Did viewers solve ‘Maria’ problem?
“The Sound of Music” has a new Maria -- and the hills are alive with the sound of skepticism.
An aspiring actress named Connie Fisher has been chosen to star as the novitiate turned nanny in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big-budget London production of the musical. This was no ordinary audition, however: The casting process was watched by millions on a British reality TV show, and Fisher was crowned by telephone votes from the viewing public.
After winning Saturday’s live final of the British Broadcasting Corp. show “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?,” Fisher, 23, said she felt “like I am living the dream.” She has spent the last 18 months working in a telephone call center.
But others criticized the show as a gimmick. Britain’s main actors’ union, Equity, called the program “demeaning.”
Although the show’s stated purpose was to find an “unknown,” most of the finalists were professionally trained performers. Fisher graduated with honors from the highly regarded Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
Lloyd Webber’s production, the first West End “Sound of Music” in two decades, opens Nov. 14 at the London Palladium.
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