Make or break for Webber tomorrow as it'll be his last chance to make the right decision.

Assuming Lee is on the sing off & Webber inisists he's still after a pop star wannabe to be his Joseph & therefore let him go then I believe he'd just put the nail in the coffin as far as the success of the show goes.

I don't know where this idea that ALW has never had a flop before is coming from, he's had quite a few in fact.

As for your main point, I don't trust him an inch, and I will be voting my little socks off for Lee. Hopefully The Lord won't get the opportunity to get rid of him on Saturday.

There is a lot of spin about this show and I bet ALW is not as worried as he makes out in his pod casts.

Look back and see how much these four have improved since the start so with intensive training and acting classes they could all be good. Unfortunately not all of them light up the stage and that cannot be taught

Very true Laurie. The 'Lord' isn't all powerful, he's had plenty of flops in his time. Ever heard of a musical called By Jeeves? probably not as it was godawful and no one bothered going to see it.

I think he will make sure that Lee is in the final, he is a safe pair of hands who is popular with the public, much like Connie last year, and we all know she was who he wanted all along.

Yeh, I think your right, I think ALW is practising his acting skills as well. He wants the audience to stay interested in the contest and not think it's a one horse show.

i agree totally.

[quote=LaurieMarlow;14934727]I don't know where this idea that ALW has never had a flop before is coming from, he's had quite a few in fact.

QUOTE]

A few, like what? Someone also said lots & only mentioned Jeeves ( not sure how I managed not to know this one though lol), so what else???

ALW has had flops, your right.

I have no doubt that whoever gets the part out of the final four, will take on the part with no problem. There may well be teething problems as whoever it is will quite literally be thrown in the deep end, but each and every one of them has the ability to make this a runaway success. Look how much they have all learnt in 6 weeks.

Aspects of Love. Not sure it was a flop but certainly not a big success or well remembered. Panned by the critics and not that popular with the theatre crowd. I think the story was far too sophisticated for the tourists... I saw the original cast and other than Michael Ball, it was not a great evening.....

Quotation from the Wikipedia article on ALW. Not sure if I'm allowed to do this or not

"While some of his works have had enormous commercial success, his career has not been without failures, especially in the United States. Song and Dance, Starlight Express, and Aspects of Love, all successes in London, did not meet the same reception in New York, and all lost money in short, critically panned runs. In 1995, Sunset Boulevard became a very successful Broadway show, opening with the largest advance in Broadway history, and winning seven Tony Awards that year. However, owing to high weekly costs, it became the biggest economic musical failure in history, losing 25 million dollars. His subsequent shows (Whistle Down the Wind and The Beautiful Game) did not make it to Broadway, and his most recent musical The Woman in White closed after a very short run in New York."

Obviously, some of these (Sunset Boulevard for instance) are well loved by Musical Theatre aficionadoes, but the bottom line is that they lost money. Given that Joseph is not a new piece of work or anything, pretty much the whole point of the Any Dream Will Do enterprise is to get bums on seats and rake in the cash.

Ok you got me! Just shows I'm not really into musicals unless I know it has a well known cast that I actually like.

Although they all looked like flops only on broadway but not here in UK ....interesting.

Yeah, I have no idea why that might be. UK supporting home grown talent maybe. That said, I cannot remember The Beautiful Game making any kind of a stir in the UK, whatsoever and I could not name a single song from it! I do recollect auditions taking place in Belfast (friend of mine went for it) but after that, nothing. Anyone know how long it ran in the West End?

I loved aspects of Love although I had forgotten i had seen it till you mentioned it

I remember whistle down the wind - thats was not good. don't remember beautiful game thouhg.

I disagree. I think Lee would be a very popular Joseph, but think that it would be a popular show whoever gets the role. It's not a difficult part, and although ALW is relying on the success of the tv contest to generate bumper interest & ticket sales, I think it is such a well-loved favourite that people woud go and see it anyway.

I'm far more interested in who is going to be the Narrator.

I agree, lets be honest whoever would have thought Philip Schofield would be a Joseph!

Well put it this way if Lee doesn't become Joseph I've just save myself a fortune which I don't mind to spend since I'm taking my nieces & nephews with me because for me Lee is the only one who is pecfect for the role & therefore worth it!

Maybe because he just came from a very popular children's show at the time & people are curious to hear his singing skills not to mention he's a likeable guy???

That's another thing that's a great asset for someone to have if they want to be successful....they must have the likeability factor!

There have , in my view, been only three 'sure-fire' competitors in this run: Lee, Daniel and Seamus. With the last two gone, he's down to Lee if he wants a completely 'safe' pair of hands/vocals.

However I would be pretty confident Keith, vocally, could rise to the occasion and enjoy himself on stage, whether he'd have the crowd pull is another matter, sadly. The two others possibly could master it but I couldn't be certain they could avoid a flop.
Considering the charm of the story and melodies of this particular musical, and its essential 'innocence', I still feel Daniel, with his super sweet voice and winsome smiles captured perfectly what the role requires. ALW seriously miscalculated by ousting him as even his own daughter felt.

Agreed. I wanted to take my kids to see the tour of Chitty, but there is no way I would sit thru a performance with Gary Wilmot!

Maybe so, but to be fair his daughter has yet to write an multi-million £ musical. I think the man knows what he is doing.

The show won't flop, it will be a success regardless of who is Joseph. It is adored by adults and children alike.

If Lee doesn't win i will simply go and see a different show - maybe we will rock you.

Well, it's been adored thus far though I have seen passable Josephs and superlative Josephs in my time.
However no show can be assured success, especially if the lead turns out to be truly dire and given the finalists I am a little bit anxious it could still happen....ALW may think he knows what he's about but he can get it wrong and I doubt the critics will be disposed to be kind or forgiving, given half a chance to trounce it.

The critics will take the first oppertunity they get to rubbish joseph and the lead if the contestant isn't good enough, as i don't think the critics are a fan of what ALW is doing in choosing a lead through reality tv!