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 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.

Buy Grease tickets here.

 

The bookies favourite came out on top. 18 year old Danielle Hope from Manchester won the role of Dorothy in the upcoming West End production of The Wizard Of Oz.

Danielle was one of the panel’s favourites from early on in the competition, but she seemed to seal the deal with her acting abilities and performing range.

On Saturday night, the first installment of Over The Rainbow saw the final three perform a song from a musical that Lord Lloyd Webber had chosen especially for each. Sophie sang an excellent version of Tomorrow from Annie which really suited her. As much as the girl struggled throughout the competition, she seemed to find herself with these big songs that showed off her voice.

Lauren sang I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady which was absolutely perfect for her voice. She had the best vocal performance of the night, but unsurprisingly, she completely overacted the song.

Danielle had a very odd musical choice with Seventy-six Trombones from The Music Man which showed off her adaptability and stage presence, but was a bit shouty at times. In fact, it was a bit like watching a wannabe cartoon character strutting about. Not good.

I liked Danielle’s performance the least, but wanted Lauren to leave the competition first, which she promptly did. She flew away on the moon, leaving Sophie and Danielle to battle it out in the second half.

Both Danielle and Sophie sang their favourite songs from the series (Danielle’s notorious Mambo Italiano, and Sophie’s Reflection which finally made her a serious contender). They then simply had to come out and sing Over The Rainbow and generate the most votes. Last week, I backed Sophie to win, and after hearing both sing the infamous song, I still think Sophie should have won. But…. Danielle is the better all round choice to perform on stage and I can’t wait to see her at the Palladium. She didn’t seem to have the vocal power that Sophie demonstrated, but it’s not just about singing, right?

So what was your favourite moment of the series? Was it Lord Lloyd Webber’s strange mutterings? John Partridge and Charlotte Church’s spats? Or Sheila Hancock telling it like it is. Graham Norton’s horrible waist coats should be erased from memory, along with Emilie’s singing. It was a good competition with excellent talent, and will be missed by all of us at Discount Theatre towers……sniff.

One more week to go until we find out who will be the latest West End star for the new production of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium. At Discount Theatre towers, we are all in a flurry wondering which girl will win the crown and the role of Dorothy.

Last weekend, the final four sang their hearts out, and I have to say that Danielle, Sophie, Lauren and Steph all performed tremendously. I honestly could not pick my favourite and neither could the panel it seemed. Lord Lloyd Webber also remained coy, not wanting to influence the viewers, but who listens to him anyways?

It was, regrettably, Steph’s turn to ride on the moon, which was a shame as she definitely had the most natural stage presence of the girls. Hopefully she may get an audition for Elphaba in Wicked; she would be perfect.

Danielle didn’t wow me, but I think she impresses everyone else and seems to be the favourite for the role. Sophie really improved this week, I think singing a ballad is the thing for her. She’s actually emerged as my favourite, which is really surprising as I think she’s had some terrible performances in the competition. Lauren should be the first to go next week though. She’s a very good singer, and I’m sure she is a very nice girl, but has really come across as too arrogant and assertive for the role of a Kansas teenager.

So, I can finally say that I have a favourite. Sophie should win, but if I was placing a bet I think it will be Danielle.

And if you don’t care and just want to see the show, tickets are on sale now so buy them before the raid on ticket websites begins on Sunday night. Discount Theatre has tickets for The Wizard Of Oz from the 25th April 2011 and the show is booking until the 17th September 2011 (and has Sunday matinees!).

Buy your Wizard Of Oz tickets here. 

Wizard of Oz Tickets went on sale this weekend as two more Dorothy’s bit the dust in BBC1’s Over the Rainbow.

This weekend double exit on Over The Rainbow was a little hard to bear for the Discount Theatre team as our personal favourite Jessica went home on Sunday evening.

Last week I predicted that we’d be seeing the back of Jenny and Sophie and I was half-right as Jenny found herself on the way back to Edinburgh on Saturday after the ‘Lord’ decided to save Lauren Samuels.

On Sunday Jessica found herself in the bottom two with Danielle and from that moment I Jessica was on the way home. Whilst we all love her here it’s clear she’s not really a Dorothy, more of a Sally Bowles.

So with four left in the question remains – who will be Dorothy? Or does it matter?  Will you buy your Wizard of Oz Tickets anyway or are you more likely to go and see the show if the winner  is your favourite?

