes on. (It was certainly nothing like Lee’s technicoloured dreamcoat, which one would consider very tasteful in comparison) I can only presume that he wanted to be noticed in a big way! Then we saw Kevin Spacey walk in and sit down in the second row behind ours.

We were only just recovering from this surprise, when I noticed a familiar mop of dark curly hair in the doorway. Lee walked into looking very dishy in a grey suit, very pale pink shirt and loosely knotted tie. He was holding his ticket in his hand and he wandered back a few rows behind us. It was all eyes left and necks strained at this point (could you have resisted the temptation?) Then blissfully he returned and walked into the row Kevin Spacey was also occupying, sinking down into a seat about three along to my right. (At this point in the proceedings I swear I didn’t know my right hand from my left) All I had to do was twist my head just a little and I could gaze on this vision for as long as I liked. Believe me we all couldn’t get over just how lucky we were. Lee was accompanied by a friend, a shorter guy with straight brownish hair. As soon as Lee sat down off came the jacket and he looked relaxed and happy to be there.

The show started and I did watch it, honestly we all did. But and it is a big BUT, none of us could resist glancing back now and then, just to make sure Lee was enjoying himself of course (Maybe that was a little white lie – perhaps it was a little more often than now and then) The show was compered by James Corden and Sheridan Smith who turned out to be a brilliant double act – both irreverent and funny. I didn’t take a notebook so you’ll have to rely on my memory here – which was being seriously compromised at the time by a mop of dark curly hair!

Lord Lloyd Webber was on first to collect the award for Best Musical Revival, which was of course Joseph. He apologised for his casual clothes and said he'd just come from Oliver auditions and was on his way to the Ian Adams benefit. He talked about the increase in theatre attendance because of ADWD but he never acknowledged Lee or the cast which I though was very remiss of him. After all he must know full well that without Lee the show would never have won. After the Lord left James made a joke about his leather jacket which made everyone laugh (I’m not going to say if a certain person was laughing as ALW is the guy who pays his wages)

Daniel was the first guy to sing. I wasn’t that keen on the song, which was from I Love You Because but he sang it beautifully. He got a hands in the air clap from Lee as did Ben when he sang Who Needs a Dream, not quite so beautifully I’m afraid – I thought it was the wrong song for him. There were lots of other performances, a list of which I’ll include at the end as I’m sure you are all interested in a certain person more than anything else. What I will say at this point is that the general conscientious of opinion among all of us was that it was a pity that Lee didn’t sing because his voice is way, way better than any of the other male performers we saw.

Lee was sitting next to a soap actress, no idea who as I don’t watch them but she looked pretty miserable and never made any effort to speak to him. He was chatting to a couple sitting behind him, as if he knew them well - it might have been Piers but if it was he had far less hair than in his publicity photo. Michael Ball was sitting in a box to the right hand side of the stage and Ben joined him after his song. Also there were any number of directors producers and performers in the audience too numerous to list. In the interval Lee slipped on his jacket and hurried off to meet up with Ben and Daniel who were waiting for him in the bar. Later, on my way back from the ladies, I was walking past Diana Rigg when I felt someone brush against my arm. None other than Kevin Spacey walking alongside me, then directly in front I see Lee just about to disappear into the gents  - no I didn't follow him - I was tempted however! Surreal wasn’t the word for it.

After this I had a brief chat with Leann Jones, who is very sweet and Summer Strallen wandered past us. In the second half the award for ‘London Newcomer of the Year’ was announced. It was won by Daniel Radcliffe and he turned up to collect his award, even though he wasn’t expected to – he is in the middle of filming the latest Harry Potter. After he’d been given it James Corden gave him a long passionate kiss and Daniel responded by twining his arms around James’s neck. It got rousing applause and then Daniel said that he’d just had a Britanny Spears and Madonna moment. (Later James told one of my friends that it was all prearranged and it hadn’t been a proper kiss – no tongues- if you don’t mind me being frank)

Ben also got his award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. He spoke very well, talking about being on ADWD and said that he was not Joseph and held his arms out towards Lee, who seemed delighted that Ben acknowledged him so nicely. Lee was clapping very loudly, hands in the air for Ben and looked so pleased that he'd won. When Michael Ball got his award nothing was mentioned about how close the voting had been which I thought was a pity.

Lee seemed to have enjoyed the evening as much as we had and at the end I stood up to put on my coat facing towards the back of the theatre (only logical I think) and Lee walked along a couple of seats and slid on his jacket practically right in front of me as he chatted to his companion. My friend Pam and I got a long leisurely glimpse of those broad shoulders and that slim waist, emphasised by the cut of his, suit and had another weak-kneed moment – one of many during the evening as Lee passed with a couple of feet of us on a umber of occasions. It will be a long time I think before I’m that lucky again. At the end Lee and his friend head toward the exit quite quickly, and were stopped by a lady wanting an autograph Lee apologetically said that if he stopped to sign one he’d end up signing loads more and so he couldn’t do it and I’m sure she understood why. It was after all a private evening out for him – he was off duty- and that was why neither me or my friends or any other loppies in the audience, as far as I’m aware, bothered him which I thought was really nice. Then he walked off up the street - maybe to the after show party at Theatro.

Best Acts of the evening. (Ramin Karimloo of Phantom did not sing even though he was advertised as doing so.) Sharon Clark, Leanne Jones and Melanie Le Barrie – brilliant. All that Jazz from Chicago – great. Perfect Pitch- brilliant and very funny (Russell Walker from Joseph was one of the guys singing) Buddy Medley – wonderful. In the Hoods (break-dancing which I’m not keen on) very good. Broadway Preview – I really liked ‘Part of your World’ from the Little Mermaid (love Disneyworld) King’s Head New Musical Previews okay but Sharon Clarke (Holby City) has a beautiful voice. Never Forget – preview of Take That Musical – a little cheesy but very entertaining – reminded me somewhat of the Joseph medley  – although as we all know nothing can top that.

Angela's wonderful review of the What's On Stage Awards

We bought our tickets for the "Theatre Goers Choice Awards" hoping that Lee would be accepting an award, so when he missed out so narrowly to Michael Ball we were disappointed but relieved to hear that he would still be taking some part in the show. In the event that part was only as a member of the audience but this did not turn out to be a disappointment, in fact it was probably just as exciting sharing the auditorium with Lee as watching him on stage

Joan and I arrived at the Lyric theatre with no idea of what to expect and straight away met up with Sheila and Brenda and we all joined the crowd waiting for the special guests to arrive. We, of course, were only waiting for one special guest in particular. Then all of a sudden there he was looking extremely handsome in his grey suit shirt and tie. Lee, courteous as usual, found time to sign for his fans and even turned briefly to face us so we could take photographs before he was ushered into the theatre. I believe Brenda got some good shots and lee signed one of my postcards for her. Lucky lady!

Joan and I then made our way to row F in the stalls. I looked around for any sign of Lee and straight away spotted Michael Ball sitting in a box very close to the stage. The theatre appeared smaller and more ornate than the Adelphi, Victorian rather than Art Deco and the circles and galleries rose up in tiers almost vertically behind us. I had the impression that there were a lot of them maybe as many as 4 but there wasn't time to count because there was Lee being shown to his seat immediately behind us. Only one row separated him from us!!

Joan and I looked round and were intoxicated by the beauty of the man. The dark glossy curls, the eyelashes, the sudden flash of blue eyes as he turned to chat to the people behind, even the very dark shadow on his chin. He looked really well and relaxed and happy which was so good to see. The man behind, that is the one sitting between us and Lee was quite concerned about Joan and asked if she was alright. She explained in an urgent whisper that she was looking at the man behind him.

"Who's that?" he enquired." only the most gorgeous man on the planet" she replied. To which the gentleman said soothingly," well surely we'll be able to arrange for you to meet him in the interval. If only!!

We turned round made a big effort to regain our composure and within seconds the show began and it was captivating and  exciting throughout especially knowing that lee was sitting so close. We didn't turn and look at him during the performance as that would have been too intrusive but Deanna who was sitting in the same row as us but further to the left reported on the forum that she could see him over her shoulder and that he appeared to be enjoying the show and applauded enthusiastically for both Daniel and Ben.

It was good to see the two boys from ADWD performing, Daniels voice was excellent and Ben was really enjoying the occasion it must have been so exciting for him to be receiving an award. Andrew Lloyd Webber picked up the award for Joseph and spoke proudly of how his reality TV shows had brought so many more people into the theatre both regionally and in the west end. Though I sensed that there was still resistance among some of the members of the audience as if these programmes lowered the tone. The lady in front of us was quite dismissive of our interest in Lee.

When the interval arrived we followed the crowd which included Lee to the bar and met up with Pat and Karen who were looking very glamorous. We all watched Lee from a safe distance for a little while but decided not to approach him. We felt it important that he should be able to mingle with his fans without every one of us approaching him. Tearing our eyes away we made our way to the ladies and then back to our seats. Joan got back before me and was deep in conversation now with the two men behind us. One of these men turned out to be the producer of Buddy the musical. Joan has always told me that she is a very shy person but ,"methinks the lady doth protest too much," certainly she seems to lose this particular personality trait when talking about the GO. In no time this producer was told all about Lee ,how special he was, how we all loved him, all about the LMAS and how we were called loppies and what a big star Lee already was. One of the things that is so wonderful about Lee is that he brings us out of ourselves and in a very positive and creative way. As I took up my seat Joan announced that we were going to see Buddy and quickly introduced me to the producer sitting behind us before the second half of the performance began.

All the performances were excellent but for me the star of the show was Sharon D Clarke. What an incredible voice! It was also exciting to see Daniel Radcliffe ,(something to tell my daughter who is a huge Harry Potter fan) and a wonderful surprise to see Dame Diana Rigg! ever since the days of "The Avengers" in the 1960s I have been a fan of hers.

When the show finished we followed Lee out of the auditorium and eventually lost sight of him. Brenda said she saw him leave, no car to collect him or anything like that ,he just strolled off down the street with a group of friends. We met up with Karen and Pat for a chat, said good bye to Shiela and Brenda, watched Ben write autographs for a bit and then made our way back to Picadilly Circus and the tube

Trish had a day to remember on 11th Feb

11^th February 2008 –This date will be etched on my mind forever

 Where to start!!!

I suppose just before the best 26 hours ever.

 8.40am – I am ready to go and sit waiting, taxi is coming at 10 lol. I’m so excited must stay calm, breathe, breathe

 10.15 Picked up DebsxXx and headed for the station, we had decided to get there early in case of delays, where booked on the 11am train.

11.00 On the train shared a table with a nice lady and a young girl who were going to see Billy Elliott.

They were quite bemused by DebsxXx and me as we got out various cards etc. It’s my birthday soon then DebsxXx and Lucy’s so DebsxXx had made cards for us to leave with Lee hoping he had time to sign them.

