Picture: Thames, ITV PLC
Well, that’s Sunday evenings sorted out for musical theatre buffs up until Christmas. The Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream eight-part talent show on ITV is up and running with all the signs of being a must-see, especially if you’re an ABBA fan and who isn’t?
From hundreds of applicants, 14 wannabes, mostly unknown, some untrained, have emerged – the two lucky ones will be the brand new stars portraying young lovers Sophie and Sky in the 25th-anniversary edition of Mamma Mia!, the West End musical created in 1999 from the ABBA catalogue which has now been seen by more than 65 million people worldwide.
Located in Corfu, the new series got off to the sunniest of starts. We were introduced to each contestant, given a flavour of what they could do in a hastily produced open-air concert in front of an audience which included creator and producer Judy Craymer, other creatives, holidaymakers and locals as well as the four judges, star Samantha Barks (Pretty Woman, Frozen), herself third at 17 in the BBC/Lloyd Webber talent show I’d Do Anything in 2008, Glee star and Dreamgirls powerhouse Amber Riley, pop singer Jessie Ware and comedian Alan Carr – “can’t sing, can’t dance but I know what’s good”.
The judges will whittle the 14 down to four, two of each, for a live grand final in a West End theatre – the first time the general public will vote – but there were no eliminations in this breezy getting-to-know-you opener. The serious business starts next week. The oldest and most experienced of the girls is Indonesian 27-year-old Desmonda Cathabel, the 2022 Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year, more recently alternate Kim in Miss Saigon in Sheffield and right now Jasmine in the new Aladdin tour. So far, the pre-tour press information only suggests Cathabel is committed to the Edinburgh leg of the tour (24 October to 18 November). Could that be significant?
The other six up for the role of Donna’s daughter (played by Amanda Seyfried in the two Mamma Mia! movies) are Stephanie Costi, 22, from St Albans; Maisie Waller, 22, from Margate; Stevie Doc, 22, from Glasgow; Leah Rutherford, 20, from Redcar; Esme Bowdler, 22, from Chester; and Maddy Erzan-Essien, 20, from Bolton.
Stephanie and Maddy were given good notes for their ‘Money, Money, Money’, Desmonda, Maisie and Stevie were a blast as a trio knocking ‘Chiquitita’ so far out of the park that Riley called them “superstars” and Barks was left “quite speechless”, and Leah and Esme’s ‘Fernando’ got a “perfection” from Riley. The gloves aren’t off yet but for the best combination of voice, triple-threat ability and persona, Esme and Maisie are on my shortlist.
The old man of the party is Marcellus Whyte, a 36-year-old from High Wycombe who could easily pass for 26, while the other six reaching for Sky (Dominic Cooper in both movies) are Owen Johnston, 25, from Belfast; Craig Watson, 26, from Perthshire; Callum Ravden, 22, from Oxfordshire; Darcy James, 23, from Farnborough; Tobias Turley, 22, from Somerset; and Zachkiel Smith, 21, from London.
A couple of the guys had been under the weather and one was so nervous his voice kept breaking up so judgment on the Sky septet is deferred until it’s a more level playing field. As one judge said to the strugglers: “You can either ‘take an ill’, as we say, or you can rise to the occasion and beat it. And you did yourselves proud.”
With Craymer on site putting further pressure on already-nervous contestants, picky choreographer Anthony Van Laast trying to smooth the rough edges and jolly Zoe Ball as host/presenter, clearly money has been no object. It’s a glossy, easy-to-look-at product.There are those not in favour of these gimmicky reality shows arguing that the winners will be keeping out of a job two professionals who have toiled for years to hone their trade. Yet those Lloyd Webber searches for a star back in the day have a great record. From Any Dream Will Do he discovered Lee Mead for his Joseph and the first four in I’d Do Anything, to find a Nancy for Oliver!, were Jodie Prenger, Jessie Buckley, Samantha Barks and Rachel Tucker. And just look what they have achieved since.
Buckley, wonderful in Cabaret, in particular, is in worldwide demand in theatre and cinema; Barks, glorious in the Les Misérables movie, is on maternity leave from Elsa in Frozen; and Come From Away star Tucker is Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard every Monday, Nicole Scherzinger’s night off, at the Savoy. Pretty damn good talent-spotting,
It will be great fun finding out if there’s anybody in the current cohort who can do as well. A dozen will meet their ‘Waterloo’ but for two it will be a case of ‘Take a Chance On Me’.
Jeremy Chapman
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