Connie Fisher won a TV competition to find the lead for Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of which musical?
"opened at the Palace Theatre in London. It ran for 19 months and 500 performances. A revised production opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on 17 November 2005. Garnering mixed reviews from critics, due in part to the frequent absences of the show's star Maria Friedman due to breast cancer treatment, it closed only a brief three months later on 19 February 2006. Lloyd Webber produced a staging of ""The Sound of Music"", which débuted November 2006. He made the controversial decision to choose an unknown to play leading lady Maria, who was found through the BBC's reality television"
"Mead and Connie Fisher and some of the other ""How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"" and ""Any Dream Will Do"" finalists in a BBC special ""festive"" reunion show called ""When Joseph met Maria!"", celebrating both the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber BBC shows, recorded earlier on 2 December 2007. ""How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"" won an international Emmy Award in 2007 for best non-scripted entertainment. From 6 May 2008, Finley starred as Miranda, the disembodied German head in ""Betwixt! The Musical"". The show opened on 6 May 2008, and ran until 22 June at The King's"
"his London revival of ""The Sound of Music."" Connie Fisher won the TV series and was cast as Maria in the London revival of the show that opened in November 2006 at the London Palladium. When Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyric for this song, he followed the lead from a line in the dialogue that Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse wrote in their script, describing Maria's flighty ways in the Abbey. In particular, he was taken by the detail of her wearing curlers in her hair under her wimple. Hammerstein asked if he could incorporate their dialogue into the"
"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. The profits from the telephone votes went to a bursary for young performers. Lloyd Webber also donated his fee to the bursary. Ten potential Marias were selected as finalists who would appear on the live shows. Abi Finley and Aoife Mulholland auditioned together having known each other from college, and both made it to the finals. One of the original 10 finalists, Emilie Alford, withdrew from the"
"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. 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 that"
"his role as judge, this time in the BBC musical talent show ""I'd Do Anything"". The show followed a similar format to its ""Maria"" and ""Joseph"" predecessors, this time involving a search for an actress to play the role of Nancy in an upcoming West End production of the Lionel Bart musical ""Oliver!"" The show also featured a search for three young actors to play and share the title character's role, but the show's main focus was on the search for Nancy. The role was won by Jodie Prenger despite Lloyd Webber's stated preference for one of the other contestants;"
"the original TV casting show ""How do you solve a problem like Maria"", hosted by Graham Norton. Ian, along with Lloyd Webber, was a judge on the programme. The TV show was a resounding success and led to the launch of ""The Sound of Music"" as a smash hit, starring Connie Fisher at the London Palladium. David Ian David Ian (born David Ian Lane; February 1961) is a British theatre producer and former actor. Ian started out as an actor and appeared in a number of UK theatre productions, including the musicals ""The Pirates of Penzance"", ""Joseph and the Amazing"
"show ""How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?"", in which he was a judge. The winner of the show was Connie Fisher. It was announced on 25 August 2006, on his personal website, that his next project would be ""The Master and Margarita""; however, it was announced in late March 2007 that he had abandoned the project. In September 2006, Lloyd Webber was named to be a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors with Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Steven Spielberg, and Smokey Robinson. He was recognised for his outstanding contribution to American performing arts. He attended the ceremony"
"Dutch production was mounted with Wieneke Remmers as Maria, directed by John Yost. Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian and David Mirvish presented ""The Sound of Music"" at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto from 2008 to 2010. The role of Maria was chosen by the public through a television show, ""How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"", which was produced by Lloyd Webber and Ian and aired in mid-2008. Elicia MacKenzie won and played the role six times a week, while the runner-up in the TV show, Janna Polzin, played Maria twice a week. Captain von Trapp was"
"with the fewest 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"
"musical had been cast via a television show, with the public voting on contestants drawn from open auditions held all over Britain. The programme has spawned other continuations of the format, such as Grease for ITV and NBC in America. The format is also being adapted internationally for a number of other musicals. Following the How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, the BBC developed Any Dream Will Do, the search to cast the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Ballard also recently worked with Stephen Fry on Weekend for"
"Choice Theatre Award for ""Favourite Theatre Actress"". She was also awarded the whatsonstage.com Theatregoers Choice Award for ""London Newcomer of the Year"". On 24 December 2007, Fisher performed with Lee Mead and some of the other ""Maria"" and ""Any Dream"" finalists in a BBC special 'festive' reunion show called ""When Joseph met Maria!"" – celebrating both the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber BBC shows – it was recorded earlier on 2 December 2007. The BBC show, ""How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"", featuring Fisher, won an Emmy Award in New York (2007) for best non-scripted entertainment. Fisher ended her"
