Joseph
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat was the second musical that Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber have worked on together and they prepared the piece as a short rock-opera for the Colet Court School in London on 1 March 1968. The production was made into the musical it is today shortly after and was first performed in its present for at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1972. It was then not shown until January 1982 on Broadway where it began to cause greater interest. The musical subsequently opened in London Palladium in the West End during 1991. The classic show has become a staple production at schools throughout the UK and is one of the most frequently preformed performances amongst amateur theatre groups.
The BBC television contest show Any Dream Will Do that began in 2007 to search for the perfect young man to play Joseph in the latest production of Oliver created a new surge of interest for the musical. The television show included the writer Andrew Lloyd Webber and racked up huge ratings as views voted for their favourite. The winner, Lee Mead, is still playing Joseph in the current production at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End.