*Addresses written on envelopes – check

*Post its with name of birthday girl on – check

*Cards in right envelope – check

 We chatted all the way, before we knew it we were at St Pancras

– OMG it is so wonderful now it has been refurbished. 

First stop – Champagne Bar for a glass of bubbles.

 Next get tube to hotel, not brill but nice and clean.Do the necessary – unpack, change, make up then it’s off to ‘Lees Place’ or as others call it The West End.

I don’t know about everyone else but as soon as I hit the West End I’m in the zone. I’m so excited, stay calm, breathe, breathe. Then there it is the ‘JOSEPH’ sign at the Adelphi. OMG where here, I’m buzzing now.

 Its 5 o’clock, loaded with cards and presents we go to the stage door. After knocking and being called in we leave our goodies for Lee

*a jar of Champagne marmite in a limited edition heart shaped jar exclusive to Selfridges for Valentines Day – purchased on our trip to the Midlands Meet in Birmingham. Does anyone know if he loves it or hates it lol.

*The other is an onion! and a gift card so Lee can have a meal on me – I loved the onion storyline on ADWD.

 Luckily DebsxXx was with it and asked if it would be Lee performing, the reply YES thank you God. But unfortunately Dean was ill so Paul would be playing Pharaoh.

 Then the important question from DebsxXx Is Lee here yet – No not yet. After thank yous etc we go outside. We both look at each other and together say Were not leaving here. We wait for an hour and 20 minutes. That small backstreet road was so busy. I couldn’t believe it, so many people wearing beanie hats and it was starting to get dark. We had an alcoholic beverage, dutch courage.

6.20pm We are on the opposite side of the road to the stage door. I’m looking left, DebsxXx right. Then she says the magic words – He’s just come round the corner. Meeting him was amazing – Will do an UC&P review.

The show is fantastic of course – no mistakes or hiccups to report. Jenna is very good, I’ve seen all three now – I do prefer Fiona Reyes shes fantastic.Paul was also very good as Pharaoh.

Lee was amazing, really enjoying the role, punching the air at the end, lots of beaming smiles and thank yous. As usual I did my solitary standing ovation after CED at the end, I absolutely love that bit, so emotional and Lee sings it so well. I DID NOT CRY – must be meeting Lee, I felt so different, the performance was a different experience – I don’t really know how to describe it.

 Waited outside – scrum is an understatement. As I tried to take a photo the ‘women’ next to me barged into me and pushed me out of the way – how rude. Did manage to get a few piccies though for us to share. DebsxXx asked Lee to sign her Miss January photo, he said ‘ooh Miss January.’

 We hadn’t eaten so had a steak – of course at about 11.30pm. As we sat talking we both said that during the 2^nd half we had realised we had forgotten the stamps for the cards. OMG what are we like.

 We were buzzing so we walked back the KM to the hotel as stated online – more like 4 miles. It was ok until we got near to the hotel (or Bordello as it looked in the dark do not recommend staying near Sussex Gardens)

Back in the hotel room we could not sleep – like 2 children on a school trip.

Woke early so decided to pack and go. Breakfast was naff so we left it and headed out. Must get some stamps – tried everywhere then found a Post Office near the Adelphi. Go to stage door leave stamps with a grovel, grovel, mercy, mercy letter. Pity Lee didn’t have an early call but after yesterdays meeting cannot complain, feel very blessed.

 Got the 11.55am train , our seats were the first two with a big space in front. We shared DebsxXx IPod – she is so clever she has videos and everything on it – stay calm, breathe, breathe. Then on comes NYNY, well arms in the air, swaying, we did laugh, then the legs start kicking out, we were oblivious to the other passengers. It was so funny.

 Arrived back in Leicester at 1pm. What a cracking 26 hours.

The inauguration of a new Loppie by Tigger

 My second trip to Joseph –yes only my second. I have a long way to go to catch up with some of you die hard fans but in my defence I live up North and most of my friends already think I’m a nutter and don’t understand my Lee love!

 I bought my tickets on Ebay way back in August and like a lot of people just went ahead and bought two and hoped I’d find someone to come with me.  I’m a closet Loppie, very occasionally post on the forum and keep quite quiet about my obsession but managed to persuade a ‘semi- Loppie’ friend to go with me (does that make her a sloppy???)

Our hotel was within spitting distance of the Adelphi so we went for a wander to check out the surroundings and I managed to steer my friend rather nonchalantly up Maiden lane, just on the off chance – she had no idea why.  My horoscope that morning had said ‘you will spot a celebrity today’ – how spooky is that!  However despite lunching in a nearby restaurant didn’t get a glimpse of any of the cast at all!  Damn!

Seats that night were row D right in the middle and the view was excellent.  There were a few substitutions, the narrator was Jenna Lee-James, John Alastair played Jacob and someone else stood in for Potiphar as Stephen Tate was missing.  Both John and Jenna were better by far than the originals in my opinion.  On my first trip in October Fiona had been the narrator and I thought her voice was superb but boy can Jenna sing – she’s a veritable powerhouse and totally blew me away. I’ve always felt Jacob was a bit of a background part but John really put his stamp on it, hammed the role up more when it called for it and was truly touching in the scenes with Lee.  He made it much more of a key role.  Having said all that, whoever played Potiphar wasn’t a patch on Stephen Tate for campness. 

 And Lee?  Well as usual he was magnificent.  His voice is soooo much better heard live than recorded and I could see my friend’s eyes widen when she heard it for the first time.  He was thoroughly enjoying himself and there were quite a few moments when he almost had a fit of the giggles, such was the ad-lib humour.  There were quite a few subtle changes I noticed in some of the scenes and I guess that’s how they keep the freshness in the show.    I managed to tear my eyes away from Lee once or twice and there is so much else happening on stage, everywhere you look there are little humorous ‘asides’ going on and everyone is so totally in character the whole of the time, even when the focus is on Lee.  I saw much more the second time around that I had missed in October.

Dean was his usual brilliant self and ad-libbing more than usual – my friend, as an Elvis fan, was well able to appreciate all the humour in the new song and totally fell in love with him. 

The megamix was fantastic as usual but again no-one got up to dance despite the encouragement from Neal Wright– who was well into party mood!! What is it with this British reserve we have??  I watched more of Lee dancing this time and boy can the guy move!!  Would love to see him dance some more.

All too soon it was over and I turned to see my friend with a huge smile plastered all over her face as she thanked me so much for ‘persuading’ her to come!  I was so emotional and felt like a proud parent showing off their offspring.  Am I completely mad?  With that sentiment it wasn’t too hard to convince her to join the after show scrum.   Lee had been shopping methinks and was wearing a fabulous new leather jacket so looked utterly thudworthy.  In October my camera had failed (!!) but this time I managed to get very close and very central to get some stunning pics – will post later if I can work out how!  - before we floated back to our hotel in a daze. 

I think we have a new candidate for the world of Loppiedom! -  sorry I missed the second part the first time Alyson!

Louise from Sheffield had a wonderful date with the GO GO GO!!!

Hiya I'm Louise from Sheffield this is my review from when I went to see Joseph on 13th Febuary I've atatched some Photos to.. I hope this is the right address!!

"I’ve been counting down the day till Joseph since I first got the tickets- 205 days ago. I’m a huge Lee Mead fan so was worried that for some reason he may not have been in it when we went. But as soon as we got to the Adelphi- about an hour early- I picked up the Joseph vibe straight away and began to get very excited. 

When they opened up the theatre we went to find our seats. Row C in the stalls!!! Best seats I’ve had for anything in my life. As we were sitting there waiting for the show to start I realised just how close to the stage we were. I then realised how fast my heart was beating… Lee Mead would be on that stage very soon!!

Then the show started… and it was SO amazing. The best night I have ever spent in a theatre so far. The energy and passion everyone put in was incredible and it made it, along with other things, a night I will never forget.

When Lee first came on… WOW… I just couldn’t believe it was him less than a few meters away from me.  From that moment on I couldn’t stop smiling throughout the whole show… and I’m still smiling now!

I’ve seen Joseph before in Sheffield and it was great then but everything about this show was just phenomenal. The narrator Jenna had a truly amazing voice, the brothers were all so funny and energetic, Pharaoh was superb and the dancers were great. I also loved the butler, I found him hilarious and I was often laughing loudly at him when no one else was!!

But I do of course have to focus on the astounding, remarkable, fantastic Mr. Lee Mead. When he was on stage I just couldn’t take my eyes of him. I think I may have missed half the show but never mind! His voice is just so, so, so incredible.

My favourite part of the show was of course Close Every Door. Lee sang it so beautifully and so passionately. I was sat there in disbelief at just how amazing it was. How beautiful his voice was and how gorgeous his back and chest were, yum yum!! Throughout the song I found it rather difficult to breath and my heart was again beating unusually fast. And then when he finished I could have clapped for days I was just utterly blown away.

The whole show was just superb and I wish I could see it a million times more. I loved all the bits in Egypt, The song of the King was great, one of my favourites from the show. And the mega-mix was excellent, I loved Lee’s little bit of dancing at the beginning.  Just thinking about the show now puts a smile on my face and I’m sure it will for many years to come.

 Afterwards we raced as quickly as we could round to the front of the theatre and I managed to get extremely close to the front right up against the rope. The excitement buzzing around was wonderful and then when Lee came out. WOW!! And I could tell that was what everyone else was thinking to,  just wow!!!

He came round giving out signed photos. For someone reason he decided to give me two, I’m not complaining!! I don’t know what was running through my mind at that moment. Probably something like “I’m about 10cm away from Lee Mead”! And then he leant over me to give some photos to the people behind. I think it was at that point that I lost all feeling in my legs.  Then he came back round for autographs. I got my small program signed and I will treasure it forever and ever. Ahhhh he is just so cute!! I  managed to get some rather good pictures and my Mum and Sister both got some good videos. I’ll try to share them with everyone if I work out how!

Overall as I said before one of the best nights of my life… Actually the BEST night of my life!!!! Thank you so much Lee Mead!!

Alison Martin wrote this on seeing the show!  WOW!

My day started early as was too excited to sleep last night! My friend Jasmine arrived (non-loppy at this stage!) Got to the coach station to get coach to Victoria, all went smoothly and then got a cab to the Kingsway Hall Hotel where our room was ready early. Very nice hotel, bit more expensive than some of the others but worth it for a special trip. Good service and great breaky!!!!

Anyway, just enough time to check in and spruce ourselves up a bit then back in a cab!

' To the Adelphi please!'.....and there we were. Jasmine went off to get signing camel while I went to get glasses of wine! Well certainly needed something for courage in stalls Row A!

When we got to our seats I didnt realise how close it was going to be! I suddenly got a little nervous! We were seats 16/17 so right in the middle too!

Then that moment, Lee appeared, and the audience cheered and that smile was there! I grabbed my friend's arm and tried to remember to breathe!

