WHISPERING VOICES: Should Andrew Lloyd Webber Launch A MY FAIR LADY Talent Search?

Whispers reach us that Andrew Lloyd Webber is planning yet another talent search show. The rumour is that he fancies producing a new version of My Fair Lady, and wants to find a new actress to play Eliza Doolittle.

I'd suggest that he doesn't. And here are my reasons why:

1) Casting a weighty leading role places too much pressure on the winner.

Connie Fisher, winner of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, is always held up as a cautionary tale now, and rightly so. The vocal strain of playing Maria von Trapp resulted in illness, and apart from a short spell opposite Alistair McGowan in They're Playing Our Song, she's not done much else apart from touring in The Sound of Music every so often. Joseph may be the title role that Lee Mead took, but let's face it, the bulk of the work is done by the narrator; winning Nancy Jodie Prenger had her acting skills tested, as her role is the emotional heart of Oliver!, but the singing isn't too problematic. I thought he'd learnt his lesson when he cast runner-up Sophie Evans as alternate Dorothy, as Danielle Hope doesn't have the experience to carry a whole show yet, but apparently not.

2) People are fed up with voting.

There's only so many times people are prepared to pick up the phone to vote for a wannabe. Even Simon Cowell's realised that as he carefully extricates himself from The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. The BBC may stress that half the cost of our calls goes to funding performing arts scholarships, but there are better ways to spend your money.

3) My Fair Lady will probably never been improved on from the last time we had it in the West End.

OK, so this is speculative, but seriously, the cast and production were fantastic, with Olivier Awards all round. I don't think anyone who did manage to see Martine McCutcheon during her sickness-plagued run would question her ability, and her understudies did a fabulous job in her absence.

4) There's only so much Pygmalion we can take.

This leads on from the last point, but Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon are leading the cast of Pygmalion this season. Sure, it doesn't have songs, but the book is largely the same. Do we really need to see the same story again in the near future?

What do you think?

 

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