How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? | |
---|---|
Created by | Andrew Lloyd Webber Bea Ballard |
Presented by | Graham Norton |
Judges | Andrew Lloyd Webber David Ian John Barrowman Zoe Tyler |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Producer | BBC |
Running time | 30–90mins |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 29 July – 16 September 2006 |
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a British television talent series, shown on Saturday evenings on BBC One between 29 July 2006 and 16 September 2006. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian stage production of The Sound of Music. Presented by Graham Norton and "masterminded" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the title of the show was derived from a line in the production's song "Maria".
Following a public telephone vote, 23-year-old Connie Fisher was chosen as Maria and performed the role in the West End from November 2006 to February 2008. The series also helped the careers of the other finalists, some of whom later took leading roles in West End shows. Semi-finalist Aoife Mulholland also took up the role of Maria in April 2007 for two shows a week, after Fisher was advised to reduce her performances to six per week.
The first programme to allow the public to cast a leading role in a West End show, it was initially criticised. However, it won International Emmy and Royal Television Society awards and became the first of a series of collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber, including Any Dream Will Do, I'd Do Anything and Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. The series also lead to versions and similar series abroad.
Format
Creation
The lead role of Maria von Trapp in the new West End production of The Sound of Music, to be staged by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, was to be played by the American actress Scarlett Johansson. Negotiations fell through,[1] and after a four year search for an actress to fill the role, it was revealed in November 2005 that Lloyd Webber had approached the BBC to allow the public to cast the role through a Popstars-style talent search, the first time that such a format had been used.[2][3]
The series was devised by BBC creative head Bea Ballard,[4] and was announced by the BBC in April 2006. It would find an undiscovered new talent to perform the role, cast by the public, through a series of live television shows on Saturday nights on BBC One hosted by Graham Norton.[5] The series was named after the first line of the chorus of "Maria", a song from the musical.
Expert panel
To assess and train the potential Marias and judge them during the live shows, an expert panel was chosen. The panel comprised:
- Andrew Lloyd Webber – musical theatre composer and producer, co-producer of the new stage production
- David Ian – theatre producer, co-producer of the new stage production
- John Barrowman – musical performer, dancer, singer and actor
- Zoe Tyler – voice coach, singer and performer, vocal coach to the finalists
Lloyd Webber also asked Denise van Outen to participate in the series, but she turned him down, saying that she "felt uncomfortable about being on the panel and giving my criticism". She later became a judge on follow-up series, Any Dream Will Do.[6]
Auditions
Open auditions were held around the UK in April and May 2006, open to both professionals and amateurs over the age of 17. The top 200 made it through to the London callbacks where they performed in front of the Ian, Barrowman and Tyler to secure one of 50 places at Lloyd Webber's "Maria School", where over four days they would receive vocal and drama training from the expert panel.[5][7]
However, several additional performers were selected over this fifty contestant limit; one being Briony, who had been rejected initially due to nerves hampering her performance, but who returned for a second chance and was allowed in by Ian. A further four, whom the panel had rejected, were contacted by Lloyd Webber himself as he personally believed them to be potential Marias.[8]
During "Maria School", contestants were eliminated to leave twenty, who were then taken to Lloyd Webber's house, where they performed live in front of fifty people from the entertainment business. Ten finalists were then chosen by the panel and taken through to the live studio finals.[7]
The series started on Saturday 29 July 2006, and the first two programs followed the audition stages of the competition before revealing the final ten at the end of the second program.[8]
Live finals
The final ten contestants then competed in the live studio finals held on Saturday nights over six weeks. Each week the contestants sang and performed during the live show, receiving comments from the judges following their performance. The public then got a chance to vote for their favourite Maria, and the two contestants with the least votes performed a sing-off in front of Lloyd Webber, who then decided which Maria to keep in the contest. This was repeated with the top ten, the top nine and the top eight. With the top seven and top five, two were voted off in the program, and there were two different sing-offs.