The show was better than the first time, more comical somehow, and so much more interaction. You do see it from a different perspective when you are that close!

CED was AMAZING and by this point my non-loppy friend was fast becoming a loppy! YAY! I could see the veins in his neck as his voice got stronger stronger! WOW!

Then at the interval, a lady behind me agreed that she was also hoping for a wardrobe malfunction! But, alas, it was not to be! But got a nice view of 'tighty whities' from up the loin cloth so that was erm.....interesting! 2nd half was great Dean blew me away with his performance yet again! Would love his autograph too, maybe next time.

Then, all too soon it was over! and the dash for the scrum began! I am at this point a 'scrum virgin' so didnt really know what to expect, but I was not to be disappointed! Lee came out to screams as expected and handed out his pre-printed pics.He passed some to my (now loppy) friend and asked her to pass them back. Oh how I wanted to touch!!!! But i restrained myself! again, remembering to breathe, stand up etc until........My turn! I held out my CD booklet with my hand underneath for him to sign and as he went to sign it.....his hand held mine under the booklet!!! DOUBLE THUD!!!!!!!! I wish he could have held it there longer!

Then he was gone! And I was left with the biggest smile on my face!

We then went to Zizzi's for dinner and to a pub for drinks. We then popped back to Adephi for eve scrum, but were told he would not be signing that evening. So glad I had those matinee tickets!

The next day (sunday) started a whole new adventure in meeting Gok Wan from How to look good naked and doing some filming for that show! A whole other story and as not Lee related I wont bore you all with it but have pics etc if anyone wants to hear about it or is a Gok Wan fan.....lovely man!

So, now lovin the Meadster even more and am hoping for another visit for my birthday! My now loppy friend Jasmine has agreed (no torture necessary!) to come with me!

Only thing remaining to say is THUD >>>THUD>>>>THUD!!!!!!! until the next one........xxxx

Review of the Matinee..Wednesday 6th of feb 2008 by Bev Mc

My first trip to the show, I was really looking forward to it. To be honest it all felt a bit surreal. Unfortunately Sarah and I were not sitting together but we made arrangements to met up in the interval.

I sat next to a lovely lady from Wales with her daughter and two grandchildren, got to admit the audience was a bit of an O.A.P outing but smatterings of younger people here and there.

The lights went down and I held my breath, suddenly there HE was .Serious at first then the smile appears and lights up the whole theatre. His voice sounds so much better live, he has a wonderful clear articulation and a roar went up after his first line. hence the grin. Fantastic throughout the first song then disaster!! The curtain came down and the announcement that the performance was to be stopped due to technical difficulties. I could have cried. After a lifetime(15 mins or so)and a chorus of "if you happy and you know it" from the stalls -sorry forgot to say i was in the dress circle -the lights went back down and the show went on. I think they still had some problems but I was totally unaware. The whole cast were fabulous, really worked as a team. Fiona was charming, wonderful with the

children and a fabulous voice. Great comedy from the brothers, superb dancing and Dean was terrific as Pharaoh, ad-libing when Lee asked him to sing one more time "Well Jo ! we are running a bit late."

And LEE!! WOW WOW WOW ,Did  we choose the right man? ... heck yes. He was everything I hoped for and more ! And yes I had tears in my eyes when he sang" Any dream will do"  the second time.

You could've heard a pin drop-stunning! I thought his acting and facial expressions were brilliant. And the loincloth??..HUBBA HUBBA!

During the mega mix I couldn't help myself and shot to my feet with the family next to me, then apologised and started to sit down. The group of elderly ladies sat behind me all laughed. One grasped my hand and said "With a shapely bottom like that you enjoy it lovely, go on dance for all of us"  so I obliged! (yes! the diet worked). I screamed and shouted when he rose to nearly eye to eye with me on the cherry picker. Clapped till my hands stung and didn't want it to end. After the curtain fell I turned and hugged the lady at the back of me and asked her if she'd had a good time." just wonderful "she beamed.

Then it was outside for the "scrum", he came out handing photos at first. Sarah was in position with the camera and I was on signing duty. There was some shoving and, as I had legged it out to get a good position, felt quite protective of the little girls next to me. When Lee appeared some people were quite rude putting their arms over the children to get photo`s so when he handed me about 4 I passed them along and back, suddenly realising I hadn't got one. He came back along, passed me one and I managed to get my ticket and Sarah's album cover signed. I then asked him did he get his bag of valentine goodies he grinned and said "oh yeah, the lips were fab"..i replied "errrr it`s not valentines day yet" and he shrugged, raised his eyebrow and said cheekily "don't care". (Better explain, we gave him a bag with some chilli and chocolate lips and some other goodies in it too). Then with a wave he was gone.

We floated back to Euston and chatted endlessly about our wonderful day. Would I do it all again??.....in a heartbeat! What a wonderful show.!!   LEE MEAD IS A STAR!!

Review by SarahG

Show started as normal with Lee arriving on the stage singing and grinning like a Cheshire Cat, WOW, we had seen that grin at close quarters only a couple of hours before was all I could think!!!  Then Jacob walked onto the stage, Jacob never walks, he comes out in a deckchair. First song over and curtain comes down, I was ready for it as I knew the stage mustn't be revolving,(been there, done that on opening night!!)  It took 20 agonising minutes to come back on and it was immediately obvious, only too those who have seen it before I am sure, that all was not well!!!  Two very strangely dressed men came on as Ishmaelites and Lee was off the stage before he could sing the line "But I don't speak Egyptian very well!!"

Even so the show went on, and to me, the cast made up for all the technical problems with their enthusiasm and humour!!!  The brothers had me in stitches and I have seen those jokes over and over (my 4th Lee visit, but my 10th Joseph!)  Pharaoh was phenomenal as always and I had the time of my life!!

Do you know I have seen Lee 4 times, twice with a stage malfunction and once with a loincloth malfunction!!!  Think I am a bit of a jinx!!!!!!

At the end of the show managed some photos but Bev Mc do the signing, it was her first time and I am a bit taller so could stand behind her!! 

We had a wonderful day and I have only got to wait till 9th April before I go again with mum for her 60th birthday!!! Days are being ticked off on the calendar!!!

Angela B's review from 9th February - she clearly had an awesome time!

We were in London to see the show with a disabled friend & her carer. After settling her into the hotel we left her to rest before getting ready for the evening.

Hubby & I arrived in Maiden Lane at around 4.45pm & I immediately saw Rachey & Chrissi. It was fabulous to finally meet you both.They told me how good Lee had looked when he arrived, sunglasses & bouncy hair!!!! Gahhhh, wish I’d seen that!!

We hung around listening to the sounds of the end of the show by the black shutter doors, then chatted to various members of the cast as they came out for a break between shows. I have some pics & will post in the appropriate Cast Threads.  Kazzer came round after the Scrum, it was fabulous to see you again babe, & we were able to squee for a couple of minutes before Hubby & I had to get a taxi back to the hotel to collect my friend & her carer for the Evening show.

We arrived at the theatre just before 7pm & people were already going in. We made our way inside & Eric was checking tix for the Stalls. His name badge said Gabrielle & I said “ You’re not Gabrielle, your Eric!!” & he said “Yes, but tonight I am Gabrielle!!” I found out from him later that he had left his name badge at home so had to wear a ‘random’ one!! Hubby & I were in the UC but I asked him if it was ok to see my friends to the disabled seats I had booked for them & he was fine with that

AngelRose, I can assure you that the seats you have booked are fabulous!! My friend had taken her binoculars knowing she was at the back but never used them. The view to the Stage is great, she could even see the sweat!!

After we had settled our friends, Hubby & I made our way up to the UC. We had Row A but the restricted view ones all on their own at the side & I wasn’t much looking forward to them. However, I have to say they were brilliant. Leaning forward on the ledge I could see the whole of the Stage & was much closer than Row B UC with unrestricted view

Oh, the Show!!!!!!!!!!!! This is our 6th time (Hubby is starting to get a little weary now – Ooops!!!!) but last night was FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC!!! & he had to admit how much he enjoyed it & also got goosebumps at certain parts of the show . The new Narrator Jenna had a small part to play in this too, her voice is belting & Hubby has moved his allegiance from Preeya - he’s sooooo fickle

The audience was great too. There was much laughter at all the comedy moments & plenty of applause at all the right bits
The Brothers – I adore then all - played their socks off & to me act their parts slightly differently each time I see them

Dean was on fantastic form, really milking the Elvis references & getting loads of laughs & applause. He hit a really long high note at one point which was fabulous!!

Then Lee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was Stunning, Amazing, Thudsome, Fabulous, Powerful………my knees totally went, again, my heart rate went up & I kept forgetting to breathe, again!!!!!!!! The anticipation of waiting for him to descend from Heaven is both delicious & agonising and then to see that huge beaming smile as the whole theatre goes wild for him…………………………..(breathe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

There was a small incident when the young Jo first comes on stage in ‘Jacob & Sons’. As Lee ran on stage from the back to be greeted by the wives the heels of his boots skidded on something on the floor & he ended up falling backwards on to the floor!!!!!!! ( I grabbed Hubby’s arm – omg, don’t let it be his ankle again!!!!) However, he was fine & he h& the wives covered it up perfectlee Phew!!!!!!!

Mrs P really milked her bum grabbing scene & held on to Lee for quite a bit longer than I’ve seen her do before
CED *thud* *thud* even from the UC I could see the sweat running down his chest & back

Prince of Egypt Jo – love the power that emanates from him, makes my stomach flip when he shouts ‘STOP’ after finding his Golden Cup has been ‘stolen’

Joseph & Jacobs Reunion – Goodness, the emotion that fills the theatre at that moment is so thick you could cut it with a knife & always brings tears to my eyes!!!!!!!!!

Reprise of CED…………………………well it’s as if Lee saves something for that rendition as he puts so much power into it & I really struggle to stay in my seat at the end of it.
Mega-Mix…….Fantastic, shoulders are still aching from clapping!!!!! When Lee came back out tho’ to be hoisted up above the Stalls there was no keeping me in my seat. As soon as he began his ascent Hubby & I were on our feet. A lot of the UC followed & by the time Lee was at the top I couldn’t help myself from doing some fangirl screeming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The expression oh his face from the audience reaction is something to see. He was whooping & punching his arms in the air on the descent & was extremelee bouncy once he got back on the Stage.

*sits back & remembers to breathe again*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the show Hubby & I made our way back to the stalls to collect our friends. I had already had a word with Del earlier in the evening about my friend wanting to join the Scrum & he had instructed me to wait with her by the leaflet rack in the foyer.

As the theatre cleared Del kept checking back with us telling us that he’d tell us when & where to move. Security were allowing no-one to stay on the ramp & eventually we were the only people left in the foyer – goodness knows what the people in the scrum thought!! Del then had the rope barrier moved, gave instructions to a family already outside with a lady in a wheelchair onto the bottom of the ramp, then told us to move out to the top of the ramp!!!

