fajrdrako | I'd Do Anything... (Reply)

I watched the first episode of I'd Do Anything last night. It's the show where Andrew Lloyd Webber casts Nancy and Oliver for a West End production of Oliver!.

We all know I am watching it because John Barrowman is one of the judges, casting directors, and teachers. And he was wonderful. Because there are fewer judges than there were in Any Dream Will Do, he gets more chance to talk, gets more individual time onscreen. Best moment so far was when Denise Van Outen said to him in exasperation, "You had to show your butt!" Yup, it's John, of course he did. And it's such fun to see his binges of laughter, when he likes something. No one laughs like that man does. (Please, sir, may we see Captain Jack Harkness laugh more?)

But really... even if Barrowman wasn't on the show, could I resist it? A show about musical theatre? It sort of ... hones in on my guilty pleasures. Or it would, if I felt guilty, which I don't.

The first episode was fairly diverse, because it shows Webber and Cameron Mackintosh sifting through thousands of people in the first wave of actresses and actors - there's more focus on the women than the boys. Already I have three or four favourite contenders as Nancy, which will probably be narrowed down still more next episode. The boys seemed less differentiated, but that will come. It's interesting that Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking for both a Nancy and an Oliver who are more tough-and-feisty than we're used to. Okay.

This should be fun.