How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? was a British reality television talent show that documented the search for an undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian stage production of The Sound of Music.[1]
This article is about the British television series. For the song, see Maria (1959 song). For the Canadian version of the series, see How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (Canadian TV series). For the Belgian and Dutch versions of the series, see Op zoek naar Maria.How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?
The series was originally devised by the then in-house development team at BBC Entertainment Events and was announced by the BBC in April 2006. BBC One broadcast the programme, which was hosted by Graham Norton, on Saturday evenings from 29 July through 16 September 2006.
The title derives from the refrain of "Maria", a song from the first act of The Sound of Music.
Connie Fisher won the final public vote, and with it a six-month contract to play Maria in the West End production.
Format[edit]
Creation[edit]
The lead role of Maria von Trapp in the new West End production of The Sound of Music, to be staged by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, was to be played by American actress Scarlett Johansson. Negotiations fell through,[2] and after a four-year search for an actress to fill the role, it was revealed in November 2005 that Lloyd Webber had approached the BBC to allow the public to cast the role through a Popstars-style talent search, the first time that such a format had been used.[3][4]
This was the first programme to allow the public to cast a leading role in a West End show, and it was initially criticised. However, it won International Emmy and Royal Television Society awards and became the first of a series of collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber, including Any Dream Will Do, I'd Do Anything, and Over the Rainbow. The series also led to versions and similar series abroad.
Winner[edit]
Following a public telephone vote, 23-year-old Connie Fisher was chosen as Maria and performed the role in the West End from November 2006 to February 2008. The series also helped the careers of the other finalists, some of whom later took leading roles in West End shows. Semi-finalist Aoife Mulholland also took up the role of Maria in April 2007 for two shows a week, after Fisher was advised to reduce her performances to six per week.
After the series[edit]
Following the final, Lloyd Webber was criticised after it was revealed that actress Emma Williams had been hired to perform the two performances per week that Fisher would not.[32][33] Prior to The Sound of Music opening Williams "withdrew her services", reportedly because her role had been downgraded from four shows per week to two, leaving Fisher to perform all eight shows unless indisposed.[34][35]
The £4 million production opened at the London Palladium on 15 November 2006 to positive reviews,[36] leading to a £1.1 million increase in ticket sales in one day.[34] In January 2007, Fisher was chosen by the London Critics' Circle to win their award for best newcomer, sharing the prize with Andrew Garfield.[37] Reducing her performances to six per week in March 2007 following an order to rest her voice,[38] her run in the show was extended until 23 February 2008, when actress Summer Strallen took over the role following a tie-in with the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.[39] Fisher has also made numerous appearances on stage and on television, released two albums, and performed the lead role in the ITV1 drama Caught in a Trap on 26 December 2008.[40] She reprised her role as Maria in a UK tour of the production in July 2009.[41]
Several of the other final ten contestants have taken on leading roles in musicals following the series. Aoife Mulholland was cast in December 2006 as Roxie Hart in the West End musical Chicago,[42] and took on the role of Maria in the West End production for two shows per week in April 2007 after Fisher's reduction in performances.[38] In July 2007 Siobhan Dillon started in the role of Patty Simcox in the musical Grease and later went on to play the lead role of Sandy in January 2010.[43] Fellow finalist Helena Blackman played Nellie Forbush in a UK tour of South Pacific.[44] Mulholland originated the role of Brooke Wyndham in the West End production of Legally Blonde,[45] and Dillon took over the role of Vivienne Kensington in October 2010.[46]
In June 2008, Leanne Dobinson took over in the role of Cosette in the West End cast of Les Misérables at the Queens Theatre.[47]
A follow-up programme How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? – Connie's Story aired on 27 December 2006 and followed Fisher during rehearsals for her new role up to and including the opening night.[48] Fisher and several other finalists appeared in a special programme on 24 December 2007 with the winner and finalists from Any Dream Will Do titled When Joseph Met Maria.[49]
Follow-up and international series[edit]
The success of the series led to its becoming the first in a series of West End themed talent contests produced by the BBC in collaboration with Lloyd Webber. 2007 saw Any Dream Will Do search for a new male lead to play Joseph for a production of Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This was followed in 2008 by I'd Do Anything, which sought a lead to play Nancy and three young performers to play the lead in a production of the musical Oliver!. In 2010, Over the Rainbow cast Dorothy and a dog to play Toto in the forthcoming stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The BBC also collaborated with Lloyd Webber to find a performer for Britain's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 through Eurovision: Your Country Needs You.
On 20 August 2006, it was reported that Lloyd Webber had taken legal action against David Ian. Lloyd Webber reportedly wanted to take the format to the United States to cast a Broadway theatre production of Grease. Lloyd Webber discovered that Ian had already brought the idea to NBC, who announced they will look for unknowns to play Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko, via reality TV show Grease: You're the One that I Want! with Ian and BBC Worldwide, leaving Lloyd Webber furious. Ian said "I don't understand the problem. Andrew has no connection with the stage show Grease, which I have successfully produced in the UK. There is a new production of Grease on Broadway in the spring of 2007, that's why I've been asked to judge on You're The One That We Want."[75] This was followed in the UK with the ITV1 series Grease Is the Word, with Ian as a judge. It aired against Any Dream Will Do in 2007.
Op zoek naar Evita (Looking for Evita) was produced in The Netherlands in 2007, followed by Op zoek naar Joseph (Looking for Joseph) in 2008, Op zoek naar Mary Poppins (Looking for Mary Poppins) in 2009, Op zoek naar Zorro (Looking for Zorro) in 2011, Op zoek naar Annie (Looking for Annie) in 2012 and most recently Op zoek naar Maria (Looking for Maria) in 2021 and Op zoek naar Danny & Sandy (Looking for Danny & Sandy) in 2022.
In 2008 a Canadian version of the show with the same title, searched for a Maria for an upcoming Toronto production of The Sound of Music; this show was initiated by Lloyd Webber, and was aired on CBC Television. John Barrowman was part of the judging panel along with Simon Lee and Canadian vocal coach Elaine Overholt. Lloyd Webber filled in for Lee in the final weeks of the series. This was followed by Over the Rainbow in 2012, with Lloyd Webber serving as a judge.
In 2009 Vtm aired a Flemish version titled Op zoek naar Maria (Looking for Maria). A Dutch version of Op zoek naar Maria came out in 2021.