Friday, January 25, 2008
Canadian Search for Next Maria von Trapp
Backstage: "Thousands of actresses throughout Canada will be vying for a chance at stardom when auditions begin on Friday to select who will play Maria von Trapp in a new production of 'The Sound of Music,' which will debut in Toronto in September."
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6 comments:
I love how in the middle of that article was an advertisement for the MTV show to find a lead for Legally Blond the musical. This reality TV thing is viral. These shows also give a lot of hope to people across the country that with no training or experience they can be on Broadway or TV or wherever. People are forgetting that it takes more than that to get into this business. it takes talent, and education, not just winning viewers over on an MTV show.
Yeah, I worry about this and other reality shows thinking that a series of pointless contests can really best prepare people for a career. I enjoy Project Runway as much as the next person, but does making a dress in 2 days really prepare you for the fashion industry?
Not only are shows like this creating false perceptions of stardom for hopeless hopefuls, but its letting Broadway kick itself in the butt; embarrassing itself and making even non theatre enthusiasts look at it like some mom and pop ran industry. The majority of non-urban public don't enjoy musicals, but most importantly, they hate reality television. Broadway should do itself a favor and become unique again.
This one is an interesting case, because the show was already a success in England, leading to this Canadian production. Hopefully this show will take a Project Runway-esque route, and only accept people on the show that already have a fairly solid resume behind this. For me, at least, this makes shows like Project Runway seem a bit more legitimate. By only taking people like this, the show will definitely be legitimate, and the casting could be successful.
i agree with the things you are all saying, however i can see a couple good things about doing this as well. the main good thing is that people love to see performers that they feel they know and that they have a connection with. so, after watching a whole season long show and following the story of the one girl, of course audiences will feel the connection and go buy a ticket! and this is exactly why the show is doing it. makes sense to me!
I think that these types of shows are showing up all over the place is because of what Peter said. That it's like an advatisment for the show, so more people will know about it and more people will be interested. Now, I don't nessicarily agree with this. That just to get more ticket sold we have to put on a huge public display of looking for an actress to play this classic role. In the end they don't even know if the person they get will be the perfect fit for it or how well it will turn out. Broadway is reality tv show. There isn't any point in the audience even coming to the theatres anymore, when they can actually watch it on tv now.
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