We’d really like to know what you think so feel free to chip in with comments.

To book your Wizard of Tickets CLICK HERE.

See you next week for more Wizard of Oz news.

After Emilie’s exit last week I really didn’t know who was going to be in the bottom two this week, The competition so far has been a free for all; there’s some great talent and even greater variety between the contestants.

My bottom two bet was on Sophie and after I heard her sing It’s a Wonderful World, I thought that she might be out. It wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t grab me and I didn’t think the song fit in with the big band theme of the week. Jenny didn’t impress me either. Poor Stephanie got stuck with Mr. Bojangles, which is a song that was used in “I’d Do Anything”. It didn’t work then and didn’t work for poor Stephanie, which is too bad because I really like her voice.

The night belonged to Danielle with her version of Mambo Italiano which was absolutely brilliant and even seemed to catch Lord Lloyd Webber’s attention. Lauren was good singing The Man That Got Away and Jessica’s performance of Cabaret was not too bad at all.

So Mr. Bojangles and Stephanie were voted to be in the bottom two along with Steph which didn’t make sense at all especially since her performance of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend was a great show opener. Lord Lloyd Webber did the right thing and saved Steph (who is good performer, rather than just being a good singer) and sent Stephanie to the moon.

But next week should be interesting as we head towards the nitty gritty; there will be a double expulsion, one contestant will leave on Saturday and one on Sunday, leaving us with the final four. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Sophie and Jenny should leave at this point as they don’t compare to the other four girls in the competition. Next week should be good!

Ok, the public got it right this week….

What’s been so fascinating about this version of the reality show is that no clear favourite has emerged. On Sunday night two different girls were in the sing off again; Emilie and Sophie sang ‘I Know Him So Well’ from Chess, made famous by the great Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson.

I think from the moment Emilie’s name was announced as one of the bottom two, everyone knew she had no chance. The judges thought her Saturday night performance of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ was better than the week before, but personally I think they were just being nice because they didn’t want her to cry again. Emilie’s performance was simply AWFUL. I’m not trying to be mean, but she looked like a cartoon character flouncing about on stage.

I had a feeling Sophie would be in the bottom two, I’m a great fan of hers, but her styling is all wrong and I think Andrew Lloyd Webber is right, she needs to look a bit more wholesome rather than like someone playing dress up.

Jessica was really good this week and she managed to perform without pulling all of the dramatic faces. And Steph was superb, not sure if she’s Dorothy, but we were thinking that she would make an excellent Elphaba in Wicked.

I think I’m going to need another week to fully make up my mind about the potential Over The Rainbow favourites. Any ideas?

Over The Rainbow contunues next Saturday.

Saturday night was the first live show for the prospective Dorothy’s, and the wild card winner was revealed. Emilie claimed the prize (although Claire Hillier was my favourite) and was brought back to complete as part of the final 11.

So…each of the girls came out an did their thing…it’s always amazing to see how polished reality contestants are, considering most of them have no experience with television. Poor Amy and Steph found themselves in the bottom two and in a sing off for their survival. Each belted out Whistle Down the Wind and in a moment of pure decisiveness and without hesitation, the Lord gave Amy the boot.

Then things got really good….you have to love British TV. In a moment of kitsch that could compete with any variety show of the 1970’s, Amy had to give her gemstone shoes to Lord Lloyd Webber and sing Over the Rainbow while she was hoisted away in a moon. Yes, a moon (lunar variety). She floated away off the set while the other girls with tear stained cheeks waved her goodbye.

At this point I was on the floor with tear stained cheeks as well - due to a bout of hysterical laughter. The producers of this show must have a fantastic sense of humour.

Who will fly away into the moonset next week? I’m thinking that Emilie really should have been bottom two last week. It could have been nerves though.

Over The Rainbow continues next Saturday night!

And I’ve got Dorothy right behind me….make that Dorothys.

I finally got to see Lover Never Dies last night, and I have to say that Andrew Lloyd Webber can still pull off a good show. As I pointed out last week, the show is producing a love it or hate it effect, but I am firmly in the love camp. It’s been a while since I have seen such a slick staging of a musical, and it helps that I love the dramatic epic.

As I waiting for the show to start, I was aware of movement behind me, and as I glanced up I realised that it was the some of the Dorothys from last weekend’s Over The Rainbow. As I tried to inconspicuously see who I recognised, it became apparent to me that the 10 that weren’t chosen for the live shows were Andrew Lloyd Webber’s guests at the Adelphi Theatre as consolation. Of course, one of them will still make it into the wild card slot by way public vote and we will be seeing 11 perform on Saturday night.

