Sheridan Smith will return to the West End stage this summer in a new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical is to open in June at the London Palladium, where it had a successful run in the early 90s with Jason Donovan and then Philip Schofield in the title role.
Smith will star as The Narrator, who has a solo number at the opening of the musical and joins members of the company on several songs including Go, Go, Go Joseph. Casting for the part of Joseph is yet to be announced.
In an announcement on Facebook, Smith wrote that the musical “means such a lot” to her. “I remember I wore a purple T-shirt in the Joseph choir at primary school ... and with my senior school I went to the London Palladium and watched Phillip Schofield in the famous coat … So many amazing memories.”
Joseph opens on 27 June and runs for 11 weeks. It is directed by Laurence Connor whose productions include School of Rock.
Smith’s last major theatre role was as Fanny Brice in an acclaimed revival of Funny Girl, which earned her an Olivier award nomination. The production transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Savoy in the West End, where Smith missed a run of performances due to stress and exhaustion. She later resumed the role to further acclaim on a UK tour.
An estimated 26 million people have seen Joseph, which started out as a 15-minute “pop cantata” written for a London school in 1968. The following year, it became a concept album, based on the biblical story of Joseph, his father, Jacob, and Joseph’s 11 brothers. A stage version was presented at the Edinburgh festival in 1972 and its first West End run came in 1973. Last month, a new touring production, directed and produced by Bill Kenwright and starring Jaymi Hensley of X Factor finalists Union J, opened in Windsor.
Smith, who found success on the BBC comedy Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and played Cilla Black in an ITV miniseries, will soon be seen in Lucy Kirkwood’s Channel 4 drama Adult Material, about the porn industry.