ALW's Cinderella - Gillian Lynne / U.K. Tour (rumour)

I agree with him being wrong to blame the bloggers if they were people that had actually gone to see the show and were voicing their disapproval of it , but I have a feeling that what he really meant by that was the whole Love Should Die collective that was bashing the show purely for being a sequel to POTO. I remember an American lady, a fan of Michael Crawford that had come to London to watch him in the Wizard Of Oz gleefully posting a photograph of herself flipping the bird outside the theater that Love Never Dies was playing at, on another (now defunct) message board. Another Phantom 'phan' who had not even seen the show actually sent messages to many people including myself, urging them to vote for (I think Legally Blonde but it might have been another show running at the time) over LND for some theatre award show online at the time.

I'm sure it may not seem like a great deal, but in summation all of those things certainly would have contributed at least in a small part to the negative opinion of the show. Not saying the blame does not lie on ALW if there were problems with the show (I personally am a fan of the original and wouldn't change anything) but the negative energy from the Love Should Die gives justification to him when he says they were out to ruin the show. I can't think of any other show that people were so violently against... maybe Jesus Christ Superstar when it originally appeared.

On the other hand, Cinderella has certainly not had even a miniscule amount of the negativity that Love Never Dies had, and there is no one to blame but ALW and the other creators.

The 'Love Should Die Collective" sound like such fun, lovely people...They don't like it, so you shouldn't like it....and of course, not having seen it themselves but still having a very loud (albeit 2nd hand) opinion on it. People take it way too seriously. It's just a musical dears, calm down.

Here it is

theatreboard.co.uk/thread/7623/love-never-dies?page=9

I can’t think of one good reason why she would be chosen for Broadway. She has a nice enough voice (when she wasn’t croaking in Heathers which was definitely a “pass me the cotton wool balls” moment) but she’s just not special enough. And unless her acting has come in in leaps and bounds since doing Cinders she’s even less special in that respect and she admits herself she can’t dance. They’d have to be crazy to put the Broadway production on her shoulders abd after the way it’s gone down in London I’m sure ALW will want a brand new start.

If she was ever going to “happen” as a west end star/leading lady then Cinderella was surely the opportunity. It hasn’t happened, not entirely down to her but also the show and all the drama but whatever the reason I reckon the ship has sailed. Where does she go next? What leading role do you see her excelling in? I can’t think of one, I don’t see where she fits. Maybe she doesn’t either, hence the tour.

But are there enough ‘fans’ outside of London? Symphony hall and palladium have over 2,000 seats. She struggled to fill smaller venues for concerts when she was at her ‘fan girl’ peak in Heathers

Yes, a little. She has a part in the King of New York tap number but she doesn't need to be great, exactly. I think I remember an interview with Kara Lindsay talking about being surrounded by all these guys who were really good tap dancers and being a little intimidated?

Carrie does also love Newsies and if she could do the role I could definitely imagine her auditioning. 

We’ve been waiting for Newsies for so long the UK will expect the dance numbers to be spectacular. Casting will have to be top notch dancers

I would hope that she’ll be moving up a notch age wise in her next venture like she did so successfully in Les Mis. It’s time to leave the teenage roles behind.

I’d totally forgotten that.  It’s what she said after the WEL debacle wasn’t it. Inconsistent Carrie! 

It'll be the same show at each venue, directed to within an inch of its life. I've been to these things regularly with varying degrees of success. They are usually just as choreographed as any West End musical. Sometimes they'll change a song or two between venues to encourage repeat viewings, but usually not.

If she isn't confident holding a space alone - and I doubt she is - they might do a "interviewer" gimmick with an experienced compere. I saw Brian Conley do with with Sam Hiller (West End regular and former Phantom AD, who also directed the tour), where Hiller asks his scripted question, Conley does his scripted "ad-lib" (wink wink) anecdote/routine, and Hiller fawningly has fake hysterics. Then Hiller sang "The Music of the Night" badly for some reason. Oh, and Conley introduced him as "having just starred in The Phantom of the Opera in the glittering West End", which was disingenuous at best. He actually had played André a few years prior.

The format will likely be;

Opening song (say "Bad Cinderella")
Introduction
Song (something from "Heathers"
Song (personal choice, something non MT)
Introduce guest/anecdote
Guest singer solo song/introduce compere if used
Duet with guest
Song ("Addams Family")
Anecdote
Song
Song
Song medley (poss Heathers/MT)

Interval

Song ("On My Own")
Song
Song
"Interview" segment if compere used (anecdotes if not)
Guest duet
Guest solo
Song
Song
Possible Q&A - unlikely with the sizes of the venues she is playing in this case
Anecdote and thanks
Medley to finish with guest
Encore solo


There are a few variables (use of compere, the number of guests and whether they have a duet without the star - that kind of thing) but that is the basic format of a standard 1hr 45 "evening with" event.

If it's the same performance every time though, and at theatres she's been on tour to its a bit different surely? And not outdoors.