It was announced this week that Sophie Evans, runner up in BBC’s Over the Rainbow, will be the alternate Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium. She will play the role on Tuesday evenings and during Danielle Hope’s scheduled holidays.
I suppose this doesn’t come as a big surprise; when Jodie Prenger won the role of Nancy in Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the understudy part was offered runner up Jessie Buckley (who turned it down and went on to get a part in A Little Night Music.)
It’s a smart move for Sophie to take this part as she will gain invaluable stage experience. And looking at How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? finalist Aoife Mullholland (who was understudy in The Sound Of Music) she has gone on to roles in Chicago and Legally Blonde. It could prove to be a great stepping stone for Sophie.
I suppose the question is: do the public feel cheated that the other finalists are still being cast (in some respect) in the show? The public obviously wanted Danielle. As we’ve seen before with The Sound Of Music star Connie Fisher, it’s irresponsible to demand 8 performances a week. Some performances will have to use an alternate or risk exhausting the lead performer. But those who did not vote for Sophie and paid to vote for Danielle will still be getting Sophie at least once a week.
Personally I would like to see both and compare. What do you think?
Buy Wizard of Oz tickets here.
Could it really be true this time?
I have written in this blog before about the closure of Avenue Q, only for the show to be granted a stay of execution by Cameron Mackintosh. Avenue Q has played at three different venues, the latest location being the Wyndhams Theatre. However, its West End time could finally be up; the official word is that the show will close on the 30th October.
Puppet Road Trip!
Love it or hate it, Avenue Q is one of the most refreshing musicals of recent times. It may be full of obscenities and puppet nudity, but it certainly defied the recent trend for juke box musicals, providing a completely original score and story, a rarity in today’s musical theatre arenas.
Original music and plot, combined with the unconventional idea of using puppets to portray the characters of the down and out neighbourhood, sealed Avenue Q’s place as a modern musical. And it managed to last, Avenue Q is booking into its 5th year and is still going strong in New York.
So if you still don’t know why Trekkie likes his computer so much, or why Preston thinks it sucks to be him, hurry up and get a ticket for Avenue Q! It sounds like this closing announcement is serious this time.
Whoopi Goldberg will star as Mother Superior for 3 weeks only!
Sister Act is about to get a boost….Whoopi Goldberg is coming!
Whoopi Goldberg starred in the iconic Sister Act films back in the 90’s, and I’m still dropping everything to watch those films every time they are on ITV2. Therefore, it is most exciting that she is going to perform on stage for three weeks in August.
This time, however, Whoopi (I love typing that name) is not going to be playing Deloris, but instead she is ‘back in the habit’ to play Mother Superior, currently played by Sheila Hancock.
Sister Act the Musical has some really funny moments, especially in the convent scenes, so I’m sure Goldberg’s acting attributes are going to be a perfect fit with the cast.
Whoopi Goldberg will star in Sister Act at the London Palladium from the 10th to the 31st August, but she will not perform on the 16th or 23rd August, so book carefully if you want to see a comic great.
It didn’t take long for West End producers to pounce on the runners up in the BBC’s search to find Dorothy.
Lauren Samuels, who place third in the competition is going to star as Sandy in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre from the 26th July and is contracted to perform until the 22nd January 2010.
Lauren Samuels will star as Sandy in Grease
Lauren was one of the most experienced of the finalists, having studied at the Guildford school of acting, which probably contributed to her very polished performances on Over The Rainbow. She has a superb voice as well, so it’s not a surprise that she has found such a high profile job so quickly. And if the directors of Grease can hone her acting skills a bit (although Grease is the type of show that commands over the top facial expressions) Lauren should be a huge asset to such a long running and well known show.
Grease is playing at the Piccadilly Theatre and Lauren Samuels will join the cast on the 26th July. Discount Theatre has tickets reduced to 32.50 and some great meal deals available.
One of the most anticipated productions to hit the West end this summer has started previewing. American playwright David Hirson’s La Bete is running at the Comedy Theatre and contains an all star cast.
La Bete centres around an acting troupe in need of a little motivation, which inevitably sees arts and egos clash. In this production there are three very well known actors taking the lead roles: Joanna Lumley, Mark Rylance and David Hyde Pierce.
Lumley has returned to the West End after becoming a hero for championing the rights of Ghurkhas to settle in the UK. Mark Rylance has also been busy starring in the sell out production of Jerusalem as well as Endgame in the past year. And David Hyde Pierce, most famous for playing Niles Crane on Frasier, is no stranger to stage work - one of his more famous roles was Lancelot in the Broadway production of Spamalot.
The cast has created a lot of hype surrounding this production, hopefully the story and the staging match the acting pedigree. La Bete is only running for a limited season, so be quick to see some very distinguished actors live on stage.
