Did anyone else notice on last Saturday's show that a large proportion of the possible Olivers appeared to come from private schools.
Olivers from private schools
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Olivers coming from private schools - the problem for me is that they can't act the streetwise urchin ALW said he wanted. They were all, performance wise, exact replicas of the precious little choirboy in the film.
Originally Posted by Evilredzebra:
“They were all, performance wise, exact replicas of the precious little choirboy in the film.”
“They were all, performance wise, exact replicas of the precious little choirboy in the film.”
yes i have nothing against middle class kids doing it. lets face it they perhaps have the training/confidence etc necessary to pull off the role because of their backgrounds/education.
i teach in a deprived 2ndry school and can think of many boys who'd make good gritty olivers (yet lack the self-control, channelled talent etc needed)
having said that i can think of a few who, given parental support to audition etc might have been in with a chance
and yes, i thought these boys were just another version of mark whatever-his-name -is
Originally Posted by catslovelycats:
“yes i have nothing against middle class kids doing it. lets face it they perhaps have the training/confidence etc necessary to pull off the role because of their backgrounds/education.
i teach in a deprived 2ndry school and can think of many boys who'd make good gritty olivers (yet lack the self-control, channelled talent etc needed)
having said that i can think of a few who, given parental support to audition etc might have been in with a chance
and yes, i thought these boys were just another version of mark whatever-his-name -is”
“yes i have nothing against middle class kids doing it. lets face it they perhaps have the training/confidence etc necessary to pull off the role because of their backgrounds/education.
i teach in a deprived 2ndry school and can think of many boys who'd make good gritty olivers (yet lack the self-control, channelled talent etc needed)
having said that i can think of a few who, given parental support to audition etc might have been in with a chance
and yes, i thought these boys were just another version of mark whatever-his-name -is”
I hope you don't teach English!!!
Originally Posted by twingle:
“I hope you don't teach English!!!”
“I hope you don't teach English!!!
”
actually i do twingle!
be assured my lack of punctuation etc is down to laziness not ignorance and doesnt transfer to my teaching!
My son was in a Cathedral choir when the musical director made the effort to get round state primary schools to audition, so although the choir had a lot of private school kids in there was a mix, and it sounded a lot better than when his successor decided to cut out a lot of work and just take kids from 2 'feeder' private schools. That policy would have left out my son. He's now studying music and that's going to be his career so I'm glad he got that early chance.
The new person has reinstated the old system of auditioning in state schools so I guess he agrees that you're missing out a lot of talent if you just go to private schools looking for gifted children.
You probably do need a lot of 'grit' to survive in that sort of school though as there's usually a lot of academic pressure on to pass an exam to go to a private/public secondary school.
The new person has reinstated the old system of auditioning in state schools so I guess he agrees that you're missing out a lot of talent if you just go to private schools looking for gifted children.
You probably do need a lot of 'grit' to survive in that sort of school though as there's usually a lot of academic pressure on to pass an exam to go to a private/public secondary school.
Originally Posted by Evilredzebra:
“There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Olivers coming from private schools - the problem for me is that they can't act the streetwise urchin ALW said he wanted. They were all, performance wise, exact replicas of the precious little choirboy in the film.”
“There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Olivers coming from private schools - the problem for me is that they can't act the streetwise urchin ALW said he wanted. They were all, performance wise, exact replicas of the precious little choirboy in the film.”
Yes fully agree and with the latest programe it seems clear that despite ALW's wishes, they prefer the sweet adorable little boys from the private sector.
I was longing to see if they had discovered a talented lad with that rough, raw and dangerous edge that could be moulded and directed into a memorable Oliver.
Did this happen with Billie Elliott or the excellent recent UK film This is England?
So disappointing.
Originally Posted by freeviewfan8:
“
Did this happen with Billie Elliott or the excellent recent UK film This is England?”
“
Did this happen with Billie Elliott or the excellent recent UK film This is England?”
I read an article in some annual report about Nottingham arts schemes, and it seemed that there was a workshop in Nottingham for youngsters with acting talent to give them opportunities they might not have had otherwise, and several of them went on to be in This is England.
I think it was this scheme http://www.thetelevisionworkshop.co.uk/. So yes I believe it did happen with This is England.