Those security guys are fabulous & I’ll not hear a word said against them!!

I stood behind my friend who was in her chair & gave her a pic of Lee for her to get signed, I had one of my own too at the ready.

OMG OMG he was fabulous (do I use that word too much) Dressed in what I thought was the PIB T-shirt at first but know realise is just a very similar one, black coat & slightly damp curls. As it was quite a mild evening I didn’t feel the need to admonish him about it!!

Lee really makes the effort to connect with people, not blindly signing anything pushed towards him. I passed him my pic & he looked me in the eye, smiled & said “Hi, how you doing? “  I managed to answer with a “Fine, thanks so much Lee”

Hubby was taking video footage with a dinky little recorder belonging to our friend. As soon as I work it out I’ll share with you all. Only problem was it eats batteries & they ran out before Lee went back inside grrrrrr

 All in all we had a fantastic day. The staff at Derby & St Pancras train stations, the Hotel, the restaurant were we ate & the Adelphi couldn’t have been more helpful to my friend & she’ll remember it for a long time to come.

Rachel is the first person to review a February show and I think she had a great time!

Arrived in London at St Pancras station at around 11.00am now getting really excited at the prospect of seeing Lee later on that day. Id been waiting weeks for this as it was my first time seeing the show and Lee so it was a major thing which I had been looking forward to for weeks and had told everybody about. After dropping of our luggage at the hotel and jumping on the tube into Central London we made our way to the Adelphi and found the stage door. Having found it we then went for a quick coffee on the corner of Maiden Lane so I could see if Lee happened to walk past. Then afterwards I wanted to go to the stage door and wait and see when Lee would come to get ready for the evenings performance, it was about half past four so hopefully it wouldn't be too long to wait. Half past five comes though and he still hadn't turned up so by this time me and my OH was totally freezing cold so I decided reluctantly to leave the stage door and go for a coffee to warm again as I knew I would be seeing the show in only a matter of hours anyway and I was planning to wait out in the "scrum" at the front of the theatre at the end anyway.

 So seven o clock comes around and I'm getting very excited and anxious by now as it only half an hour away till the start of the show. We take our seats in the UC and are surprised at how good a view we actually have of the stage. The half an hour between sitting down and the lights going down goes incredibly quickly and as the choir start to sing I feel overwhelmed by the fact that I'm going to see Lee in only a matter of seconds. Then he appears behind the curtain and I feel all emotional and feel a lump forming in my throat that is accompanied with a large grin on my face. Before I know it the first half is over and he is singing CED and I'm not sat there crying or feeling emotional at all which I was very surprised by as I thought I would definitely be overcome with emotion by now and have tears running down my face, I think I must just be so overwhelmed to be there in front of Lee and enjoying the show.

The second half flies by just as fast with an excellent performance from Dean as Pharaoh and Lee in his gorgeous loin cloth that I find myself oogling at a hell of a lot! Again the second half seemed to fly by and the Joseph megamix was happening before I knew it then Lee was on the cherry picker, which was totally amazing, as I thought with sitting as far up as in the UC I wouldn't be able to see him when he came up on the cherry picker but I got a fantastic view of him. It was just so good to see him for the first time that it all went by so quickly and seemed to end before I knew it. So we made our way out of the theatre to wait around for him to come out the front with the rest of the scrum, after everyone was out of the theatre the security guards appeared and after waiting for the doors to be shut a big cheer went up and Lee appeared looking totally gorgeous as ever in his green hat with his curls popping out slightly from underneath. He infuriately didn't stay out long enough for me to get my poster signed though as people where shoving and the security guards got a bit spooked and cut it short. By now I thinking that I wouldn't get my poster signed at all after waiting around for him earlier on and now it wasn't looking too good.

So Saturday late afternoon comes around and there I am again at the stage door hoping that this would be time when i would get to meet him, we waited around for about an hour again and as the rest of the cast started appearing i knew surely it would not be long until Lee came walking down the street. About another ten minutes later there he was in his jeans and black coat wearing his green hat. I was so overwhelmed by him being there that I didn't notice him walk down the street until he was at the stage door and I ran over to him with a few others and got my poster signed, although unfortunately not being able to say much at all apart from a mumbled thank you. My OH did the talking and thanking for such a wonderful show the night before and what a fantastic time we had had. I just stood there in total shock I think taking it all in, in a daze! Then he was gone in the stage door and I was ecstatic at being able to actually meet him. Then when I had calmed down a little it was around to the from the the theatre to try and get tickets for either the matinee or the evening show which we couldn't get at all with it being a Saturday and obviously a very popular day. I was upset and almost gutted that we couldn't get tickets unless we paid full price which we couldn't afford to do as money was already tight. But I am going again in October (which does seem like a lifetime away) so I will get to see him then. But I would love to go again before that but I guess we will have to see. All in all though what a fantastic show and experience of meeting the most gorgeous man ever! We do have photos which we still need to get put on to a disk so if there are some good clear shots of him (and hopefully there are) then I will post them on here.  

Ringer's review of her date with Joseph

Part 1, Review of my First Joseph Show

This is going to take a while, so I'm going to asume you've all been following along and I'm going to cut just to the show now.

 Some things in life don’t work as you plan.  Sometimes they work out better.  Well, all I can say is that this was a trip beyond expectations.  It started off with a way too cheery greeting from a gate agent telling me my flight was canceled and ended with an extra day’s stay in London, a chance to see a few sites, still meet everyone I’d planned to, and two extra trips to Joseph that I wasn’t planning.  WOW!

The extra day layover really meant an extra day without proper sleep.  So after the plane ride, rushing to Claire’s to change, meeting up with Shirley’s birthday party and meeting everyone, the disappointment of no matinee scrum, and the news that Donna’s son’s accident, the moment, four years in the making had finally arrived.  I was going to see and hear Lee perform live.  

Split up from the rest of the gang in the ‘A’ row, I had seat N4.  Because of the seat taper, this seat wasn’t 4 seats in, but was actually at the end of the row and only blocked the right hand gallery where the kids would be sitting. It put me at a good eye level with the stage to see the action, though.  As the houselights came down and the music started, I took a deep breath… and was startled when a bunch of children ran by… oh, they’re in the play! 

Jenna was great, as I expect she would have been after being in “We Will Rock You” playing Meatloaf.  Got to have a voice for that role.  I guess she was there when the took the boys to see that show on ADWD.  She wasn’t the one talking on camera afterwards, was she?  Anyway, I imagine she’s going to “rock out” the Narrator part a little more as time goes on and she gets more comfortable with it. 

Then it was time.  The lights faded and we could see a small amount of dry ice covering the floor behind the scrim as the band played those familiar notes—you just have to bob back and forth to them J  As great as Lee’s voice is on the recordings, there’s just extra that you can only hear live.  Not quite sure what it is.  More like an excitement or a happiness quality.  I don’t know. But in the theatre, the sound echoes all around you.  And Yes!  I’ll say it!  God, he looked good in those whites!

I now know what you mean by him being bouncy in the first part of that play when he’s in his “young Joseph” costume.  He leapt nearly half the stage to interact with the kids on the other side!  Landed with a resounding boom he did.  I like how he plays Joseph as well.  He’s just enjoying what came to him in life and just as obvious as his father to any problems it was causing.  That’s a bit more in line with my impression of the original Bible story (Claire’s too, when we talked about it later).  It kind of makes the show a little more real and a little less camp that way, so the injustices which happen to him later are a bit more poignant. 

I think that’s part of what makes his CED so powerful.  It’s not a apology for being arrogant, it’s more of an acceptance that there’s something greater going on that’s more important than he his or whatever anger and other emotions he’s feeling at the moment are, and all that emotion and… hope, actually, are pushed out in the build to the last few bars of that song.  The whole theatre resonates with it.

That said, I spent most of the latter half of the show with my eyes glued to Lee’s back (a lot less painful than it sounds).  Oh, and what a back it is.  I understand now why the regulars could tell every time he got a new scar.  I really couldn’t see that much detail from where I was sitting, but still, the way the lights were reflecting off it you could tell all the contours :THUD!!!:

He didn’t go “on his knees”  before Pharaoh, instead sat with his knees up, so no view of Lee’s feet there like in the centerfold of the picture program.  I can understand that.  I had to kneel like that when I took kendo.  It puts a lot of pressure on your knees and can cause the lower half of your legs to fall asleep.  That’s not good when you need to be dancing on them for another hour (he was on them for a little while in the beginning during the Friday night performance, so that might be something he saves for the weekend???). 

Sorry to all you Dean fans, but when Dean started singing, I so wanted to hear Lee doing that part.  I know, he can’t do everything and there are other actors in the world, but Dean was a bit hard to understand and I kept flashing back to that one line Lee sang of Pharaoh’s Song during ep. 6 of ADWD.  Other than that, he played a great Vegas era Elvis and I loved how he joked around with the cast and the audience, and the King of my Heart sounds like it should be part of the show to me, now.  They’re going to be doing “Joseph” in St. Louis in July and I don’t know if that song’s going to be in the production or not.  I’ll miss it if it isn’t.

Wow, is Lee all sparkly in that gold outfit.  And somehow, his eyes still manage to sparkle more than that headdress!  Lee’s in great voice singing “Grovel, Grovel” and “Who’s the Thief.”  Actually a little scary at some points—cool!  Did notice though that when Benjamin dumped his sack, a few other things fell out with it.  That was odd, but not as odd as when Lee slammed the cup down in front of him later and something flew off the cup!  Oh dear!  Was the cup falling to pieces?  (Gold just isn’t what it used to be). 

But all was well as the Calypso started.

No one stood during the Megamix, but there was still a lot of energy in the room and a lot of clapping.  Lee was all happy and grins as he got on the platform to fly high in the air. I lost sight of him behind the dress circle balcony but could see the rainbow tail.  When he jumped out for the curtain call, I could see he made a quick glance to the edge of the stage as not to over shoot.

All in all, it was a great night, though I was more tired than I wanted to be.  I didn’t get a chance to say anything to him in the scrum that night as right next to me was a group of women who were friends of his mom’s and wanted something signed.  I did want to mention that I saw his CV in 2004, to explain the note in the gift bag—just to let him know all this excitement wasn’t just from a TV show, but that wasn’t going to happen.  I gave the gift bag to the security guard (Howard, I think it was), with hopes that it got to Lee.  The note was going to have to stand on it’s own as I wasn’t going to drag that bag around a second day!  Sometimes you’ve got to trust the Universe. 

