:: Encore Theatre Magazine ::

Encore Theatre Magazine

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::Front Page::

:: Sunday, September 24, 2006 ::

Two Marias

...is the title of an old play by Bryony Lavery, about two girls killed in a car crash. Eerily appropriate for the continuing high-speed disaster that is How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Having spent a month denying that there was an alternative Maria waiting in the wings to play at least half the performances, Andrew Lloyd Webber's company has announced that Emma Williams (pictured - and who we named six weeks ago as the ringer) is withdrawing from the production, allegedly because she didn't want to be limited to two performances a week. So what was the deal? Emma Williams, let's face it, was never going to take a job as understudy. And now, of course, the callers are asking to see the one off the telly, so they reduced her role and she's backed out.

It reveals, as clearly as you could imagine, that everything we have said all along is correct: that Lloyd Webber and the egregious Ian David always knew who they wanted and did everything to ensure she won. Last week The Independent published allegations that the show was rigged in other ways:

There were rumours that the producers had hired a 'plant' to infiltrate the
show. Then there were claims of favouritism from two unsuccessful contestants after they learnt that Fisher was recording a CD to accompany the show before the final. Claims were made that the show, watched by 10 million viewers, was edited to put certain contestants in a bad light, and that some performers benefited from the choice of songs they had to sing.

Which makes sense, because it would be crazy not to ensure that you cast the person you want - but, if that's what you're going to do, don't pretend that the public are in charge. The cash that this ludicrous and sordid show will put in the producers' pockets is precisely matched by the bad taste is leaves in our mouths.

:: posted by Theatre Worker at Sunday, September 24, 2006

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