ABC Hails Bailey- Page 2

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 1:55pm

The talent for the British reality shows, however, does seem to be better.

Almost all of the contestants for both the Sound of Music and Oliver! casting shows in Britian had FAR superior talent to both the Grease show and the Legally Blonde show.

[That Girl]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:09pm

I was actually in London after Connie won and I remember reading about her in an article called, "The people's Maria." I didn't see the show but I have heard her voice and saw some of the shows that someone had posted somewhere (maybe on youtube?) I remember reading that she missed a lot of shows and had trouble with singing eight shows a week. Did she get over that and is she still in the production? If not, do you know what she is doing now?

[winston89]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:19pm

From what I understand her not being able to do 8 shows a week was a problem only in the very beginning of her run that she was able to quickly recover from.

She finished her run and was replaced by one of the Strallen sisters. I don't know if it was Scarlet or Summer who replaced her.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:27pm

For a long time, she was doing the show 8 times a week. Then strained her vocal cords, and her doctor told her to rest her voice for two weeks. When Connie returned, she only did 6 shows a week, while Aoife Mulholland (another "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" contestant) played Maria in the other 2 showings.

Connie's contract was originally suppose to be for six months, but was extended. She just left the show in February of this year. So, she was Maria for a year and 4 months. Summer Strallen is now playing Maria. She currently has a few projects lined up.

In addition to everything being said here, the Canadian version of the "Maria" show is doing well, and widely accepted. How come these type of shows are successful in the U.K. and Canada, but not here in the U.S.?

[winston89]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:37pm

The casting reality shows while doing their job of getting people to come to the show aren't a success in America for a couple of reasons. One is that America is the only country to have reality show after reality show being broadcast on what feels like a 24 hour basis. There are just too many shows where you can vote to determine who wins etc. That isn't the case for Canada or England. They don't have that problem.

I think also that the talent pool was better in some of the English reality shows then in America.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 2:38pm

Honestly, I thought they did a good job with the Legally Blonde reality show. The panel of judges, weekly audition thing was a little hokey, and of course the stupid challenges and rewards were, but if you think about it, Bernie Telsey and Jerry Mitchell would have chosen the girl even if there wasn't a TV show involved. They are professionals who know the show, the industry, and presumably what they're looking for in their Elle, so it's not as though the decision was a popularity contest the way it would have been as an audience vote show. Professional actors weren't barred from auditioning, so while it's a bit unfortunate that there wasn't a lot of standout talent in the initial mix, that's more about who came out.

[That Girl]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:01pm

In addition to everything being said here, the Canadian version of the "Maria" show is doing well, and widely accepted. How come these type of shows are successful in the U.K. and Canada, but not here in the U.S.?


I think it depends on how you define success. Grease had great attendence for the past year and most of the people who saw it probably loved it and those who didn't probably enjoyed not loving it! I'm sure the winners, Max and Laura would view it as a success. Max recently went to back to CA to pursue a film career and know has a lead role in a Broadway show to put on his resume. I really hope that we haven't heard the last of Laura Osnes-I think she is so talented and hope that she will be on Broadway again soon. The producers of Grease must have thought the reality casting was successful because they now have the runners up from the show playing Danny and Sandy.

It's too early to say how well Bailey will do with LB. I'm sure ticket sales are good right now, because her fans want to see her succeed and others are hoping to see a complete train wreck, but who knows what will happen in the future. I also think that Bailey's situation could be a little different than the British shows because it doesn't look like she has done anything professional-although I could be wrong. I remember when they did the search for Joseph a lot of the guys had significant experience and some had even been in West End Theatre. I also don't know if the British take their musicals as seriously as Americans do.

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 3:47pm

"I have no problem with them casting a replacement via a reality show in which the Director, Producers, and Writer(s) choose the actor."

The problem is they didn't cast the best possible person. For the concept of the reality tv show, they eliminated anyone who had previous Broadway credits. I would love to watch a documentary style show showing the casting of a lead like Elle. But give us the best choices. Why was it important that it be an "unknown"?