Lloyd Webber had no say in the final casting decision, when in the concluding edition of the series it was left to the public to choose who should play Maria out of the final two contenders, Connie Fisher and Helena Blackman. After more than 2 million votes were cast, the winning entrant was revealed as Fisher, who won a six month contract to play Maria in the West End production, performing six out of the eight weekly shows.[9]
The profits from the telephone votes went to a bursary for young performers.[10] Lloyd Webber also donated his fee to the bursary.[1]
Finalists
Ten potential Marias made it through the auditions process to perform during the live shows. One contestant, Emilie Alford, pulled out of the competition at this stage deciding it was not for her, to be replaced by eventual finalist, Siobhan Dillon. She lost out to a place in the final ten following a sing-off against Alford and Laura Sicurello in front of Lloyd Webber, gaining her the nickname "Second Chance Maria".[11]
Finalist | Age | From | Occupation | Nickname | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laura Sicurello | 26 | Milton Keynes | Police Intelligence Officer | Police Intelligence Officer Maria | Eliminated 1st in week 1 |
Belinda Evans | 28 | Somerset | Singer, voice coach | Classical Maria | Eliminated 2nd in week 2 |
Meliz Serman | 23 | Essex | Fashion personal assistant | Sexy Maria | Eliminated 3rd in week 3 |
Simona Armstrong | 28 | Romania | Actress, receptionist | Romanian Maria | Eliminated 4th in week 4 |
Leanne Dobinson | 20 | Colchester | Unemployed (prev. retail store assistant manager) | Baby Maria | Eliminated 5th in week 4 |
Abi Finley | 23 | Manchester | Acting and musical theatre student | Tomboy Maria | Eliminated 6th in week 5 |
Aoife Mulholland | 28 | Salthill | Acting and musical theatre student | Irish Maria | Eliminated 7th in week 5 |
Siobhan Dillon | 21 | Staffordshire | Fashion student | Second Chance Maria/Fashion Student Maria | Third place |
Helena Blackman | 23 | Southampton | Performer, waitress | Entertainment Maria/Miracle Maria | Second place |
Connie Fisher | 23 | Pembrokeshire | Telesales, actor | Telesales Maria/Intense Maria | Winner |
Live shows
The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the programme by leading a performance of "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.
Week one
Following the first week of competition, Laura was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:[12]
- Group performances:
- "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (from The Sound of Music)
- "I Have Confidence" (from The Sound of Music)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Leanne: "It's Oh So Quiet" (original artist: Björk)
- Laura: "Torn" (Natalie Imbruglia)
- Abi: "Nobody Does It Better" (Carly Simon)
- Aoife: "Runaway" (The Corrs)
- Siobhan: "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (Shania Twain)
- Connie: "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin)
- Simona: "Over the Rainbow" (Eva Cassidy)
- Belinda: "Over the Rainbow" (Judy Garland)
- Helena: "Crazy Chick" (Charlotte Church)
- Meliz: "Son of a Preacher Man" (Dusty Springfield)
- Sing-off:
- Helena and Laura received the least number of viewer votes and were in the sing-off, and performed "No Matter What" from the musical Whistle Down the Wind.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Helena and eliminate Laura.
Week two
As the mission for this week, the potential Marias performed a scene from the musical with an actor as Captain Von Trapp.[13]
Belinda was the second contestant to be eliminated from the series. The show performances were:[14]
- Group performances:
- "My Favorite Things" (from The Sound of Music)
- "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Barbra Streisand)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Belinda: "Fever" (Peggy Lee)
- Abi: "The Closest Thing to Crazy" (Katie Melua)
- Simona: "Material Girl" (Madonna)
- Meliz: "The Voice Within" (Christina Aguilera)
- Helena: "Woman in Love" (Barbra Streisand)
- Connie: "Shout" (Lulu)
- Leanne: "See the Day" (Dee C. Lee)
- Siobhan: "Chains" (Tina Arena)
- Aoife: "If My Friends Could See Me Now" (from Sweet Charity)
- Sing-off:
- Belinda and Meliz were in the sing-off, and performed "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Meliz and eliminate Belinda.
Week three
During the week, David Ian talked to the girls about fitness and stamina, and Claire Sweeney gave the girls some advice on looking after themselves and their voices. The mission was a fitness test, with Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas, requiring the Marias to complete an assault course.[15] The Marias also attended the première of the film You, Me and Dupree in Leicester Square.[16]
The third potential Maria to be eliminated was Meliz. The show performances were:[17]
- Group performances:
- "The Lonely Goatherd" (from The Sound of Music)
- "Don't Stop Me Now" (Queen)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Siobhan: "Jump (for My Love)" (Girls Aloud)
- Leanne: "9 to 5" (Dolly Parton)
- Helena: "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (Irene Cara)
- Aoife: "Sway" (Pussycat Dolls)
- Meliz: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper)
- Abi: "Big Spender" (Shirley Bassey)
- Connie: "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (Nina Simone)
- Simona: "I Only Want to Be with You" (Dusty Springfield)
- Sing-off:
- Helena and Meliz were in the sing-off, and performed "Take That Look Off Your Face" from Tell Me on a Sunday.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Helena and eliminate Meliz.
