Oliver - Who’ll Get a West End Theatre Break? March 16, 2008
Posted by Linda in : I'd do anything, Musicals, Oliver , trackbackAfter my post about the thrall that TV seems to have over casting in London West End Theatre. “Break with tradition”, I thought, “and watch one of these things!”.
I’d Do Anything
Last night I sat and watched the BBC show I’d Do Anything. What an emotional roller coaster! Even Graham Norton seemed to wipe a tear away at one point. Is there some law that all Irish men cry at a few bars of Danny Boy? I will admit to welling up myself at a couple of things and I don’t cry easily. What was going on?
West End Theatre Break Favourites
By the end of the show I was pretty sure I’d seen the next Nancy and I already had some very definite favourites. I thought the genuine East End gal who was even called Nancy (!) sang with real, raw emotion. Stunning, powerful, believable, she really could be Nancy! I blubbed. I suspect it was the stuff about her dead dad combined with the song.I also liked Cleopatra, another Londoner, but the reliability of her voice is in question. Having to sip hot water and honey and losing your top notes is not a good start. That rasp in her voice was painful for her and us.I felt the Manchester girl who’d lost 8 stones (wow!) was a possible winner. She’s so exuberant and there was so much energy in her she really could be Nancy. I just worried that she might not have the stamina and there’s a vulnerability there that means she could get really hurt. Later I worried that she’s partly there for all us fatties to identify with.
And Not So Favourites
Of course there were other characters as well, the single mum who tugged at the heart strings, the Irish girl was cute and had a great voice. Lots of possible Nancies in fact.There was just one that made me really uncomfortable, and that’s when I started to feel slightly queasy about the whole show.You see I think she had by far the best voice but I just didn’t want to see her win Nancy. Her voice was amazing, range, power, the lot. I suspect she can act too. She even gave them a run for their money when the judges questioned her youth by pointing out that Dickens’ Nancy was only 17 in the book. Still, I didn’t want her to win. She was portrayed as a posh young miss, all of 17, product of two opera singers and a boarding school education. She was every inch the opposite of what we’d been told Nancy should be.
What’s Going On?
Just one thing, Oliver is a stage show, with, you know, acting? So why should I want someone be excluded for being too posh? Especially if she’s going to give the best performance? For the simple reason that my emotions had been manipulated by the TV show. Never forget this stuff is all very cleverly edited together to manipulate the audience. This is ‘reality TV’ not reality! Someone has been busy plotting story lines, mapping just how to influence the public vote, deciding when and how to release various bits of information, building up our idea of the characters. Except of course these are not characters they are real people with very real dreams and ambitions that the BBC are exploiting. And I got swept up in it :-(Trouble is I think it might just be unmissable TV! So I’m left hooked but not feeling too good about it. At least I have the excuse that I was watching so that I could write about it here. What’s your excuse?
Update
The East End girl (Nancy Sullivan), my top pick for Nancy. is on the Never Forget DVD. Here’s a clip:
Absolutely loved the show! My eight year old daughter instantly recognised the real “Nancy” as playing one of the main roles of “Chloe” in the Take That Musical “Never Forget” and she is on the DVD that is currently being sold in the shops. She would definitely get my vote. Cannot wait until next Saturday. Maz xx
Hi Marie,your daughter is spot on! I found a clip from Never Forget on youtube, so I’ve update the post.
This article was produced solely for the purposes of SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation) and is therefor SPAM. Get rid of it.
Actually it was the comment above that was SPAM, not the article (splutter, splutter - how dare they!!!) but it is kind of funny so it stayed but the link that went with it was removed
Yeh ok …. nothing to do with SEO then.
“Oliver - Who’ll Get a West End Theatre Break? ”
West End Theatre. “Break with tradition”
…. makes for terrible reading, you really must try harder! Its a flipping shame it works.
Here at the London Theatre Breaks blog we are trying harder all the time and ‘terrible reading’ is of course the last thing we’d want. Sometimes the first paragraph or so takes a while to get into the flow, but I think the quality of natural writing has improved in the two months since this article was first published, what do you think?
How can we improve the blog further?