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 4:07pm

In response to Bailey being a Preacher's daughter, was anyone else amused by the looks on her parents faces at the final audition when she had to do the "Oh Oh OH so much better" line?

I didn't know BBC Sound of Music had a cast recording. I'll be adding that to my "Get it" list now :)

[spidey_882]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 4:17pm

Dad's face during "So Much Better" made the episode for me.

[Shawk]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 4:22pm

I personally would be interested in a documentary on casting a show rather than "reality" TV, but I think they are counting on the human interest/underdog quality of someone winning who isn't really from a Broadway background.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 4:49pm

Another place where the British version of these type of reality shows differ: After the "Maria" show, they had a documentary on Connie Fisher rehearsing and getting ready for her part, all leading up to opening night and its aftermath. Even when Summer Strallen took over, there was a documentary doing the same thing.

And yes, the London Revival does have a cast recording. I recommend it for any "Sound of Music" fan.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 5:14pm

I personally would not mind a show casting a flying monkey in "Wicked."

That's just Must-See-TV


*EDIT to Add* : Bailey's version of "So Much Better" will begin playing on Music Choice's Show Tunes channel next Wednesday, July 30th

Updated On: 7/25/08 at 05:14 PM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 6:27pm

For the concept of the reality tv show, they eliminated anyone who had previous Broadway credits.

Not so. Celina and Emma both had Broadway credits, and Autumn, I believe Cassie S. and Natalie had all worked professionally. I think Haylie Duff mistakenly said that none of them had been on Broadway before, but that wasn't the case.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 8:26pm

Don't know if this has been said already but, I can see Bailey in Hairspray as Amber Von Tussle - she would be perfect!

[winston89]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 10:34pm

Some of the girls in the Legally Blonde reality show did have professional credits and a couple of them were on Broadway. I can't tell you off hand which girls were on Broadway and what shows they were in but they were there. Autumn for example had a role (don't know if it was a lead or not because I don't know the show) in the Little Women national tour. Duff was wrong to have said they had never been on Broadway because that wasn't the case.

What did bother me about the Grease reality show compared to the Legally Blonde one is how they tried to hide the fact that there were people doing the show who had professional experence. I think one guy was in Alter Boyz and one played Link in I think the vegas production of Hairspray for example. They tried to down play that and make it look like everyone was an amature comming off of the street who never did a professional theatre gig in thier lives when that wasn't the case. That was the main thing that bothered me about the Grease reality show. If you have done a professional gig before then that is great. But, don't lie about not having done it. I know in actuality it wasn't the actors themselves who lied. It was how NBC set up the whole thing so it felt as if they were lying.

[killertofu333]

Posted: 7/25/08 at 11:12pm

TheaterBaby her dads face was completely priceless. I wonder how his sermon's gonna go this Sunday at church back in Anderson, SC.

My impression of Mr. Hanks at church: "Congregation today we're gonna talk about pink playboy bunny suits and fake orgasms to boot..."

[BertCCRI]

Posted: 7/26/08 at 1:40am

Winston, Celina was in Cats, 42nd Street, Dracula (understudied Lucy) and Tarzan (understudied Jane). Emma was in La Cage Aux Folles (with Paul Canaan), in the ensemble and understudied Anne. Autumn played Beth in the national company of Little Women, and thus got to die nightly, after singing the lovely song "Some Things Are Meant to Be." I saw that production in Boston, and she was very good.
Updated On: 7/26/08 at 01:40 AM

[robinandmarty]

Posted: 7/27/08 at 1:46am

I, for one, am very happy that Legally Blonde did go this route when casting a new Elle. As I was channel surfing, I happened to catch the first show on MTV, and from that moment on, I was HOOKED! During the course of this show, I have gone from someone who has never had a real interest in Broadway, to someone who has been frantically searching local tour dates for shows such as Legally Blonde, Wicked, The Color Purple, and Hairspray. This show has enlightened an entire new audience to Broadway!
I do agree with many of the previous posters, that the "audience vote" is a TERRIBLE idea! At least with LB, actual industry professionals were making the decisions.