Week four
Ahead of Saturday night, Andrew Lloyd Webber made a surprise visit to the contestants and worked with each of them to help with their performance.[18]
Simona and Leanne became the fourth and fifth contestants to hear they were not Maria. The show performances were:[19][20]
- Group performances:
- "Do-Re-Mi" (from The Sound of Music)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Helena: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Elton John)
- Connie: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
- Abi: "Summertime" (from Porgy and Bess)
- Leanne: "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (Olivia Newton John)
- Aoife: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (from Carousel)
- Simona: "It's My Turn" (Diana Ross)
- Siobhan: "Songbird" (Eva Cassidy)
- First sing-off:
- Second sing-off:
- Helena and Leanne were in the second sing-off, and performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Helena and eliminate Leanne.
Week five
This week, the Marias mission was a chemistry test with John Barrowman, which involved Barrowman giving the Marias a surprise kiss.[21]
In the semi-final, the sixth and seventh Marias to be eliminated were Abi and Aoife. The show performances were:[21]
- Group performances:
- "I've Got Confidence" (from The Sound of Music)
- With John Barrowman: "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (from I'd Rather Be Right)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Connie: "If I Can't Have You" (from Saturday Night Fever)
- Siobhan: "All That Jazz" (from Chicago)
- Helena: "My Heart Will Go On" (Celine Dion)
- Abi: "Maybe This Time" (from Cabaret)
- Aoife: "Footloose" (from Footloose)
- First sing-off:
- Abi and Aoife were in the first sing-off, and performed "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Aoife and eliminate Abi.
- Second sing-off:
- Siobhan and Aoife were in the second sing-off, and performed "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita.
- Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Siobhan and eliminate Aoife.
Week six
In the run-up to the final, the three finalists and Lloyd Webber visited Salzburg to visit some of the locations made famous by the The Sound of Music, including Leopoldskron Palace and Nonnberg Abbey, to give the finalists a chance to understand the real Maria von Trapp.[22]
The grand final saw Connie win the competition, with Helena coming second and Siobhan third. The show performances were:[9]
- Group performance:
- Finalists and former Marias: "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" (from The Sound of Music)
- Individual performances (in order of performance):
- Siobhan: "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Dionne Warwick)
- Helena: "Cabaret" (from Cabaret)
- Connie: "As Long as He Needs Me" (from Oliver!)
- Siobhan: "My Favorite Things" (from The Sound of Music)
- Helena: "Do-Re-Mi" (from The Sound of Music)
- Connie: "The Lonely Goatherd" (from The Sound of Music)
- Following the elimination of Siobhan, who received the lowest number of viewer votes, the final two performed their favourite song from the series and a duet, and the eight eliminated contestants performed together:
- Helena: "Woman in Love" (Barbra Streisand)
- Connie: "Shout" (Lulu)
- Connie and Helena: "The Sound of Music" (from The Sound of Music)
- Former Marias: "Edelweiss" (from The Sound of Music)
- After being announced as the series winner, Connie concluded the series with a performance of "The Sound of Music".
After the series
Following the final, Lloyd Webber was criticised after it was revealed that actress Emma Williams had been hired to perform the two performances per week Fisher would not.[23][24] Prior to The Sound of Music opening Williams "withdrew her services", reportedly because her role had been downgraded from four shows per week to two, leaving Fisher to perform all eight shows unless indisposed.[25][26]
With £10 million in advance ticket sales,[27] the £4 million production opened at the London Palladium on 15 November 2006 to positive reviews,[28] leading to a £1.1 million increase in ticket sales in one day.[25] In January 2007, Fisher was chosen by the London Critics' Circle to win their award for best newcomer, sharing the prize with Andrew Garfield.[29] Reducing her performances to six per week in March 2007 following an order to rest her voice,[30] her run in the show was extended until 23 February 2008, when actress Summer Strallen took over the role following a tie-in with the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.[31] Fisher has also made numerous appearances on stage and on television, released two albums, and performed the lead role in the ITV1 drama Caught in a Trap on 26 December 2008.[32] She will reprise her role as Maria in a UK tour of the production in July 2009.[33]
Several of the other final ten contestants have taken on leading roles in musicals following the series. Aoife Mulholland was cast in December 2006 as Roxie Hart in the West End musical Chicago,[34] and took on the role of Maria in the West End production for two shows per week in April 2007 after Fisher's reduction in performances.[30] In July 2007 Siobhan Dillon started in the role of Patty Simcox in the musical Grease, and fellow finalist Helena Blackman played Nellie Forbush in a UK tour of South Pacific.[35]
