Technicolor Dreamcoat

Oxford Apollo Stephen Gately

"Anyone from anywhere can make it if he gets a lucky break."

So says Joseph, the central character in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's first (and still best) stage hit.

So might say Stephen Gately, who is playing the biblical hero in a scintillating production in Oxford this week.

From Sheriff Street, in one of the roughest parts of Dublin, to Easy Street, as a member of the massively successful Boyzone -- such has been the trajectory of Gately's showbiz career.

Now he is taking off on a new tangent with his debut in a theatrical starring role.

Oxford audiences should consider themselves lucky to be sharing in this significant moment for him. His first performance as Joseph was yesterday afternoon, and it was good -- very good.

Lloyd Webber, of course, has made it comparatively easy for all those who don the loincloth and glittering finery for the part by gifting them such wonderful, hummable tunes. Any Dream Will Do, for instance, is a gem we never tire of hearing (it's offered three times here).

But Gately's own engaging personality, which steadily emerges in twinkling smiles and droll asides as the colourful spectacle continues, is another powerful weapon in winning the audience's wholehearted support.

Mention of spectacle reminds me that this is a spanking new production, lavish in scenery and costume, from Bill Kenwright, whose earlier version delighted more than five million people on its long odyssey around Britain.

Highlights include the superb country and western hoe-down of Joseph's 11 brothers on One More Angel in Heaven, and the well-drilled chorus of American footballers and strutting majorettes during the Elvis-style account by Pharaoh (Trevor Jary) of his worrying dreams in Song of the King.

In Vivienne Carlyle, the latest in a long line of Scottish female vocal 'belters', we have a first-class narrator. At times, though, that belting can be just a little hard on the ear, as can some of the orchestral passages offered by musical director David Steadman and his band.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is off to entertain Liverpool over Christmas and moves into the West End in the New Year.

Oxford audiences should grab the chance to see it while they can at the performances at the Apollo tonight and again tomorrow.

CHRIS GRAY