"series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast on BBC One. The show searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ""Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"". He was in the bottom two in the first live show on 14 April alongside Chris Crosby, with Crosby having received the lowest number of viewers votes. In the sing-off, they sang ""Bridge over Troubled Water"". Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Ellis and eliminate Crosby. He was again in the sing-off in Week three on 28 April"
"Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals, notably ""The Music of the Night"" and ""All I Ask of You"" from ""The Phantom of the Opera"", ""I Don't Know How to Love"
"closed on June 20, 1999, after 533 performances. This production was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. It then toured in North America. An Andrew Lloyd Webber production opened on November 15, 2006, at the London Palladium and ran until February 2009, produced by Live Nation's David Ian and Jeremy Sams. Following failed negotiations with Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, the role of Maria was cast through a UK talent search reality TV show called ""How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?"" The talent show was produced by (and starred) Andrew Lloyd Webber and featured"
"on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of ""Bedtime Hour"". In 2006, Norton hosted the BBC One series ""How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?"" in which Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to find a lead actress for his West End version of ""The Sound of Music"". Norton has subsequently presented the three follow-up series: ""Any Dream Will Do"" in 2007, in which a group of males competed to win the role of Joseph in the West End production of ""Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat""; ""I'd Do Anything"" in 2008, in which Lloyd Webber seeks to find the"
"a first class degree from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, having earlier attended the National Youth Theatre. Her television appearances include ""Doctors"", ""The Inspector Lynley Mysteries"" and ""Holby City"". Bould appeared in the West End at the London Palladium in the original Andrew Lloyd Webber production of ""The Sound of Music"", alongside Connie Fisher. Bould played the eldest child of the Von Trapp family, ""Liesl"". She was also the understudy for ""Maria"" and received rave reviews in that role, having stepped in to cover an extended absence by Fisher through illness. Bould left ""The Sound of Music"" on 24 September"
"run as Maria on 23 February 2008. A Lloyd Webber-sponsored solo concert tour by Fisher of several cities in the UK was cancelled in February 2008 due to poor ticket sales. At the same time, a planned concert at Cadogan Hall celebrating the work of composer Leonard Bernstein, featuring Fisher, was cancelled. Fisher was soon co-starring with Alistair McGowan in a revival of the musical ""They're Playing Our Song"" at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Also, in November Fisher appeared in concerts at Truro Cathedral and at the Great Fosters Hotel in Surrey On 11 December 2008 Fisher appeared in the"
"Nick Lloyd Webber Nicholas Lloyd Webber (born July 22, 1979) is an English composer and music producer. He is known for scoring the BBC 1 drama Love, Lies and Records, co-writing (with James D. Reid) the symphonic piece The Little Prince based on the book by Antoine de St. Exupery and also his 2017 musical, ""Fat Friends: The Musical"" which premiered at the Grand Theatre in Leeds and subsequently toured the UK in 2018. He has also written music for numerous television ad campaigns. ""A Spoonful of Sherman"" (Double CD) (2015) Webber is the eldest son of iconic British composer,"
"where she performed in Georg Büchner's play ""Woyzeck"". She successfully became a member of National Youth Music Theatre (1999–2002), where she played the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of ""Pendragon"", and played the lead role, Morgan Le Fay, when the production toured Japan in 2001. From an early age Fisher was a member of Côr Newyddion Da (English translation – ""Good News Choir""), which introduced her to the Eisteddfodic field and encouraged her to perform as a soloist. She competed annually in the Urdd Gobaith Cymru, National and International Eisteddfods. In 2002 Fisher won the Wilbert Lloyd"
"would be viable to bring the show to Broadway. It received positive reviews and was No.1 on DVD charts in the UK and Ireland, and did well in America. Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs have been widely recorded and were hits"
"End production of ""Legally Blonde"", and Dillon took over the role of Vivienne Kensington in October 2010. A follow-up programme ""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. 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"". Lloyd Webber was initially criticised for wanting to cast the role through a television talent search, and he and"
"for a stage musical. On December 18, 2014, the musical was officially confirmed and it was announced that the show would receive its world premiere on Broadway in autumn 2015, at the Winter Garden Theatre. The musical has a book by ""Downton Abbey"" creator Julian Fellowes, and is directed by Laurence Connor, with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, set and costume design by Anna Louizos and lighting by Natasha Katz. The musical features an original score composed by Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and sound design by Mick Potter, in addition to music from the original film. ""School"
