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BBC NEWS: "Lord Lloyd-Webber's latest Saturday night talent show will search for a girl to play Dorothy and a dog to play Toto in The Wizard Of Oz, the BBC says. Winners of the programme will star in a West End production of the musical."
10 comments:
mrstein
said...
These talent show contests for acting roles place such a fickle light on the world of theatre. The exact same kind of talent show existed in America for Legally Blonde. All the girls chosen had almost no theatrical education and were chosen for their ability to create drama rather than perform it. I believe the winner's contract for the play only lasted a few weeks, so as soon as the show ended the Legally Blonde winner was already kicked out of the Broadway production. I think it's sad that theatre is being demoted to watching ditsy girls argue and fight over who should be the next lead actress.
Having seen episodes from previous seasons of Webber's primetime casting, I have little faith for this new venture. While the TV show does give international exposure to theatre, it does present it in a way that isn't true to the process. I agree with mrstein in that the show is more about creating drama than actually finding a truly talented actor/actress. Though I'm not a fan of Webber's work, I would find it more interesting to watch a show where he was auditioning people for a new adaptation of a story into a musical (Disney, I hear opportunity). This would give him the "iconic" character gag that he is playing off of, while inventing a new show for us to see.
I have to agree with the previous comments. I publicized talent show is not the way to find talent for the stage. These types of shows take away from the value of an audition experience. While tv-based talent searches are a great way to make even more money and promote the upcoming show, it shouldn't have to come with such a sacrifice of talent when the show is in front of live audiences.
I also agree with the above comments. I think shows like this trivialize the work that we do. It makes it seem like anyone with little experience can get onstage and be a success in the theatre world. As we all have experienced, actors train and work extraordinarily hard at their craft and it is unfortunate that this is what the people are seeing. There is already a common misconception that acting is not hard work and this sort of thing only adds fuel to that fire. You would think Andrew Lloyd-Webber would know better.
I had no idea Llyod-Webber was a part of the tv talent show search for Broadway stars. Not only was there Legally Blonde for America, there was also Grease, the search for Danny and Sandy. While they may take away from the value of the audition process they do have legit actors on them, one of my friends who graduated with a musical theatre degree was in the Legally Blonde search.
More pertinent to the article, I find it interesting that not only are they looking for Dorothy, they are also looking for Toto. Is this taking place as part of the show or on the side? If it's on the show, then that is what will draw viewers.
I understand the point of the show- to get exposure and create a following which will in the end lead to ticket purchases for the actual stage show. The problem I have is exactly that. Has theater really come so far where we have to resort to gimmicks to get people to go see theater. And the fact that Andrew Lloyd webber supports this astounds me. He is a leading figure and should be going and creating, not searching.
The shows that tried this in the US failed horribly. I know the ones in England are popular so best of luck to them.
I have watched some of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's previous versions of this show and they are essentially crap. Even though they create a large following as Bryce said they find the complete wrong type of talent. The talent needed to sing and entertain a TV audience for one song is simply not the same type of talent needed to captivate a theater audience for a full length production. Especially when it comes to these iconic shows where people have come to expect a certain level of talent. Sometimes on this type of show the most talented person wins. More often however, the person who is most loved (for whatever reason wins) and they are hardly ever talented enough to be successful. This is not the right format to find the right person for the part. Casting directors exist because people in general do not know who can make it.
Watching Lloyd-Webber do this shows how much he has been selling himself out to do gimmicky things like these, which is a shame because some of his earlier work was really quite good (like Cats and Phantom). I have to agree with previous posts that this does not do much to advance theatre. It is disappointing to see something like this ignore the process of casting a specific set of people for specific roles. Unfortunately, the drama created by the TV contest that increases the publicity for the show ends up decreasing the quality of the theatre.
This sounds like American Idol Broadway. I am really disappointed that he would sell out like this for reality tv. Before this blog post I had no idea that this show has been going on in England. I do not think that any part of theatre should be a reality tv show. Now it is the actors with the auditions but next it could be designers with some weird project runway twist. I haven't seen any clips from this show but according to Molly it sounds terrible so I wouldn't actually want to.
Theatre, believe it or not, is not about drama. It's about skill and talent and creating the perfect production. It takes extreme dedication and hard work from everyone. The goal of the theatrical casting director is to find the person who can play the role over and over and over again and still be fantastic, still be engaged, and still captivate audiences; all the while striving to achieve the "perfect show".
The Television casting director on the other hand looks for people who can attract ratings and viewers. Guess what, the people who attract attention are usually ridiculous, difficult, argumentative, and self-centered. Basically the perfect example of the worst human beings. These are reality stars, not stage actors. There is a difference.