I think I may need to go back to Love Never Dies soon though…I can’t get the Coney Island Waltz out of my head!

The search for Dorothy has commenced! BBC One premiered Over The Rainbow this weekend and as of Saturday night, 10 finalists were chosen and the public are currently voting for a wildcard slot to make it a total of 11 contestants in next week’s sing off.

The Lord has a new throne (he’s ditched that horrible red velvet wannabe Elizabethan thing) and seems to be a little more integrated with the judging panel. Shelia Hancock came out as the most abrasive, questioning the contestants’ motivations in a Mother Superior kind of way, which was superb. Performing in Sister Act has obviously rubbed off.

As for Charlotte Church and John Partridge, they had their modest but non committal opinions, probably because they know it’s still quite early in the game.

The contestants sang two songs (in groups of 4), and a nice surprise was that each sang a number from a current West End show . Chicago, Sweet Charity, We Will Rock You, Legally Blonde and Blood Brothers featured in Saturday night’s broadcast (Blood Brothers was a nice surprise, it is one of the best West End shows and often largely ignored). It was definitely a good way for some current shows to obtain some prime advertising space!

If watching Andrew Lloyd Webber on Friday and Saturday night wasn’t enough, there was also a South Bank program on ITV last night, featuring interviews past and present with Lloyd Webber.  It showed fantastic clips from his new work Love Never Dies, but also incorporated old footage of The Phantom Of The Opera as well as Evita, Cats and Jesus Christ Superstar. It served as a reminder that his shows really revolutionised musical theatre.

Anyways, we’ve been informed that The Wizard of Oz will start booking in about 4 weeks, so there is the opportunity to buy tickets before the winner is announced. As we’ve seen with The Sound Of Music, Joseph and Oliver! the mad dash begins when the winner is crowned and the show sells out within hours. If you know that you want to see this show, regardless of who wins, buy tickets as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to following more of the rainbow next Saturday.

BBC One’s Over the Rainbow broadcasts on Saturday nights. Discount Theatre has tickets from £40.50 for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, currently booking until the 23rd October.

If you are home tonight, check out Jonathan Ross – Andrew Lloyd Webber is set to appear as a guest and Sierra Boggess will perform the title song from new musical Love Never Dies. I wonder if the BBC will roll out the throne from the props department or if the Lord will sit on the sofa like the rest of the guests?

Lloyd Webber is going to be a pretty busy guy in the next couple of months. First off, Love Never Dies has started previewing at the Adelphi Theatre and will have its press night on the 9th March. Even though the composer has asserted that Love Never Dies is not a sequel to The Phantom Of the Opera and is a standalone piece, most theatregoers are still referring to the new musical as Phantom 2. There’s no doubt that the show is going to sell out, but will it be any good? The popular press will express their views in a few weeks’ time.

In addition to launching a brand new show, the classic story, The Wizard Of Oz is about to be resurrected, thanks to the Lord and BBC reality TV. Over The Rainbow is set to start in a few weeks time; the aim is to choose a feisty unknown actress to play the role of Dorothy. This will be the fourth incarnation of the BBC reality show, having previously broadcast the competition to cast leads in The Sound Of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Oliver!

The sing off format for Over The Rainbow will be the same, but I was shocked to hear that the judges panel will look very different. Denise Van Outen will not be back, having gone off and married Lee Mead (a previous contestant and eventual winner, soon to star in Wicked) and is soon to give birth to their first child. More shocking is the absence of John Barrowman. What will we do without his constant shouting of ‘fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!’ whilst jumping up out of his seat?

Instead, the judges panel will consist of Sheila Hancock, currently starring as Mother Superior in Sister Act, Charlotte Church, who will probably provide some boisterous comedic moments, and John Partridge (Christian from Eastenders) who has starred in many West End productions over the last 20 years.

My money is on John Partridge to steal the show.

If history repeats, The Wizard of Oz will follow in the success of earlier shows promoted by the reality contest and become the highest grossing musical of 2010. Keep a close eye out for when the production goes on sale; I can guarantee that the first booking period will sell out instantaneously.

Love Never Dies is now previewing and is booking until 23rd October 2010. Over The Rainbow will soon be shown on Saturday nights on BBC1.