The Friday musical round-up: 30th May

Not an especially busy work for musical theatre news, hence the delay until Saturday to write it.. I was hoping something exciting would happen if I waited long enough. Read on to find out about 1 piece of casting news, 1 closing notice, 1 new show, 1 gala show and 1 reality TV show final…

I’d Do Anything – 1 hour until the final

It’s one hour until the final of I’d Do Anything begins, and in less than 5 hours time, we will have a winner. So, this is my last post until after the result is known…

If you’ve been awake at any stage over the last, you’ll have almost certainly noticed an inordinate amount of coverage of the show … Anyone would think that the BBC PR machine were desparate to win the ratings battle over ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ tonight!! Fortunately, the 2 shows aren’t going head-to-head, which is good news for fans of both. I’m sure both channels will still have their eyes on the viewing figures!

I’d Do Anything – 2 days until the final…

It’s Thursday, which means only 2 days until the final of ‘I’d Do Anything’. I normally try to avoid writing about the show during the week, as I prefer to focus on the shows themself, rather than what’s happening in the real world (!), but since the series is nearly over, I thought it was worth breaking my own rules!

So, in no particular order, let me tell you what I’m thinking as we approach Saturday…

Review: Never So Good (National Theatre)

After a weekend of I’d Do Anything, I payed a visit to the National Theatre last night to see Howard Brenton’s new play, Never So Good, which opened a couple of months’ back. A vist to the National seems like a suitable counterpoint to the frivolity of a BBC reality TV show, and it was the perfect way to round-off the Bank Holiday weekend.

I’d Do Anything – the semi final result

For my views on Saturday night’s live show, click here.

It’s Monday morning, and the dust has now settled on another dreadful result in I’d Do Anything. Rather unbelievably, Jessie managed to survive the semi-final, without even being voted into the bottom two. She must have a huge amount of support behind her to manage this, because two of the judges thought she deserved to go, and she has now had a run of poor performances over the last few weeks.

I’d Do Anything – the semi final live show

First of all, let me start by congratulating all 4 of the girls who have made it to the semi-finals. I really think that the overall standard of the contestants in this series has been much higher than in the previous searches for Maria and Joseph, so it is a hugely impressive achievement just getting this far. That will almost certainly come as no consolation to the 3 girls who miss out on the role, but I’m sure that all 4 girls will have a successful West End career ahead of them.

As you’ll have seen if you read my pre-show post yesterday, Rachel was the bookies favourite to leave this week, with Samantha the clear favourite to win the role of Nancy. Read on to find out what happened in the Saturday live show, and whether I still think the bookies are right…

I’d Do Anything – the semi-final betting odds

With less than 2 hours to go until the start of the semi-final of I’d Do Anything, I’m checking out the betting odds to see who the bookies expect to win the show…

The Friday musical round-up: 23rd May

Apologies for the fact that there was no Friday round-up last week – I was on holiday, and I decided it probably wasn’t worth interrupting my holiday for!

This week we’ve had 2 major new musicals opening in London and another new show finally announced for January 2009. We’ve also had some real and confirmed casting news, as well as some more reality TV rumours.

Read on for the full story…

I’d Do Anything – Week 10 reaction (delayed)

As you’ll know if you read my week 9 post here, I have been on holiday for the last 2 weeks, so I have been catching up on the last 2 weeks’ shows.

Last night, I watched last Saturday’s live show (17th May), and I’ll watch the results show tonight so that I am up-to-date before tomorrow’s semi-final…

As the weeks go on, something slightly strange is happening – I’m getting less and less convinced in the girls’ ability to play the role. In the previous 2 series, I had made up my mind long before this stage, where this time around, I’m still not quite sure who I want to win. If you want to know what I’m thinking, read on for my full reaction:

I’d Do Anything – week 9 reaction (delayed)

I’ve been on holiday for 2 weeks, so have missed the last 2 shows. Thanks to my V+ box (like Sky+, but from Virgin!), I taped all of the episodes so I have been catching up with proceedings!

Last night, I managed to watch the 1st live show that I missed (week 9, originally shown on May 10th). I haven’t seen the results show yet (and don’t know who leaves), but I’ll be getting to that tonight! So, here, in brief, are my thoughts on the performances from week 9…