As a sign of that trust, or just pure luck, as there have been threads about thieves in the crowd, I had bought a talking camel before coming out and in the push of things had dropped the Joseph bag with it in it.  As the crowd cleared, the camel bag was no were to be seen around me.  I looked in the corner of the doorway and there was a Joseph bag.  My camel was inside.  I’d been nowhere near that corner, but the bag had made it there safe and sound.   

I’m going to end this here as it’s getting rather long and write about the other two shows tonight (though probably not as detailed).  Enjoy the AT show, everyone!

Below are two reviews the first is Elaine's and afterwards mine from the 1^st February.

Also here is a link for a fan-vid I made on the train journey & in the hotel in our spare time (well Saturday morning after 5.20 we gave up any pre-tense of trying to sleep since we'd already been awake since 4!) it's my first ever EVER video but I'm rather proud of it (well it makes me come over all funny and let's just say Elaine was pleased with it ;-) and as per Elaine's instructions:

HEALTH WARNING, may cause increased heart rate, breathing difficulties, high blood pressure and an inability to function for a few hours after after viewing.

I thought it might ring true for quite a few of us and it's dedicated to all the Lovelees & Loppies out there!

Review Title - A weekend to remember...Elaine's Review:

Have just got home from the most fantastic weekend in London – part of my Birthday celebrations with was earlier this month. I have decided that 2008 is a year of celebrations sounds good to me especially if it involves certain Mr Mead. Thanks to Hannah (Luna) for making it so special.

First Draft of my review – the only words I could think of were OMG. Second Draft of my review was skapuyu ebtt shpa ajpauighawt e,;poeb e ,y lihigb

Third Time lucky. - Before I focus on Lee I want to say a few words about the other members of the cast.

Jenna – the new narrator I thought was excellent – I have not seen Preeya or Fiona – but I really liked her voice which was both strong & powerful.

The Brothers – were without exception the most talented I have ever seen – their energy is infectious their dancing & singing was superb.

Dean – One word - Superstar.

I have read everyone’s reviews through the months & with no disrespect to anyone whilst I am a true fan of Lee’s I thought there is no way I am going to react like that. I can handle it – how wrong was I?

 We were sat in Stalls Row B 24 & 25 those of you who have been to the Adelphi will know how lethal the view is from there. Before we went to London I kept saying to Lunalee I hope that there is someone sitting in row A in front of us so that I can hide behind them. Didn’t want to deal with the thought of being so close to Lee – when we got to our seats there were two little girls in front of us who’s heads did not even come up to the top of the seat in front of us – so there was no hiding place. They also turned out to be the best behaved children on the plant – so how charmed were we that night?

 I have never felt so nervous before the show – every time an announcement was made I was just hoping that there was no last minute change of cast. But then the orchestra started so held on to my seat with my heart racing – thought I might not make it to the interval my heart was beating so fast – but decided that if it was my time it would be a good way to go.

On the subject of the view it was amazing even though he was having a bad hair day on Friday – the curls were everywhere & so many of them. But the fact that he doesn’t seem to care about that is one of the reasons he is so lovable. We could even see his two mosquito bites which must have been souvenirs from his holiday.

 I have seen many different Joseph’s over the years but I have never seen a performance like Lee’s. Nothing can prepare you for the strength of his voice when you see him live. But the thing that really made the difference was his acting. I have never seen Joseph acted before in the way that he has interpreted this role.

ADWD when he is re-united with his father was so under-stated but so powerful at the same time. At the reprise of CED I just sat there with tears streaming down my face trying to fight it like mad thinking no-one has ever made me cry in a theatre before.

To see smiley Lee at the end of the Mega-Mix was just great the audience were very enthusiastic. Hannah & I had both said that we would stand up for the Mega-Mix but when it came to it – neither of us could get out of our seats – legs just wouldn’t work it was like some force was keeping us in our seats.

Right at the very end of the bows Lee looked right at us smiled & mouthed Thank You. That was probably what pushed us over the edge – don’t remember much about the journey back to the Hotel.

We went to bed at midnight & gave up trying to sleep anymore at 4.00 a.m. We were so excited from the night before & the prospect of seeing Lee again as had tickets for the matinee - got up at 5.00 a.m & passed the time until 15.00. Had difficulty in eating but forced some lunch down in Covent Garden.

Saturday Matinee we were sat in Row A of the dress circle seats 5 & 6 – brilliant view & felt a bit more in control with the distance from the Stage. Binoculars were a must & have to confess this time not looking at anyone other than Lee. Was a bit disconcerting at one point when Lee looked up at the upper circle in our direction almost dropped the binoculars as it felt like we were spying on him. Curls were more under control, but he was just as good as the night before, where does he get his energy from.

 Left the theatre in a daze again & in dreamy state all the way home to Blackpool.

 Now dreaming of October 18^th Row A in the Stalls for the Matinee & Row H in the Dress circle in the evening – think Hannah is trying to finish me off.

My one other thought is that I can’t wait for what ever Lee decides to do when his run in Joseph is finished because it is going to be Awesome.

My (Lunalee) review:

I shall try to keep this short & sweet since Elaine basically said all already but as this is my favourite subject.... forgive me if I waffle. ;-)

I have seen Lee before, I had the joy when Rosefire came over, so on the 3rd December last year I was sitting in Row G thinking how amazing that man was and also looking at Row B in the knowledge that short of Row A there was no way we could be in a better place. Someone must have heard me because those two little girls didn't make a sound & were tiny so basically we were in Row A and thanks to those little girl we got a special performance from Dean but more of that later.

When I went with Rosefire I thought Lee was amazing, the fact that he went off ill the night after just reconfirmed what a talent he has and his dedication. Knowing that Rosefire is coming back now I don't feel so bad in saying that while what we saw then was great it does not come close to what I saw on the 1st Feb.

Amazing doesn't cover it.

You are close when you can count mosquito bites, actually anything up to Row D should probably come with a health warning. The whole cast deserves a standing ovation but in all honesty I could not get my legs to move... I'm not quite sure how I managed the walk back to the hotel.

 Lee blew me away, bouncy and obviously refreshed from his holidays he paled what I thought was a great performance from last time. This time round there were no mic issues, no problems hitting the notes and he was even better in his acting (which flawed me last time), dancing & comic timing - I do love his humorous Joseph. He is terrifying when he meets his brothers again, which was something that I didn't take in before. Being so close and seeing all the facial expressions makes you realise just how much thought he puts into his performance. And when he smiles.... it's good to be sitting because I think otherwise the Adelphi might have to invest in permanent paramedics.

I spent pretty much the entire show reminding myself to breath (you'd think I'd know) and not to sit there like a gapping fish, I did frequently have to remember to close my mouth so I didn't to that well on the fish part. Poor cast. :D

 The rest of the cast is amazing! I know this gets said over & over but it really should...

Last time I went there was no Dean and while his understudy did a great job and was really funny what Dean does/is is MAGNIFICENT (I thought I'd try not to say amazing in each sentence...) I had Lee Mead in a loincloth less 5 meters away from me and Dean distracted me from that! I am awe of Dean and almost fell of my chair when he sank to his knees in front of us, i.e. the little girls who got serenaded by him and also got his scarf. I do think I forgot to breath at that stage. Dean oozes confidence (in a good way) and just makes the show.

The brothers are brilliant, I have a huge soft spot for Tom (having meet him last time) and so gave him a little extra attention. He never leaves his character, even when he's hidden in a corner with Lee dominating the stage.

I adore Russell (again having met him makes you pay that extra bit of attention) and his interaction with Lee during Pharaoh's performance (sorry Dean but I needed glimpses) is brilliant. As Gad he's great, but I adore him more as the Butler because his "why thank you" to the line "Jeeves of his time" is perfectly pitched no matter how many times you see him do that if makes you laugh.

One of the brothers I never noticed before was Paul (sorry!) but that has changed, wow so impressed. I was actually more impressed by him during all the assemble roles and in the mega-mix because his dancing his amazing then as a brother. (I have issues telling the brothers apart, too many beards so that might be part of the problem).

One more Angel in heaven is still one of my favourite brother moments of the show.

I shall stop here now though I could just going on... it was an amazing night and while I didn't get quite as “hfdoi rjgbipre hgp gu gbtfjk;lhyi9” during the Saturday Matinee (distance does help) the show was just as good!

 Thank you to Lee & the whole cast for making Elaine's Birthday so special.

 Jackie couldn't take her eyes off a certain Mr Mead - and who could blame her?

Our train journey from Weybridge went very smoothly, then after a taxi to the Strand, we had an early dinner in "Vizzis", then made our way over to The Adelphi in plenty of time. I was more exited than my two grandchildren, Nancy and Stanley, but managed to hold it together until Lee appeared for his opening number!  After the cheers subsided,  he began to sing, and the tears started to roll!  His voice so strong and clear, his presence on stage electrifying, and his interaction with the children very sweet.  After the opening, I managed to hold it together until the reunion with Jacob, when I lost it again!.

It was over twenty years ago that I first saw the show in Woking, so have no comparisons to make. What I did notice was the remarkable energy that Lee and the whole cast kept up throughout. Dean was excellent as Pharaoh, and Jenna's narration crystal clear .  The show was over all too soon for me.

We made our way to the front of the Adelphi, and managed to site ourselves in the front.  It was nearly a disaster when one of the bodyguards had to ask a man to get off the steps, or he would call Lee, and tell him not to come out!  Everyone called out "get back", which he did!

Now for the "Thud Moment."  Lee handed me a bunch of the signed photos, and asked me to pass them over my head to those behind!  I then asked him to sign my ticket, and he said "Of course I will".  All this time, Nancy had been clicking away with my camera.  Also Stanley had managed to have Lee sign his ticket.

Then Lee waved to the crowd and said thank you for coming, and disappeared.

My daughter and son in law were waiting for us in their car by then to drive us home. (They had been to see Cabaret).  We spent the whole journey talking about the show and going over the photos.

Thank goodness I am going to see the show again in the Easter Holiday with another Grandchild, Archie, 7.  Perhaps I will see more of the show, instead of concentrating on Lee.

Pauline had a wonderful time too on 30th January - is there a Loppy in the house??????

My mini adventure on the 30th Jan. actually started for me at St Pancras back in December. I had such a good day and  a lot of loppies I knew were going to the show on the 30th, I had no prospect of seeing the show again at that point, and suddenly thought don't be silly try and go. So booked myself a ticket on the 14 day release, expensive but a girl's got to do sometimes! So there I was on the train to London feeling quite sick with excitement, (at my age too) met up with the others, and the excitement just grew.

One of the best bits was that Suex had also decided to go last minuteish and was sittting next to me in the middle of row D so I had great company thanks Sue, and the seats wow!!!  7.30pm arrives the lights go down the music swells, on come the children and  then Jenna and we are off.  At this point my eyes are just glued to the spot in the curtain where Lee is going to appear, and there he is, looking very serious. There is a huge roar from the audience which goes on some time, and suddenly his beautiful smile breaks out, and my stomach flips over and I get a lump in my throat. I realise how much I've missed him, just knowing he is there in the Adelphi makes me feel good! Anyway the show is better than I remember from my one other visit, my seat is better too.

Everyone just seems to have the best time on stage which means the audience does too. Jenna is for me a really good narrator a very powerful voice, but also comes across as a very warm personality as well. The brothers are all great and funny and Dean is a fantastic Pharoah. And Lee, how to impart how good he is I find difficult to put into words, but I'll give it a go! His voice is rich and strong, and really moving when it has to be. I think his acting is great, he really  manages to capture Joseph perfectly, and does comedy so well. I must admit I would love to see him in some thing that stretches him more. We are at Close Every Door before I know it, and wow does he give it his all. Being that close you can really see the power and emotion he puts into it, cue second lump in throat! The second half rattles through and before I know it third lump in throat when the reunion with brothers happens, swiftly followed by fourth lump when he is reunited with Jacob!

The megamix soon cures that, then up he goes on the cherry picker to another enormous cheer and then bam it's over. Outside we managed to get a terrific place to stand and there is the GO right beside me handing me a photo, I think I managed to squeak thank you, I'm very articulate you know. Then he leant right over me with an arm either side of my head which was then in his chest! Needless to say I'm now a puddle on the floor and haven't recovered yet, and I don't want to! What a night worth every penny, am now saving to see if I can manage another visit! Thanks to all the lovely loppy ladies who helped it become a night to remember.

Shirley celebrated a very special birthday at the Adelphi! - 30th January

Right. First of all a huge huge THANK YOU to everyone who made my 'official’ birthday so very very special. It was a brilliant day, and you all helped make it so.    A gathering of Loppies from far and near.  The far flung included the intrepid Ringer all the way from St Louis - if anyone didn’t know,  Suex from Merseyside, and JaneE from Yorkshire.  Then Carol, Auds, Pauline2,  Gillian, Jo4,  Maeve, Eva, Claire, Sonja, Nicki,  Diana, Carolyn,Shirley2,  From well before 5 I was getting texts from Donna - progress reports. Just leaving school. At the station. Bought my ticket. And she was SO excited, and then a very different one - she had had a phone call to say that her older son Jacob had fallen hard and was at the hospital - so off she shot in the other direction. Such a shame, had been looking forwarded to the party being finally complete. But it wasn't to be!!! Shame.  Missed you loads my friend!!

As we were in the Porterhouse we didn’t have far to go to THE theatre, so sat chatting, giggling, eating  and drinking until after 7.00  Anyway we finally get into the Adelphi and claim our row A seats - fortunately there is plenty of leg room in the middle because there has to be room for the conductor’s access door to swing open - so plenty of space for all my pressies to fit and still space for all of us.

To be that close to the stage was amazing. There are things you cannot see because you are too close and those in the foreground block your view of the background - but there are no prizes for guessing who I was looking at whenever he was on stage - even to the extent of bobbing my head right over to Nicki's shoulder so I could see Lee behind Dean.  Unusually when Lee first appeared in the clouds he was not smiling. He was looking quite stern. But as soon as he appeared everyone roared and applauded and the biggest grin spread across his face. And that set the tone for the whole evening. A very appreciative audience and a very bouncy Lee -and the whole cast on really top form. Dean was the best I have seen him, and I am a great admirer of Dean's Pharaoh. As everyone has said Jenna was fantastic. Just wonderful. I liked Preeya but her voice could get rather screechy from time to time, whereas with Jenna it all seemed effortless. And she interacted with the children delightfully - you could really believe she was a teacher.

And then the main act??!!!?? OH MY GOD. He was unbelievably good. mind bogglingly good. How he gets better is beyond me - but he has been and gone and done it again. He looks wonderful. Little bitty love handles have reappeared. Gone is the too light, slightly fragile looking Lee.  He now looks exactly what he is - a healthy, happy and fit guy in the prime of hislife - living the dream and having a ball. Slightly tanned - a few mosquito bites still in evidence. Guess they loved him too.  Jane tells me that in the interval I was flirting with the conductor - Me? Flirt? Well I did offer to put a pair of Loppy ears on his head and while he declined he was very certainly enjoying the attention - from Auds as well. And we are the two going to be having the UC&P with Lee. This could be great fun.......

A couple of little observations - the part that really had tears in my eyes was when Jo reveals himself to the brothers. OMG  - the frustration - the anguish. I'm your brother. Don't you even recognise me??? Don't know if Lee has tweaked the way he plays that but it had both Jane and I in tears. Then when he is singing CED to his father and he is holding Jacobs hands he is stroking his father's hand with his thumb at the same time. Such a tiny thing, but shows how in character he is. And finally the surprise. I thought we would be up bopping all through the Megamix, but strangely being that close to them on the stage was inhibiting. We would have been right in their faces and it felt kind of awkward - to me anyway - I would be interested to know if anyone else felt the same. 

And Finally. Out to the after show show. Donna had asked me to give Lee her love and say how gutted she was not to be there. The security guy was moving everyone off the ramp to let people out, but behind us. Lovely guy that he is he let Pauline, Carol, Sue and myself hang in close but made everyone move away behind us. Was even joking with us in the end - about and with mean the blonde that is the queen of the Lush Loppies. And then there was Lee. THUD. Know I didn't want any autographs. I already have the bestest autographs a girl could have on my precious Echo photo and my birthday card, so was pleased to be able to get Gillian's cd cover signed for her - a nice tidy signature too - not the Carol it degenerates too when he is trying to sign more than he has time for.

So there he is in front of me - screaming everywhere and I am saying Donna sends here love and is sorry she couldn't be with us tonight - and I got the Lee Mead 'Hello Donna’ clearly not understanding what the hell I was talking about - so I carried on and said 'Jacob had a bad accident and has a # wrist'. By this time hiss halfway back across the step, but must be listening to me, because as I said about Jacob his head snapped back and in a very different manner Lee said - give her my love. Mission accomplished!!! Had another chance to get a word in when he came back to the ramp end again and I managed to tell him that Ringer had flown in from St Louis especially to see the show - REALLY??? - 

Gillian and a Lovelee recorded it all. And I am delighted and proud to see that I really do not shout at Lee. Never thought I did, but like I said my brain really does turn to mush around Lee. And last night was no exception.   But it is so nice that the king is back in his kingdom, in brilliant form. Just makes the world a little happier for this 'slightly bonkers' Loppy. Then as there were 4 of us heading off to Paddington we took a cab, and it all happened rather quickly. I know I did not have a chance to say proper goodbyes and THANKS to all of you for making it truly a day to remember. THANK YOU

MilleeMollee had a fab time at the Adelphi! - 29th January

As it was my birthday we decided to make a real day of it. My OH works in London so we met him for a drink or two, before he came home to look after our daughter and my two (non-loppy) friends and I headed for a restaurant. One bottle of wine and a few good laughs later we headed for the theatre. My decidedly non-loppy friend found it incredibly amusing how excited I was. We made our way to our seats – right up in the gods – passing a very friendly young boy in the booth who tried to sell me posters, programmes, etc. I told him I had everything I needed and there was nothing he had that I would want to which he replied “what not even Meady’s telephone number?” and pulled out his mobile. My friends later said they thought I might well have jumped over the booth I looked so excited! A great laugh and a good way to start the proceedings. Once in our seats we then had a short wait for the show to start. It seemed forever! Finally out came Jenna who really impressed us with the strength of her voice. I saw Preeya when I went previously and had thought she was good, but Jenna’s voice is just that little bit more powerful. She also interacted more with everyone and so I really enjoyed watching her. Lee entered to the most enormous round of applause, cheering and screaming and had a huge smile on his face. He really does seem to enjoy what he’s doing. His voice was incredible; everyone seemed to be really on form and enjoying themselves. Very bouncy, lots of enthusiasm from everyone; the brothers were excellent as usual; holding notes longer than you would think possible, even waiting for applause before continuing singing. However my eyes were drawn back again and again to a certain Mr Mead (who is lightly tanned, just enough to draw extra attention to the fantastic body!) I particularly enjoyed the scene at Potiphar's as Mrs Potiphar managed to move the loincloth just enough to give us a tantalising glimpse of thigh, and again when on the bed it moved just that little bit higher than I remembered from my last visit! All too soon Joseph was behind bars and singing CED. I really cried this time! The voice and the emotions just hit me and I was sitting there with a huge smile and tears rolling down my face.

We had our pre-booked “champers” (it was my birthday after all!) during the interval and I took the time to write down all my thoughts about the first half. The 3 minute bell rang and we had to quickly finish our drinks. Time seemed to have just disappeared and there we were, back in our seats watching the choir, who were lacking in boys this evening and, I felt, unfortunately lacking vocal range on some of the higher notes. However Jenna’s voice carried them through and the second act continued to wow us. Dean was on good form with his ad-libbing today, although I still remain disappointed at not being able to hear his words clearly when he is singing; my friends and I think that he overdoes the Elvis impression just a little and it makes his voice a little difficult to understand. The interaction between all the cast was just lovely and I am sure I noticed a few changes from when I went before. They all seem to have such fun and it is so infectious. Canaan days was just great; my friend commented that she thinks it is her favourite song. And then we were watching Joseph reunited with his brothers and his father. My very non-loppy friend had told me that when she hears a good singer the hairs stand up at the back of her neck. At the interval she said it hadn’t happened and I couldn’t believe she had not been moved by CED or even just Lee appearing! However she whispered to me that when Joseph was singing with Jacob it did happen! I was so pleased I started to cry again! Even before the mega mix people were up on their feet, clapping and cheering. The mega mix was great fun again and being up high meant I actually saw Lee on the cherry picker, which was out of my range of sight on my previous visit. His huge grin as he came up just cannot be beaten. Everyone within my eye range was on their feet clapping and cheering and they all got a standing ovation. I was so pleased that they came back out after the curtain went down and just couldn’t believe it was all over so quickly.