A follow-up program How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? – Connie's Story aired on 27 December 2006 and followed Fisher during rehearsals for her new role up to and including the opening night.[36] Fisher and several other finalists appeared in a special programme on 24 December 2007 with the winner and finalists from Any Dream Will Do titled When Joseph Met Maria.[37]
Reception
Lloyd Webber was initially criticised for wanting casting the role through a television talent search,[27] and he and the BBC were also criticised by the actors union Equity. They stated that they believed their members would find the series "demeaning to their profession" and that it was not a "proper way" to choose a performer.[38]
The series opened to mostly negative reviews from the press,[39] with the Daily Mail stating that the series was a "trainwreck".[40] In response to the criticism, Lloyd Webber told The Times that:
"This program is providing a platform for musical theatre that it has never had before. The only people upset with Maria are a few precious luvvies who think things should be done a certain way."[40]
Lloyd Webber and the BBC were also criticised for giving the production "11 hours of free publicity on prime-time television"[41] and that the series could be "considered commercial advertising". The BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee disagreed, saying that the corporation retained "editorial control of the programme" and avoided "disproportionate prominence for Lloyd Webber and the production".[42]
The first programme attracted 5.1 million viewers with a 32% audience share,[43] with 4.9 million viewers (30% share) watching the first of the live finals, and 4.7 million (23% share) viewing the results programme.[44] The series dropped to a low of 4.4 million viewers (24% share) against the third series of The X Factor on ITV1, which started the week before.[45] The X Factor continued to gain higher viewing figures as the weeks progressed, with the final of Maria? attracting 5.5 million viewers (28% share) for the main show and 7.7 million (35% share) for the results show.[46]
Following the conclusion of the series on a ratings high and positive reviews for Fisher following her opening night, the series was followed by a number of similar series from both the BBC and other broadcasters in the UK and abroad. It was also credited with helping London theatres reach record ticket sales and attendances in 2007 and, according to The Independent, for "persuading a new, younger audience to see the shows in the flesh".[47]
The series was shown on BBC America in the United States from June 2009. It was described as being "refreshing in its simplicity" in a "landscape that lately seems dominated by audition-heavy musical competitions" by LA Times critic Mary McNamara,[48] but Brian Lowry of Variety didn't feel that it would be successful in the U.S.[49]
Awards
The series won three awards, and received nominations for another two:
- 2007 International Emmy Awards: winner – non-scripted entertainment[50]
- 2006 Royal Television Society Awards: winner – best entertainment programme[51]
- 2007 Broadcast Awards: winner – best entertainment programme[52]
- 2007 British Academy Television Awards: nominated – best entertainment programme[53]
- 2007 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards: nominated – best comedy/entertainment[54]
Follow-up and international series
The success of the series lead to it becoming the first of a series of West End themed talent contests produced by the BBC in collaboration with Lloyd Webber. 2007 saw Any Dream Will Do search for a new male lead to play Joseph for a production of Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This was followed in 2008 by I'd Do Anything, which searched for a new lead to play Nancy and three young performers to play Oliver in a production of the musical Oliver!. The BBC also collaborated with Lloyd Webber to find a performer for Britain's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 through Eurovision: Your Country Needs You.
On 20 August 2006, it was reported that Lloyd Webber had taken legal action against David Ian. Lloyd Webber reportedly wanted to take the format to the United States to cast a Broadway theatre production of Grease. Lloyd Webber discovered that Ian had already brought the idea to NBC, who announced they will look for unknowns to play Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko, via reality TV show Grease: You're the One that I Want! with Ian and BBC Worldwide, leaving Lord Lloyd-Webber furious. Ian said "I don't understand the problem. Andrew has no connection with the stage show Grease, which I have successfully produced in the UK. There is a new production of Grease on Broadway in the spring of 2007, that's why I've been asked to judge on You're The One That We Want."[55] This was followed in the UK with the ITV1 series Grease Is the Word, with Ian as a judge. It aired against Any Dream Will Do in 2007.
Op zoek naar Evita (Looking for Evita) was produced in the Netherlands in 2007, followed by Op zoek naar Joseph (Looking for Joseph) in 2008 and Op zoek naar Mary Poppins (Looking for Mary Poppins) in 2009. In 2008, a Canadian version of the show with the same title, searched for a Maria for an upcoming Toronto production of The Sound of Music; this show was initiated by Lloyd Webber, and was aired on CBC Television. In 2009, Vtm aired a Flemish version titled [Op zoek naar Maria] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Looking for Maria).
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- ^ Wenn (1 February 2007). "David Ian: 'I don't understand Andrew's problem'". contactmusic.com. Retrieved 2006-08-27.