Nostalgia, like Potiphar’s wife, is a dangerous if seductive mistress. Though remounting preloved shows might give us a moment of pleasure, it can just us easily land us in the creative doldrums. With two seperate productions of Phantom of the Opera playing in a single year, and shows such as Mary Poppins and Hairspray returning before we even had a chance to miss them, Australian musical theatre currently feels like a retro party that refuses to die. Now Joseph and his coat of many colours is back, and the tilt into the past starts to feel precipitous.
Thankfully, this new production from director Laurence Connor (who also happened to direct the Phantom currently playing at the State Theatre) is joyously, almost wilfully, timeless; it’s a show that so completely ignores contemporary trends it feels strangely apposite. It’s incredibly daggy but it makes no attempt to hide its lack of cool, and the result is endearingly honest and entertaining.