After paying a visit to the ladies room, we decided to take a slow walk down to the front of the theatre. I couldn’t believe my luck when the security guard roped off just behind us and I found myself right in front of the door where Lee comes out! The security guard was very chatty, telling us all what to expect and we asked him about his job. And then he started counting down, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 3, 2, 1 and Lee was in front of me! He walked along to the far end and started handing out the prints. As he came back in front of me he handed me one. I actually said “It’s alright I’ve got one already” and he replied “Are you alright? Did you enjoy it?” OMG he spoke to me. I just answered “Yes” and he was gone. The security guard then said to me “if you’ve got something for him to sign, get it out now” so I got out my calendar (Thanks so much Jocki for the raffle prize!) and stood there waiting. Lee came along and I held it out. He looked at it and then looked up at me and I said “I won this in a raffle on Donna’s site” (sorry Donna) and he said “Oh wow you won it” I said “No I came second the first one you’d already signed” and he said “well that’s alright then” he then took a letter from a little girl next to me (it was an invitation to her birthday party; she wants him to come and sing for her. Bless!) My friends had been busy snapping away all the time and one said “I got one of you with him!” Just behind us was a very friendly LoveLee (I didn’t get her name, but apologies to her because I blocked her taking a photo, I hope she got some good ones. She told me it was her 18^th visit!) My two friends then moved forwards with my CDs for signing (which they managed to do for me!) and then the security guard shouted it was time for Lee to go ( I think prompted, unfortunately, by one girl asking for a kiss, another for a photo with him. How annoying I wish people wouldn’t do that, it seemed as though Lee was then rushed off sooner than on my last visit) and with a fantastic wave (which my friend caught and is here for you) and a huge cheer, Lee was gone. I was shaking rather a lot and could only just manage to put my calendar back in its envelope before we headed to the Pitcher and Piano for a stiff drink and a chance to talk about the evening. On the way round, we passed two of the brothers leaving the theatre, one was Nat, not sure on the other, I rushed up to them and said “You were fantastic tonight” to which Nat replied “Oh thanks” and they were gone. I am so glad I had the champers at interval as I am sure that was what gave me the courage to speak both to Lee and to Nat (I am not usually the most outgoing of people) And so it was the end of the evening. Once back, my wonderful friend then emailed me the photos she had taken. I am sure you will all agree that Lee looks very well, happy, rested and tanned. I am so excited about actually talking to him and I hardly slept a wink (I am also now planning my next visit – can’t wait until October!)

Apologies to everyone for such a wordy review but you can’t do it justice with any less! Hope you all enjoy the photos

For some any dream will do. But not for the winner of the recent BBC talent show of the same name from Melissa!

For actor, Lee Mead there was only one dream and that was to be the lead in Joseph & his Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat.

On 6th July he got his dream when the musical opened at the Adelphi Theatre in the Strand. As Lee took to the stage in his first lead role in the West End, the question begging to be asked is did the audience get their dream too?

In his coat of many colours Lee was amazing. Bare chested, dripping with sweat, he was fantastic; women throughout the theatre cheering as he was stripped to his loin cloth, all of them wishing they could get closer to the deliciously good looking Essex actor.

The show opened with the familiar ‘Any Dream…’ song to an enthralled audience. Preeya Kalidas (East is East, Bombay Dreams, Bend it Like Beckham) as the narrator guided the show skilfully through each splendid musical number along with the children’s choir.

All the main parts were superbly cast, among them Dean Collinson (Whistle Down the Wind, Notre Dame de Paris) as Pharoah, Stephen Tate (Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line, Cats) as Jacob and John Alastair (Mamma Mia) as Reuben, and all the supporting actors and actresses who were enthusiastic and full of energy and keen to show the audience what they could do.

And show us they did. The show was a lively mix of humour, familiar songs and comic timing and yes, Lee Mead was everything we had hoped he would be. For me this was a better show than the Jason Donovan, Donny Osmond, Phillip Schofield era and with Lee in the role, Joseph has been reborn. You’d be foolish to miss it.

Dawn enjoyed her first time with Joseph on January 12th 'The Look, The Wave and The Mega Watt Smile'

6 months and 9 days and finally it was here. 12^th January, I’m going to see the GO!!!! As I live in Scotland (and we were only going for a day!) We had to get up mega early. 3AM to be precise! But I didn’t care. I’d waited too long to suddenly be tired!

I love you Lee Mead!!!!!! ( And all you other fabulous Loppies out there!)

This is from Kirsten - read about how she completed her mission on 11th January!

This was my first time to see THE show. I have seen and read  so many other peoples reviews and photos since joining the forum, that it was hard to believe that it was finally my turn to see what you were all raving about. My expectations were high and excitement level on a par.

I had booked through Superbreak which included a two night stay at the Grafton Hotel – Tottenham Court Road – and I was joined by my sister-in-law Gail, who liked Lee and was very interested in all that I had to say about him – but not a converted Loppy. Hopefully I didn’t bore the pants off her on our coach trip down and then back up talking about the Meadster! She got to hear all about “the mission” of delivering the Holiday card to Lee and her co-operation was offered.

Friday night was just dinner out and then Saturday was Harrods all morning and then lunch (long one) at Langan’s Brasserie at Green Park. Whilst walking around Harrods, Gail asked me which tube station we needed for the Adelphi that night, and I realised I didn’t know!! What am I like?!! Texted Brenda who found that very amusing! but told me it was Charing Cross.

The evening came round very fast and before long I was sitting in my seat – Stalls L7. Not bad I thought, although I could see I would be missing the far RHS of the stage. I did buy the £10 programme which I thought was expensive, but then you get the samller programme, poster (well 2 actually) and placcy bag too, so all in all, ok.

The show was 5 minutes late starting which only makes your brain start overloading with thoughts that something is wrong and they are going to announce that Lee isn’t doing it. But of course, he was.

I won’t bore you all with the details of the show as the majority of you have seen it and have your own memories. I whooped and clapped my way through it, thinking that it can’t get any better, and then it does! My main thoughts are:

*  that the brothers are a fantastic ensemble; their comic timing was perfect and they had super voices

*  dare I say it, I didn’t find “Close Every Door” as emotional as I had expected. The first part of the song Lee is looking down all the time which I thought was a shame. The audience did give him a huge ovation. The most moving moment, for me (and for Gail who I could hear sniffing and admitted afterwards to a tear or two) was when Jacob, holding Josephs tattered coat, meets Joseph again. The silence was so moving, with them just looking at each other, and then Lee  starts singing so gently “Any Dream will do”. A very powerful moment.

* the megamix was brill (did expect Lee to be dancing in it more) and the cherry picker moment was far more dramatic and powerfully visual than I had expected. The stream of colours coming out behind him was beautiful.

* Preeya was very good, as was Dean. But as you have all said before, I tried very hard to look at them when Lee was on stage, but it was hard!!

A standing ovation at the end which was great, and then heart started beating faster when I realised that Lee had taken hold of a mic and was about to make a speech!! He basically said that someone was leaving us who had been there from the very beginning, it was their last show, and that it was Preeya! He wished her luck in all that she did for the future, said they would miss her terribly and how fantastic she had been in Joseph, and then some flowers came on which were presented to her by Lee with a kiss and a huge hug. She started getting tearful and didn’t speak herself. Lee did say when the flowers came on “I wish I would get flowers like that”... or something like that.... and somewhere in there he also said that he was going on holiday.

 Well that was the end of the show and then came the theatre steps and my mission! Got a perfect spot and there wasn’t a huge scrum at first, but then they soon stacked up. I recognised Ro from photographs, (but got her confused with Kaz at first) but introduced myself. One of my photos of Lee has her in. There was quite a lot of pushing from behind but just stood my ground. Lee came out very quickly and boy did he look good! Gail though he was even better looking up close (I’m sure I have converted her!!). Discovered quickly that my camera wasn’t working (I had given another one to Gail so she was clicking away at least). Lee handed out the photcards, stretching over me and around me, and he was sooooo close. Fiddling with trying to get my camera working but trying to watch him as well was very stressful. Once he started signing, I shoved my poster in front of him which he signed, and then handed him the card. He looked up at me as soon as I did, straight into my eyes, and I gave him the message – “ this card is from Donna and all the Loppies on LMAS wishing you a wonderful holiday” – yes, he’s still looking at me. He said “thank you” and then gave the card to some lady by the door. He turned back to me and looked directly at me again and said, “thank you so much” grabbing my hand as he did. And then he moved on.

In fact he moved on to a youngish girl who was with her Mum, and the Mum asked Lee to give her daughter a kiss!! He did, the daughter screamed, he laughed, I heard the mum say “that’s really made her day” and Lee laughed again and moved on. What Lee didn’t realise was the daughter (late teens I would say) started having breathing difficulties as she was so overwhelmed and I heard her mum say that she was having an asthma attack! The pushing and shoving behind me then stopped as everyone dispersed to give this young girl some breathing space and even the security men came over to help. Lee oblivious to all of this. The girl used her inhaler and all was ok again.

Lee actually seemed to run out of things to sign, so that was his cue to suddenly wave and say goodbye, and he was gone!!

 My hands were shaking as I moved away, but boy did I feel good! Mission accomplished!!! Checked camera when were back on the underground and pictures not brill, but just ok. And ofcourse, got my camera working as well. Duh!!

An evening I won’t forget. My thanks to my sister-in-law Gail for sharing it with me (she’s going on to LMAS for the first time to read this review, so a definite conversion going on here!!).

This is from Elisabeth  - she is a true fan as you can tell!!!!

Before you get too excited, this isn’t really a review, more a collection of personal impressions and memories.

First things first, I collected my ticket bought on ebay outside the Adelphi and somehow expected to be turned away at the door, but the ticket was the genuine article and the seat (G8 – my husband thinks it’s hilarious.) fantastic.  What a difference to my first visit in Row V with the added distraction of children in tow. Although I had been a bit worried about going on my own, it turned out to be great. I was able to just sit there and absorb everything: the atmosphere and the performances.

OK, I tell a lie. Like others before me I didn’t really notice any performances apart from Lee’s during the time he was on stage.

I did enjoy the brothers enormously (think there were only 10 of them – but who’s counting?), especially their interaction with the audience during Canaan Days, when – spurred on by our clapping – they held the big money notes seemingly forever.  I liked Dean’s ‘show-within-the-show’, which included a few funny adlibs, and the polished but sensitive performance Preeya gave as the narrator.

But really I just felt privileged to watch the stunning performer Lee has grown into.  From his entrance on the cloud, which I hadn’t seen in August (yes, another slight set malfunction) to the glorious finale high above the audience it was one long series of highlights.

From the first moment I saw Lee on ADWD in the spring I thought he was great and I loved the show the first time round, but yesterday was just in a completely different league, with Lee being simply breathtakingly spectacular. Vocally – and who would have thought this possible – he has clearly improved since first taking on the role of Joseph.  I can’t claim to be any kind of music expert (and probably wouldn’t know a flat note if it hit me in the face) but you don’t have to be to recognise the outstanding artist that is Lee Mead.  The control he exercises over the full range of musical expressions – from the barely whispered beginning of ADWD when being reunited with Jacob to the careful build in CED culminating in the powerful delivery of the final lines – is just incredible.

Of course, he looks simply stunning and radiant, but what makes his really a stand-out-can’t-take-your-eyes-off-for-a-second performance is the enormous fun he is clearly having. Considering he plays the same part in the same show 8 times a week I might have expected that he had settled into a nice little routine. Well, not a bit of it! The entire show and Lee’s part in it in particular is as fresh as ever and there were little bits – the real highlights for me – that made it obvious he is still having the time of his life: subtle twists to some of the songs (which he may have decided to include on the night or which may have evolved over time) and that infectious, genuinely excited smile he delights us with so frequently.  I defy anyone to watch Joseph and not feel uplifted by the energy Lee puts into his performance and the buzz he so obviously gets from it.

