Must admit, I saw it when the lovely (but not very good) Simon Shepherd was in it.

Oh, I certainly think it's one of the more difficult ones to portray, and I haven't a clue how Niamh was expected to do it with True Colours! It's something you need the children around for, mainly because otherwise it could be anyone you're singing to, and so the maternal aspect of the song is completely lost. I'm trying to think of songs that are explicitly "I Have A Child And I Love It"... I'd Give My Life For You from Miss Saigon, perhaps?

the only song I'm coming up with is Ronan Keating's "I hope you dance"

Well, the only two that spring to my mind are The Shoop Shoop Song , and Father and Son!! Neither of which could be remotely linked to Nancy and her relationship with Oliver!!

xx

Bad choice isn't it?!

xx

certainly interesting within the context of Nancy and Oliver's relationship!

how about "Nancy the survivor"... slightly different slant on it than "Survivor" was, but how about "Take that look off your face"?

How about Not While I'm Around?

Good call! That's a great song to show a maternal side, the only other song I could think of was Bring Him Home and thats a man's song!

Is it OK for the girls to sing "a man's song"?

hmmm... I suppose Jodie and Sarah had men's songs weekend before last. It depends on the vocal range I suppose.

yeah but normally they ignore that its a man's song and sing it a range they feel confortable with, which works well. I'm not sure what the role requires but some of the nancies seem to have a very limited range for musical theatre.

[hope i did this right. was i meant to respond to the post above]"

That's true... though there are some songs that seem very "men's" songs... which I have to say I thought both Luck be a lady and Mr Bojangles were, though I can't put my finger in exactly why

and yes, I'm assuming you're doing it right, cause if you're not, we're both wrong

I love this post. The uncle who didn't like SOM because it wasn't like the film - Can't drag Alps in the London Palladium. LOL

I've known a few of those in my time. Like the person who wouldn't see Tommy on stage because it couldn't be as good as the film. I mean how would they do the scene where the mother rolls about in melted chocolate and baked beans?

I saw Educating Rita on stage when Julie Walters was in it. Another friend went and when I asked if she's enjoyed it she said, 'but there were only 2 people in it!!!' LOL

Haha, that's like my Grandma - she loves seeing musicals, but her comments are usually something like "how do they learn all those lines? They're so clever!" or "Didn't that girl have to change costumes quickly, I was very impressed".

I'm going to bring up something here that is really really REALLY annoying me...Nancy is a real alto part, one of the few for a younger actress that actually exists, and she never ever really sings much higher than a B or C. It annoys me that Rachel, Sam and Niamh are in the final five, even though all three of them seem to really struggle with the low notes and go out of tune. They all have great high pop belts, but there's really no point in that because the audience won't be hearing much of that if they play Nancy...

Which is why they shouldn't be Nancy LOL!

I was very surprised to find out my FIL had a complete set of Musical LPs and my husband knew a lot of the words to the songs - especially South Pacific LOL!

PS He can't sing though LOL!

Oh I totally agree with you there! Although I do think Rachel has a better lower register than the other three, Jodie is the only one left who is a true alto. I found myself sighing during Ashley's ALAHNM, thinking 'there's another alto gone'. My cousin goes to the same school as Samantha actually, she doesn't understand why Sam is there when she is actually a mezzo.

You're supposed to reply to my post on this thread LOL!

I think that kind of stopped happening by the 5th post! lol

erm my boyfriend can't sing either

*encompasses last few posts in reply*

that's an interesting point about the songs not needing the top end of the range... Niamh really struggles with lower range... and tbh, quite a few of the younger girls will probably struggle as their voices aren't mature yet.

so does this suggest that they're looking for a west end leading lady in general, and not just a Nancy, or what? I suppose it would be very hard to have them all singing songs for the range Nancy needs... and I suppose they could always rearrange the songs and put them up an octave depending who wins... or am I being dim? would that not change anything?

A key change is a little different that a total arrangement change and it could be done, but with the actors out there who can do it, why would they? with this play i think it would depend on the big celebrity main characters and what key they will be singing in. i am sure they will keep it as written or pretty close to it.

my question:
can anyone do cockney rhyming slang? will they do it on this show?
-do i have this thread right?

You can't put it up an octave (that would very very high!), but yes I guess you could rearrange all the orchestrations so they were a few notes higher. It's expensive, but I expect Cameron Mackintosh can afford it!

I just think it's integral to the part, but I guess this is where the whole "redefine the role" thing comes in. Changing the vocal range changes the way the song sounds - imo Nancy is meant to have a low, sexy, kind of lived-in voice! That was what Georgia Brown had anyway. You wouldn't move Maria's songs out of the soprano register, so why should they change Nancy's?

To the person who said their child goes to the same school as Sam, I also know of someone who knows her who said exactly the same thing! She said she's a mezzo, if not a soprano, who struggles with lower notes

EDIT: Jocko Homo, thanks for replying to my post! (LOL )

I think that would take the principle of "I'd do anything" one step too far.

In a Karaoke competition (like they have on more commercial channels), it is easy to shift a tune up or down a couple of tones.

For whole musical it would be a push. Many songs dovetail into each other, and I'm sure Nancy sings some songs with other people, so shifting it for her might upset the other performers.

So it does beg the questionm why are there so many sopranos left in the competition, when Nancy is an Alto? (to quote someone else on another thread). Indeed why were they chosen in the first place?

What is ALW's agenda?

(I think I've got the hang of this thread. Good idea).

thanks for skipping over my question

will they need it?