Via the genius of television, we’ve now cast a Dorothy for The Wizard Of Oz, a Nancy for Oliver!, a Joseph for the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and a Maria for The Sound of Music. And Andrew Lloyd-Webber isn’t finished there, no matter what he might claim.

No no no. He’s looking for a star of Love Never Dies – not via prime-time telly, admittedly, but it’s an open call, where anyone can turn up. Well, anyone if they’re a pre-pubescent boy with a lovely soprano voice, for they need another Gustave to add to the roster.

So I was wondering – what other shows could do with a bit of revamping courtesy of participation from the Great British Public?

Legally Blonde – After the rip-roaring success of Over The Rainbow’s search for Toto, the marvellous festival of pink down at the Savoy Theatre can go one better, and look to cast TWO dogs – Paulette’s Rufus, and Elle’s beloved Bruiser. Sure, they probably don’t need that much publicity at the moment as tickets are veritably flying out of the box office, but it’s worth having it as a back-up plan.

Mamma Mia! – Seeing as we’ve not had a search for a male musical theatre actor for ages, let’s have an open call for handsome young men – with abs that’d make even Aoife Mulholland jealous – to play Sky. Do the auditions on a nice British beach. Get them to run around in their swimming cozzies while singing Abba songs. It’s an underrated talent. And it would make for some great publicity shots.

Sister Act – They’ve already invited a journalist to go behind the scenes and become a nun for one night only (and it didn’t turn out too well, but let’s crash on). The obvious next step is to find someone with a natural knack for both convent life, choral singing and chorus-line dancing. And here’s the best part – it could be a non-gendered talent search. After all, in those costumes, as long as a chap has a good enough falsetto, who’s going to know what lurks under the habit?

What other shows do you think would benefit from talent-search trickery?

Tagged as: abba, aoife mulholland, joseph, legally blonde, love never dies, mamma mia!, oliver!, sister act, sound of music, the wizard of oz

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