Cast Mary the proper way

I have very little doubt that reality television will eventually cast a leading man or lady in an Australian production of a musical. It simply has to happen, and I am in no way against it – it’s a great way to bring theatre closer to the general community and perhaps a chance for us to return to theatre’s dominating period of the 1990’s.

I have very little doubt that reality television will eventually cast a leading man or lady in an Australian production of a musical. It simply has to happen, and I am in no way against it – it’s a great way to bring theatre closer to the general community and perhaps a chance for us to return to theatre’s dominating period of the 1990’s.

However, I do not believe that casting the role of Mary in Mary Poppins via reality television is a good idea.

At this stage, no such television show has been announced. Indeed, it would seem that time-wise, such a show would be impossible. No show has been announced in the television networks’ 2010 schedules, and with the ratings period not coming back until February, the timing just doesn’t seem right.

However, there’s plenty of people out there who believe that the non-announcement of Mary last week when the cast was named was a clear indication that something is underway. Impossible, they say, that producers simply couldn’t find anyone. It must have been a stunt to grab publicity, in the lead-up to a show being launched.

Look, it’s possible that a television show could be in the works. And if it is, I am sure it’d be a great success. But when it comes to a show like Mary Poppins, I think we should stick to the traditional casting methods.

And yes, auditions were definitely held. If there is a television show, contracts and deals would have been months in the planning – so why waste performers’ time?

The most difficult think about any reality television show surrounding theatre is that even musical theatre’s current stars do not have a great presence in the mainstream public. Hence, is the show going to be open to complete nobodies, or is it open to theatre people who would have gone through the audition process anyway?

Surely the role of Mary requires a trained voice, and if that is the case, then surely the winner of the role exists somewhere in the trained musical theatre world?

There’s many names come across my mind for possible candidates. Those who saw Jekyll and Hyde in Asia rave about the performance of Lucy Maunder – I wonder if she is being considered or if there’s been an audition at this stage?

Reality television is important and will one day find a theatre star. But using it to cast Mary would simply be a wrong call.