The audience were quite lively – lots of clapping and dancing during the megamix (and yes, I did see Donna boogying away a few rows in front of me) – and all filed out happy when the show ended with Lee donning a Christmas hat.

I had decided that I would wait for him to come out afterwards even though that meant having to take the very last train home. Was it worth it – every second!  There wasn’t a huge crowd outside, so I found myself at the front trying to juggle my camera and holding out one of the Echo photos for Lee to sign.  He came out to great cheers (What else?) and started handing out stacks of the pre-signed photos before signing tickets, programmes etc.  When he saw the photo I’d brought he said ‘Oh, I remember that one.’ and gave me one of those dazzling smiles.  I tried (not very successfully) to take a few pictures and before I knew he was back saying ‘Oops, I’ve already signed that one, haven’t I?’ Now there may have been a wink or a giggle but, by that point, I was too far gone to notice. I wish I could have thought of a witty reply but some of you will sympathise with me not getting anything but ‘Yes, thank you.’ out. 

As I write this I do question why it is that I am so excited by Lee saying two sentences to me.  I think it’s because it confirms to me that he really is the genuinely lovely person he has always come across as, whether during his time on ADWD, in interviews or in his dealings with his fans.  He is truly touched by all the support he has and I feel reassured that that matters to him.

Review of the Matinee on the 9th January 2008 by Tricia

What feelings go through your head when you go to see a show you have seen several times before. Why am I doing this springs to mind? A lot of you will know why I did it, some may think I'm slightly odd!

Anne and I had good stall seats Row G in the centre so you get not only a good view of the whole of the stage but a good view of the actors facial expressions. I love the introduction music and felt a real feeling of anticipation as first the children and then Fiona came onto the stage. But for me it's that moment when you see Lee start to appear behind the gauze curtain the anticipation as he smiles and then starts to sing 'Any Dream Will Do' sends a tingle down my spine and for the next 40minutes or so I'm lost. He completely holds the audience in his spell, and yesterday afternoon they were a very appreciative audience from the first moments of the show.The brothers are always so full of enthusiasm and I do watch them - when Lee's not on stage!!

Fiona as narrator does not have the power of voice that Preeya has but she is very good and plays the part of the narrator so well. Every time I've seen the show  I have always thought what a good actor Lee is, I think the part of Joseph is very complex, to age 14 or so years in the space of two hours is quite a feat and not only that but to go from dreamy shepherd and spoilt son to powerful arrogant lord  well it would be beyond me, and  I’ve spent my life acting in front of classrooms full of children. He is very funny with the snake and camel, lovely facial expressions and one of my favourite lines is 'And I Don't Speak Egyptian Very Well' said in such an anguished voice.

Lee's  voice was  awesome when he sang 'Close Every Door' it still sent shiver down my back as it did the first time I heard him sing it. He puts so much feeling in  to the song. There was a different butler but he played the role as well as Russell whose role it is.

I always feel the first half goes so quickly, which is probably better than the second half going quickly!!! After the interval its time for the next 50 minutes of pure bliss. Dean was back to full force and very funny in his role as narrator one or two different lines I'm sure I've not heard the 'Devil in Disguise ' line before.   

Lee, as the successful saviour of Egypt is so different to the dreamer who angered his brothers so much, he is just brilliant he looks the part, commands the stage and makes you believe he is that man. Then of course he changes again into the adult, fun loving brother and finally the son. The rendition of 'Any Dream Will Do' when Joseph is reunited with Jacob is so full of loss and longing, regret and love it brought a lump to my throat.

Then the megamix which got the very appreciative audience clapping and singing along with the cast. Lee looked as though he was having a ball, despite the fact that his head mike was still attached to his very damp hair as he rose up on the cherry picker. Only one standing ovation at the end of the show, I was there in December when there were three starting before the megamix , but this audience appeared to have really enjoyed the show.

Lee was his usual lovely self when he came out to sign photos at the end of the show, chatty with the people who chatted to him relaxed and still appearing to be enjoying the role he put so much into to achieve.
There isn’t a better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon in January.

One or two photos of the occasion I hope you will enjoy.

Jill's Review from January 7th

Ploppy made me laugh before I went, he said "but I thought you had seen Joseph before"with that bemused look that only Ploppys have, yes I have and the what point are you trying to make here?????

My friend and I arrived in the Strand just after 6, we decided that a glass of something would be in order( she had already been taken out by her boss for a slap up lunch) We found that the bar opposite the Stage Door had "HAPPY HOUR" so we thought that would do us, we had a cocktail made up of vodka, guava and pomegranate juice, and it was cheaper to buy a jug than several glasses, lovely it was too.

We arrived at our seats at about 7.25 Row D seats 16 and 17 in the stalls, we were so excited to be that close, music started, and Fiona appeared, now I think her voice was easier to listen to than Preeya's but that is just my opinion, and then "THERE HE WAS” much whopping and clapping from the audience, in fact a lot more than last time, there seemed to be a lot of the dry ice, but as Lee was singing we walked away from it, but what else can I say, CED was just brilliant his voice seemed to be a lot stronger than last time. Lee and Fiona seemed to giggle a lot especially during Go,Go.Go, and the energy of the man he was bounding about the stage like a young stallion, I think it was Ali asked about his legs, I thought they looked as though he had shaved them but the hairs were just growing back, and I must admit I did think he perhaps had overindulged at Christmas, his torso just looked as though it could have done with a few exercises, but hey what am I saying, up that close, you could see every expression, every twitch of that lovely face, I know its been said before but he looks as though he is enjoying performing so much, and I think that rubs off on the audience.

The Brothers as usual were brilliant, but my eyes were drawn to Neal Wright who plays Judah, for such a big guy he again has so much energy, and you wonder why they don't lose weight jumping around every day like they do, again so much expression, also when Lee is on the stage I find I am watching his every move, but there was a little girl, who stood out from the others, she was in green and had pigtails, but I think a star in the making, again, she was enjoying every minute of being on the stage.

The end came far to soon, but during the Megamix the whole of the Theatre seemed to be clapping, nobody was on there feet where we were sitting, but the atmosphere was electric , and at the end Lee had a standing ovation, everybody was again whopping and clapping, and he did take one curtain call.

When we eventually arrived at the front of the Theatre (via the small room) it was pouring with rain, but that hadn't stopped anybody from waiting for Lee, it was heaving outside, I didn't want an autograph but wanted to take some photos, but as I held my camera up, I was seemed to be pushed and shoved in all directions

Lee had on his warm parka coat, the one with the fur on the hood and looked very snug, but he wasn't answering any questions, and only seemed to go up and down the front row twice, he literally was only there I would say under 5 minutes, my friend remarked that he was probably in a hurry because he had a date with DVO, but I did manage to get one of the signed photos for my friend who missed out last time, and I was a good Loppy I handed the rest of the photos to the people behind me.

So off we had to go to Paddington, but we were happy ladies, that’s the feeling watching Joseph gives you, and I can't wait to see it again, but my next lot of tickets are for June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Helen's review of 7th January 2008

I can't describe how much I have been looking forward to this performance all over Christmas and I was not disappointed! I was originally going with Christine (lovelees) but she was unfortunately unable to come and her ticket was given to Trudy (also a lovelee) who I hadn't met before but was great fun and I enjoyed going with a fellow Leefan!!
 
We had PERFECT seats, row A dress circle right in the middle and had full view of the stage and I found myself leaning forward for most of the show (an extra 5 cm closer to Lee makes all the difference!!) His voice was just amazing and he hit each note beyond every expectation, he looked jaw droppingly gorgeous and looked like he was having the time of his life. The rest of the cast was fantastic like always although my eyes are always drawn to James Bisp who plays Asher when the brothers are on! It was the first time I had seen Dean as Pharoah as both other times I've been he hasn't been there. I thought he was just fabulous. As has been mentioned on the forum, Christopher Biggins was in the audience (which I only realised because people started applauding during the interval and I looked down and he had stood up and was waving to everyone!) So during one of Pharoah's songs, Dean said in his Elvis voice something along the lines of 'I may be the King, but we've got the king of the jungle here tonight' and everyone (including Lee) laughed.
 
The audience were great and there was a standing ovation, lots of clapping and whooping!! After the show, it must've taken Trudy and I a good 15 minutes to get out so we were surprised when we were able to get a good standing point at the front for when Lee came out! So then he came out complete with snuggly coat and started handing out signed photos and he was leaning over so close to me I couldn't quite believe it!! I'll never forget seeing him that close up!! So then he came round to do autographs and since he's already signed my programme when I went before, I gave him my ticket to sign. He said 'Hi' so I said 'Hi, have a great holiday' and he looked at me, smiled and said thank you. Trudy also wished him a happy holiday whilst taking her mini movie...Trudy I'd love to see this if that's possible?? :) It's the first time I've seen him and said something that doesn't make me look like a right loon - and it was only 5 words! Lol! I Overall a BRILLIANT night and boy, did I have trouble concentrating at work

Shirley2's review of 7th January 2008

Another great evening at the Adelphi with 2 friends who had watched ADWD, thought Lee was the best on there but were by no stretch of the imagination Loppies. Stalls Row K 23/25. Lee in usual top form, I was anxious for them to be blown away by him and he didn't disappoint. There was a slight hitch with the mic during CED, it went a bit echo-ey during the first section but then thank goodness seemed to be all right for the rest. Christopher Biggins was in audience row G - we were almost immediately behind him 4 rows back and he was happily chatting with everyone and signing autographs before the start and in the interval. Dean, during the explaining of his dream number managed to work into it 'that we have the King of the Jungle right here' and pointed him out to huge applause. There was lots of banter between Dean and Lee and extra bits I hadn't noticed before.

During the megamix only 4 people in the front row stood and danced but as Lee was raised on the platform me and some others stood for the ovation and then the majority did stand towards the end (CB & party didn't until right at the very end). At the after show show  Lee came out very quickly, around 9.55pm as he was in a hurry to get back in to chat with CB - how do I know this? Because he told me! I didn't ask him to sign anything as had got things signed in previous visits but I got my 2 friends right in front with me so they could see him in all his glory (their first time)and said to him 'Another great show Lee and you had CB in the audience too'. 'I know' he said and smiled then added, 'I'm going back in to see him shortly, gesturing behind him'. Before that when he came down the line the first time handing out the photos I had said to him 'Hi Lee, I'm a Loppie and I'm hoping to convert my friends'. 'Great' he said, 'Join the club' to all 3 of us. So all in all a fantastic evening again. One of the friends (down from Lancs) cant wait to go again and suggested I get tickets during Wimbledon when she's here again, the other will be coming with me again too!