"presenter/comedian Graham Norton and a judging panel of David Ian, John Barrowman and Zoe Tyler. Connie Fisher was selected by public voting as the winner of the show. In early 2007, Fisher suffered from a heavy cold that prevented her from performing for two weeks. To prevent further disruptions, an alternate Maria, Aoife Mulholland, a fellow contestant on ""How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?"", played Maria on Monday evenings and Wednesday matinee performances. Simon Shepherd was originally cast as Captain von Trapp, but after two preview performances he was withdrawn from the production, and Alexander Hanson moved into"
"that Lloyd Webber had composed. She gave her blessing for the songs to be adapted into a musical stage play. Rehearsals for the musical began in early 1981 at the New London Theatre. Due to the Eliot estate asserting that they write no script and only use the original poems as the text, the musical had no identified plot during the rehearsal process, causing many actors to be confused about what they were actually doing. An unusual musical in terms of its construction, the overture incorporates a fugue and there are occasions when the music accompanies spoken verse. The show"
"musicals and adding new orchestrations and hit songs from other shows was challenged and has led to a proliferation of organizations that present classic American musicals with their original scores restored as written, though these performances are generally in a semi-staged format. Andrew Lloyd Webber attended a performance of ""La bohème"" at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the winter of 1984 that was conducted by Mauceri and as a result invited him to be the musical supervisor of the Broadway production of his ""Song and Dance"", which opened on September 18, 1985, and received eight Tony Award nominations,"
"to represent Britain, winning with It's My Time, by Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. At the contest, Lloyd Webber accompanied her on the piano during the performance. The United Kingdom finished 5th in the contest. The winner was Norway's Alexander Rybak with his composition ""Fairytale"". On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber launched the musical ""Love Never Dies"" at a press conference held at Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original ""Phantom"" has been running since 1986. Also present were Sierra Boggess, who had been cast as Christine Daaé, and Ramin Karimloo, who portrayed Phantom, a role he had recently played in"
"Reception to celebrate the production's tenth anniversary. Mulholland performed ""Funny Honey"" in duet with Denise van Outen. Although she did not win HDYSAPLM, Mulholland was asked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to take over the role of Maria in ""The Sound of Music"" as an 'alternate' on Monday evenings and Wednesday matinees from 16 April 2007, after the winner Connie Fisher had to scale down from eight to six performances a week following medical advice. In the role of Maria, Mulholland has received strong reviews: Megan Reynolds of ""The Guardian"" wrote that her performance was ""honest, genuine, heartfelt and passionate, and"
"Mead on his concert tour. In the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, held in Germany that year, each country had a jury, whose votes would be added to the general public's. The jury was made up of professionals in the music industry; Niamh was one of the jury panel for the United Kingdom. From December 2011 – January 2012 Niamh Perry played the title role in the French classic children's novel, The Little Prince. It was the world premier of the musical adaptation of the French classic, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber's son Nicholas and James D Reid. The production was"
"in the forthcoming stage production of the 1939 film ""The Wizard of Oz"". The BBC also collaborated with Lloyd Webber to find a performer for Britain's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 through """". 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"
"This was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian to find someone to play Maria von Trapp in ""The Sound of Music"". She appeared on the show with her best friend from college, Aoife Mulholland, and reached the semi-final of the BBC competition; but in a twist of fate she lost out to Mulholland in the sing-off, singing ""Any Dream Will Do"". Shortly after ""How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"" finished in late 2006, Finley was cast by the Oscar-winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice in his revival of Blondel. On casting Finley, Rice said in an interview"
"that featured the original album artist, Marti Webb, and played at initially St James Theatre, London and subsequently the Duchess Theatre. Simon Lee (conductor) Simon Lee, is a conductor and musical supervisor and is a longtime associate of Andrew Lloyd Webber, for whom he served as musical supervisor on a number of productions. Lee served in June and July, 2008, as the ""How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (Canada)"" judge on the Canadian version of the television reality show, and was responsible for the musical aspects of the production of ""The Sound of Music"" in London, England. In"
"money for BBC Children in Need. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. His first public performance after the win was on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana at London's Wembley Stadium, where he sang ""Any Dream Will Do"" with former Joseph actors Donny Osmond and Jason Donovan. Mead, along with the winner, Connie Fisher and last five runners-up of the previous Lloyd-Webber reality show ""How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"" starred in a one-off Christmas Eve special on BBC One entitled ""When Joseph Met Maria"". Fifth-placed Craig Chalmers was cast by Bill Kenwright"