Any Dream Will Do

Two things before we start: I love musicals, and I hate TV talent and reality shows. I can’t stand The X Factor, Pop Idol, Big Brother and so on. I would much rather be sitting at the back of the Apollo Victoria. Past experience of TV talent shows suggest they’re no very good at picking successful acts – Hear*Say, anyone?

Anyhoo, clearly I wasn’t too hot on the idea of a TV show casting a lead for The Sound of Music. And yet, watching How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, it was clear that we were looking at girls who could sing, who could act, and who could hold a stage with what John Barrowman excitedly calls “star quality”. Of the twelve Marias who were in the series, I think I’m right in saying that five are now performing in the West End, including, of course, Connie Fisher and her standby, Aoife Mulholland. Did they get their roles because of the TV competition? Connie, obviously, yes. The others? I don’t think so. Clearly the exposure helped, but they are more than talented enough to hold their own at an audition.

It didn’t hurt that Graham Norton was presenting the series, bringing a knowing degree of [something - can't think of the word] and just the right amount of camp. The panel – Barrowman, producer David Ian, and vocal coach Zoe Tyler – was clearly knowledgeable, not just pretty faces. And Andrew Lloyd Webber – well, he was Andrew Lloyd Webber.

So, I enjoyed How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. The show was a success, winning awards and finding, clearly, the right actor to play Maria. Connie Fisher is going to be around in the West End for a long time (especially if, as is rumoured, Lloyd Webber revives Funny Girl with her in the lead).

But it was great as a one-off. I wasn’t too thrilled to learn that NBC – and then ITV – were going to be doing a similar show to find the two leads for Grease. And I definitely had mixed feelings about the BBC following Maria with a search for a lead for Lloyd Webber’s revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph is very near and dear to me – it was the first musical I ever saw. I’ve seen it – I think – four times, and performed in amateur productions twice. And I know what Joseph should be like. Jason Donovan – yes. Philip Schofield – yes. Luke Goss – no. Stephen Gately – meh. Donnie Osmond – really no, even though he seems to have become the definitive Joseph (in the film).

But, once again, my fears were allayed by the series itself. Ten Josephs started in the series two months ago. Of those ten, I think there were three who I thought could be Joseph. Two have since been voted off the show, but Lee – who is Joseph – remains. The final is tonight. Let’s see what happens.

There was, I know, criticism and concern from within the acting profession – casting leads through a reality show devalues proper stage training and experience. But let’s face it: since the start of Maria, more than 30 shows have opened in the West End. Evita, Wicked, Spamalot, Avenue Q, Whistle Down the Wind, Little Shop of Horrors, The Lord of the Rings… Thirty shows (including the two biggest casts in West End history – The Lord of the Rings and Wicked), that must make about 500 acting roles. Two have been cast by talent show.

Update: Well, my faith in the British public is intact. Lee did win. Everyone is happy. Tickets for September, I think…