Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grand Opera House, York, March 29 to April 3

Paul Jones has played him, so too Jess Conrad, Jason Donovan, Philip Schofield, Donny Osmond, Darren Day and Aled Jones. Now Andrew Derbyshire, Pop Idol contestant and We Will Rock You musical star, is the new Joseph. Next week, the 20-year-old Lancastrian leads the cast in Bill Kenwright's touring version of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's pop musical Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Grand Opera House, York.

How did you start your musical career, Andrew?

"I'm from Burnley, up in Lancashire, and there's a great group there called Basics - it's the Burnley Light Operatic Society - which has been going for 12 years and they do a show every year. I was with them for six years from 11 to 17, doing shows such as 42nd Street and Oliver!, playing Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! and Tommy Lawer in 42nd Street, and I played Mr Potiphar in Joseph.

"But then I've always been a singer. I was singing at three, and I was four when I sang in The Fat Cat, the cat who ate everything."

Were you in a hurry to reach the heights?

"When I did a two-year BTec in performing arts at Rawtenstall, I left after a year and a half to become a Blue Coat at Blackpool, when I was 18, and that was an experience, let me tell you. It was 14 hours a day - not every day - for £85 and accommodation, though I wouldn't call it accommodation, more a pit!

"As a child, I used to go to these holiday camps and get up and sing and win talent contests, when we couldn't afford to go on holiday abroad, and so I'd always wanted to be Blue Coat, and then got the chance to become one, and it really was hard work."

You won a scholarship to attend the Arts Educational drama school in Chiswick, and again you left early. Why?

"When an opportunity comes up, you take it, and after two years there I saw the opportunity to do Pop Idol. I got to meet Mike Dixon, who was the Pop Idol MD and is very well known in the West End, and at the time he was working on this new Queen musical, We Will Rock You.

"He'd heard me singing Summertime and thought I had a voice that was so individual, so he introduced me to Brian May the Queen guitarist, and I got the job straightaway."

Did you take the job there and then?

"It was a choice of 'Do I stay at college or do I take a role in a new musical in the West End which might fail?'. My mother said 'Stay at college', as mothers tend to do, but I thought, 'Well, the third year is all about showcases, you do all your training in the first two years'. So I decided to do the show."

You struck lucky, landing the lead.

"Originally I was part of the ensemble, working at 19 with lots of people who'd done lots of shows, and the company then needed an understudy for the lead guy. I auditioned, and it was between me and one other guy, and I got it, and because the lead would have to take holidays I knew I would have four weeks in the lead role. He then got ill, so I ended up doing the lead for a year."

How did you secure the title role in Joseph?

"I think Bill Kenwright the impresario behind the Joseph tour spotted me and asked if I would audition. Going back to my time at Basics and drama school I'd always wanted to do musical theatre.

"I see quite a lot of myself in Joseph. He's very individual, the brothers don't like him, just like I was very individual at school and from my family. My dad was a boxer, and my grandfather has 25 grandchildren, and I'm the only one who's not in Burnley, the only one who wanted to escape."

What have you learnt from your time in Joseph?

"I had five months on tour last year, four months taking over from Darren Day in the West End another five months on tour now until July, and as long as I'm on stage performing I'm happy, but I've also realised it's not the only thing for me, as I'm more a rock artist who can do my own stuff.

"I believe in individuality and being yourself and that's what I've found out from doing this. You don't find that out at drama school. I now want to challenge myself, not just to be playing a character but to be an artist and be myself, though I'm privileged to be doing a role like this."

What comes next on your dairy for 2004?

"Brian May is going to manage me, and after I finish this tour in July I'll be going into recording studio. Now it's about finding the right image, the right music, the right style for the album. Getting the record deal is the easy part of it."

Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grand Opera House, York, March 29 to April 3. Performances: Monday to Thursday, 7.30pm, Wednesday and Thursday, 2.30pm, Friday and Saturday, 5pm and 8pm. Tickets: £12.50 to £23.50 on 0870 606 3595.

Updated: 16:27 Thursday, March 25, 2004