So by allowing television producers to interfere in the theatrical casting process is basically the quickest way to chose the worst possible person. Maybe they can sing, but can they do it well over and over with the patience and really talent required for a live show? Methinks not.
10 comments:
These talent show contests for acting roles place such a fickle light on the world of theatre. The exact same kind of talent show existed in America for Legally Blonde. All the girls chosen had almost no theatrical education and were chosen for their ability to create drama rather than perform it. I believe the winner's contract for the play only lasted a few weeks, so as soon as the show ended the Legally Blonde winner was already kicked out of the Broadway production. I think it's sad that theatre is being demoted to watching ditsy girls argue and fight over who should be the next lead actress.
Having seen episodes from previous seasons of Webber's primetime casting, I have little faith for this new venture. While the TV show does give international exposure to theatre, it does present it in a way
that isn't true to the process. I agree with mrstein in that the show is more about creating drama than actually finding a truly talented actor/actress. Though I'm not a fan of Webber's work, I would find it more interesting to watch a show where he was auditioning people for a new adaptation of a story into a musical (Disney, I hear opportunity). This would give him the "iconic" character gag that he is playing off of, while inventing a new show for us to see.
I have to agree with the previous comments. I publicized talent show is not the way to find talent for the stage. These types of shows take away from the value of an audition experience. While tv-based talent searches are a great way to make even more money and promote the upcoming show, it shouldn't have to come with such a sacrifice of talent when the show is in front of live audiences.
I also agree with the above comments. I think shows like this trivialize the work that we do. It makes it seem like anyone with little experience can get onstage and be a success in the theatre world. As we all have experienced, actors train and work extraordinarily hard at their craft and it is unfortunate that this is what the people are seeing. There is already a common misconception that acting is not hard work and this sort of thing only adds fuel to that fire. You would think Andrew Lloyd-Webber would know better.
I had no idea Llyod-Webber was a part of the tv talent show search for Broadway stars. Not only was there Legally Blonde for America, there was also Grease, the search for Danny and Sandy. While they may take away from the value of the audition process they do have legit actors on them, one of my friends who graduated with a musical theatre degree was in the Legally Blonde search.
More pertinent to the article, I find it interesting that not only are they looking for Dorothy, they are also looking for Toto. Is this taking place as part of the show or on the side? If it's on the show, then that is what will draw viewers.
Best of luck to all the actresses and dogs!
I understand the point of the show- to get exposure and create a following which will in the end lead to ticket purchases for the actual stage show. The problem I have is exactly that. Has theater really come so far where we have to resort to gimmicks to get people to go see theater. And the fact that Andrew Lloyd webber supports this astounds me. He is a leading figure and should be going and creating, not searching.
The shows that tried this in the US failed horribly. I know the ones in England are popular so best of luck to them.
I have watched some of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's previous versions of this show and they are essentially crap. Even though they create a large following as Bryce said they find the complete wrong type of talent. The talent needed to sing and entertain a TV audience for one song is simply not the same type of talent needed to captivate a theater audience for a full length production. Especially when it comes to these iconic shows where people have come to expect a certain level of talent. Sometimes on this type of show the most talented person wins. More often however, the person who is most loved (for whatever reason wins) and they are hardly ever talented enough to be successful. This is not the right format to find the right person for the part. Casting directors exist because people in general do not know who can make it.
Watching Lloyd-Webber do this shows how much he has been selling himself out to do gimmicky things like these, which is a shame because some of his earlier work was really quite good (like Cats and Phantom). I have to agree with previous posts that this does not do much to advance theatre. It is disappointing to see something like this ignore the process of casting a specific set of people for specific roles. Unfortunately, the drama created by the TV contest that increases the publicity for the show ends up decreasing the quality of the theatre.
This sounds like American Idol Broadway. I am really disappointed that he would sell out like this for reality tv. Before this blog post I had no idea that this show has been going on in England. I do not think that any part of theatre should be a reality tv show. Now it is the actors with the auditions but next it could be designers with some weird project runway twist. I haven't seen any clips from this show but according to Molly it sounds terrible so I wouldn't actually want to.
Theatre, believe it or not, is not about drama. It's about skill and talent and creating the perfect production. It takes extreme dedication and hard work from everyone. The goal of the theatrical casting director is to find the person who can play the role over and over and over again and still be fantastic, still be engaged, and still captivate audiences; all the while striving to achieve the "perfect show".
The Television casting director on the other hand looks for people who can attract ratings and viewers. Guess what, the people who attract attention are usually ridiculous, difficult, argumentative, and self-centered. Basically the perfect example of the worst human beings. These are reality stars, not stage actors. There is a difference.
So by allowing television producers to interfere in the theatrical casting process is basically the quickest way to chose the worst possible person. Maybe they can sing, but can they do it well over and over with the patience and really talent required for a live show? Methinks not.
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