YORK Stage Musicals are marking the 50th anniversary of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by staging the Youth Group Production version at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre from tomorrow...in pyjamas.

“We’re bringing a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s brilliant musical to York, matching the show's 50 years by having 50 of the city’s youngest shining stars tell the tale of a dreamer like you,” says director, producer and set designer Nik Briggs.

“This classic show will be presented with a fresh edge and the youthful energy York Stage are famous for. It was the first musical I saw as a child, so it has a special place in my heart and we’re thrilled to return to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, with a stellar cast, to create a show that we aim to be truly remarkable.”

Nik is working once more with musical director Stephen Hackshaw, whose York credits include Sister Act, Legally Blonde, 9 To 5, The Musical and Rock Of Ages, and now he will lead a 15-piece band through the West End orchestrations.

Meanwhile, professional York dancer and choreographer Emily Taylor makes her YSM debut. She has choreographed the Grand Opera House pantomime for many years and will do so again this Christmas for Cinderella And The Lost Slipper.

“We’re going back to the JoRo after a few years to mark the 50th anniversary of the Lloyd Webber and Rice show that began as a small, 20-minute school version, but we’re doing the full West End version that runs to 90 minutes plus an interval,” says Nik.

“It’s been so lovely to work on this show. Joseph has been done many times before, so I’ve really looked at how we could make it different, put our stamp on it...and we decided we should do Joseph in pyjamas.

“So the ‘dreamcoat’ is a dressing gown; the biggest, most colourful dressing gown you have ever seen. The Narrators are now babysitters, who tell the children a story and that story is Joseph.”

What else? “We have baby-doll nighties in the Sixties style for Go, Go, Go, Joseph; Potiphar has been transferred to the world of 'Wee Willie Winkie', night cap and all; and the children will become Egyptian mummies at some point, so it's going to be great fun," says Nik. "It will be the 'Joseph' you love already, but as you've never seen it before," says Nik.

York Press:

Narrators Stephanie Bolsher and Eleamor Leaper, back, centre, and fellow cast members in rehearsal for Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

He has assembled a cast ranging in age from seven to 21. "Technically it's the Youth Group version, but for our principals, we've been allowed to cast up to 21, so the talent we've developed over the years will be playing the leads, such as Jack Armstrong, who's grown up with YSM, playing Joseph," says Nik.

"Eleanor Leaper, one of our two Narrators, is back in York from studying in Bristol, where she took part in the BBC's Pitch Battle when she was musical director of the Bristol Suspensions singing group.

"She's always had the voice of an angel and now she's developed her musical theatre and pop voice, which she really shows off in this show."

Fellow Narrator Stephanie Bolsher has just arrived home in York from her musical theatre studies in New York. "She's soon moving to the cultural hub of Manchester but she's found time to return to York Stage Musicals to take on a role she's wanted to do for years," says Nik. "The harmonies that Stephen Hackshaw has arranged for Stephanie and Eleanor are stunning."

One more "very exciting twist" will add to a Joseph "as you've never seen it before". "We've cast a female Pharaoh, Fran Turley, from York, who's new to us. She's a sensational talent who walked into the audition, and as soon as we heard her sing, we just knew we wanted to work with her, and we thought, 'actually why can't the Pharaoh be a woman?'.

"She's 18, she's got the vocals of Aretha Franklin and the visuals of Elvis singing that song (Song Of The King), and Sophie Roberts, our amazing costume designer, is dressing her in a dressing gown like one of Elvis's suits in his Las Vegas days!

"It's all part of doing Joseph our way: it feels right, it feels current, Joseph for now."

York Stage Musicals present Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Youth Group Production, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow (October 31) until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk