Joseph‘s Pip Jordan talks us through what her role as Dance Captain entails…

Pip Jordan

Pip, you wear quite a few hats – sometimes quite literally! – in ensuring the production of Joseph goes smoothly. Could you explain what being a Dance Captain entails?
Well, I need to come in early as you can see (it’s four and a half hours before the curtain is due to rise on that evening’s performance) this is because it’s my job to make sure all the roles are covered for the forthcoming show. I obviously know beforehand who is on holiday and have already made arrangements for the “swings” (see our “swing” interview with Pip, coming soon, to find out more about this role) to cover these absences. However regarding who will be off due to unforeseen circumstances like injury, sickness etc, I have no idea.

So how much notice do you get regarding these extra absences?
Everyone has a deadline to call in if they are not going to be on. It is 3pm on normal show days and 11.30am on matinee days. They phone David Lamb the Company Manager and then he will phone me after this cut off time and let me know who is off. I come in here to my dressing room for that phone call so I have all my covering sheets and paperwork that I need so I can immediately start work on who will be covering which role.

I am a really nice dance captain because as soon as I have received my call from David I start sending texts. I think I text between 23 to 26 members of the cast to let them know what the scenario is. So my swings know pretty much as soon as I know who they are going to be playing on the show.

So although your title is Dance Captain, this has much wider implications than just putting the cast through their dance paces?
Yes I am responsible for ensuring each role is covered in the show.

Is this the first show that you have been dance captain for?
Yes. But I was assistant dance captain for Evita. John Clarke who was our resident director on the beginning of Joseph was the dance captain on Evita, so I only stepped in as his cover. So all in all I have the Adelphi has been my home for over three years! (Evita previously played at the Adelphi, prior to Joseph)

What if there are more people off than there are actors to cover them?
Then we have to do what we call a “cut” show. This doesn’t mean the show is shortened, but that people have to cover more than one part at a time which can sometimes effect what the narrator does, what Joseph does, Jacob, everyone… So I have to know what all the knock on effects are of each possible changed scenario and I have to tell everyone on stage but also stage management, sound, wigs and wardrobe, etc.

What kind of percentage of shows do you have to improvise stuff for?
More often than not. I have a green file which is three inches thick of all the different scenarios that we have done. It can be crazy! Because we are allowed to have two boys and two girls on holiday at any one time there is not a lot of leeway, so you can imagine it doesn’t take much in the way of extra absences!

If an actor receives one of your texts telling them they are covering a role do they also have to come in early so you can walk them through the part etc..?
Very occasionally, more so at the beginning of the run. But only last week in happened. Russell (Walker) our Butler volunteered himself from the start of the show to do anything extra which is needed, so I always pick on him now! He had to do a whole different role in Potiphar the other day so he came in early to learn the steps for that. Normally he is one of the boys around the Narrator but for this other role he had to lift Mrs Potiphar off the bed and he hasn’t done that before so he came in to learn all that. Other than that we have warm up at 6.30pm for the 7.30pm show and if we have a “cut” show we do something which we call storytime which is where I have written out the whole show and I tell everyone in the group what the changes are.

Pip Jordan in her dressing room

So presumably once the show starts and the curtain goes up you can relax a little knowing that you have covered everything off thoroughly?
No! Not at all! It has happened that actors have to come off for various reasons while the show is in progress… when this happens it can get quite manic! For example, If someone has gone off before the hoedown then they may not have a partner to lift them, or indeed someone to lift, so I have to try and run around and give directions – and this often while I am onstage myself covering a role – “you need to go off for this bit” or “you need to stand over there for that bit”!..

And that’s another thing if a principal goes off during the show then we have to pluck whoever is their cover out of the ensemble and then replace that ensemble member with a swing. So there is a knock on effect. Especially for wigs and wardrobe when it’s in the middle of a show – that can be quite harrowing.

There are a lot of children involved in Joseph – does your role as Dance Captain involve looking after them as well?
I am Children’s Supervisor but in reality I don’t really look after them too much as such. We have a lady called Alex Worrall who goes out to their school in Essex and teaches them all the moves. Obviously they don’t have the set or the steps out there so when they come into the theatre for the first time on the stage I join them and it can be quite daunting for them, particularly the younger ones. We have had a couple who have initially been very anxious about going on stage for the first time… those steps must seem really high to a 6 year old!

So my role with the children is that I give notes if necessary. But the chaperones are amazing and I rarely give them any directions. They have 36 children to dress and each have to go to the loo in a rota! We have three groups, one will do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and the next group do Thursday, Friday, Saturday then the third group do Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and so on. So they have a week off in between appearances. The same children do the matinee and evening show if they are on Wednesday or Saturday and all get taken out for something to eat between shows. We have had 4 different sets of three teams since the show started. Some children have come back again to the show and you see familiar faces returning.

Although many of the cast have been with the show for the full run, the two main characters, Joseph and the Narrator have both changed, this must add to your workload?
It is always a bit strange to begin with. In the case of Gareth (Gates, who took over the role of Joseph from Lee Mead) I was with him almost from the beginning of rehearsals so I was used to a new Joseph by the time he started in the show. He does do some things quite differently. Some of the staging you would have to adapt because he would stand in a slightly different place or that kind of thing. But we are so used to him now that we probably would find it hard to remember what Lee used to do!
And of course it was the same with the narrator as well when Jenna came in (Jenna Lee James took over the role from Preeya Kalidas).

Would you be a Dance Captain again?
Yes! (Pip says as she shakes her head vigorously and laughs), Yes, I would do it again. There are different reasons for wanting to do it. Having your own track in the show is lovely because you just come in and you know what to expect. You do your job and then go home and can do other stuff in the day if you want to. But being a dance captain is quite full on and I think I take it a bit too seriously! People say “why do you come in so early”, but I just have to know that I have gone through everything and got everything right. I would be mortified if I missed something.

What are you doing next?
I am doing Shall We Dance at Sadlers Wells with Adam Cooper, I have a little featured part. I get two weeks off then I start rehearsals. I am looking forward to it, I will be doing some tap and I haven’t tapped since I was in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

So you would say that you have enjoyed the past two years?
I have. I really have. There have been moments when I have wanted to bang everyone’s heads together but on the whole we have had a great time. I think the people make it and there have been such a great bunch of people involved in this show. It has been so happy and friendly. That doesn’t happen in every show!