Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat brings with it all the polished professionalism you’d reasonably expect of a West End show. Its production values are superb and its stars are at the very top of their game.

Bill Kenwright’s production of the much-loved Rice and Lloyd Webber musical admirably sweeps aside the many potential pitfalls of a touring production designed for bog-standard theatres nationwide.

A static but cleverly conceived set works perfectly well and any lingering doubts are blown away entirely by the top drawer performances by Joseph (Craig Chalmers) and Narrator (Tara Bethan) – both finalists in recent Lloyd-Webber sponsored BBC talent shows. Chalmers, who appeared to attract a boisterous teenage fanclub, more than did justice to the part, his impressive vocal range and stage presence belying his rather limp, boy band image. His touching rendition of Land of My Own was a personal highlight.

So too Bethan delivered a note perfect performance in one of the most challenging roles in musical theatre, hitting some astonishing highs along the way.

The only negative was the number of empty seats. I’d suggest, however, that this was more a comment on strained January finances than quality of performance.

Neil Skinner