[damedave]

Have to say i am so bored of all the fuss made over her....im sure she is very nice (if developing a monstrous ego......)..but lets put it in perspective....her 'talent' is very modest....I thought she sang the role well...but her acting (waving arms) was terrible. Im sure she will get better but it is mighty insulting for ALW to have said shes the biggest talent hes worked with since Elaine Paige....

er...Elena....Ruthie.....Maria Friedman...??? even people like Jill Paice and Angela Christensen from WOMAN IN WHITE are marvellously talented.

From what i hear..Sophie Bould is better as Maria....can quite imagine it too.....

[Simba]

Have to say i am so bored of all the fuss made over her....im sure she is very nice (if developing a monstrous ego......)..but lets put it in perspective....her 'talent' is very modest....I thought she sang the role well...but her acting (waving arms) was terrible. Im sure she will get better but it is mighty insulting for ALW to have said shes the biggest talent hes worked with since Elaine Paige....

er...Elena....Ruthie.....Maria Friedman...??? even people like Jill Paice and Angela Christensen from WOMAN IN WHITE are marvellously talented.

From what i hear..Sophie Bould is better as Maria....can quite imagine it too.....

I have seen Connie twice and thought she was great and a better set of pipes that all the ones you mention and agree with ALW to a point as she is a breath of fresh air rather than the usual names that crop up when roles are rumoured,Henshall,Freidman,Kelly-YAWN!.

I have seen a few of the Marias perform and all have been excellent and matched the "paid there dues" performers and even bettered them and think there is a lot of jealousy in the industry of Connies and other Maria's success.

Aoife Mullholland for one is turning out amazing performances as Roxie Hart night after night with hardly any problems.

[Aurora_7]

I resented the show in which Connie won. It was just another phone in/audience participation show which was really unneccesary. There is an abundance of talent out there, and a show like that just underminds all those actresses who went through years of performing schools and colleges. Can you tell this subject annoys me? And now I hear that there's going to be a Joseph equivilent? God no...

As for Connie, she has a good voice. I haven't personally seen her on stage, but I have seen clips of her in the part. She's good, but not (I would say) the biggest talent he's worked with since Elaine Paige, as ALW says (from your original post).

I suppose I can't give a completely honest view because I haven't been to see her live, but the hype around the whole thing was unbelievable.

[pesa]

Have to say i am so bored of all the fuss made over her....im sure she is very nice (if developing a monstrous ego......)..but lets put it in perspective....her 'talent' is very modest....I thought she sang the role well...but her acting (waving arms) was terrible. Im sure she will get better but it is mighty insulting for ALW to have said shes the biggest talent hes worked with since Elaine Paige....

er...Elena....Ruthie.....Maria Friedman...??? even people like Jill Paice and Angela Christensen from WOMAN IN WHITE are marvellously talented.

From what i hear..Sophie Bould is better as Maria....can quite imagine it too.....

I think only a close friend of Connies would have the right to say things like 'if developing a monstrous ego' as none of us really know her.
To talk of her talent I have to say I found her performance 'ok', she was fine in the role but nothing special and is certainly no star, she was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and that is how she won the role.

[emkay]

I resented the show in which Connie won. It was just another phone in/audience participation show which was really unneccesary. There is an abundance of talent out there, and a show like that just underminds all those actresses who went through years of performing schools and colleges. Can you tell this subject annoys me? And now I hear that there's going to be a Joseph equivilent? God no...

The only problem with this is that several of the contestants on that show, including Connie, *had* gone through years of training at theatre school. From what I understand, Connie was in the same position as a lot of other struggling young actors--working a dead-end job to pay the bills, all the while going to audition after audition and waiting for her big break. This show just gave her that break. I say, more power to her.

As for other shows like this, I don't mind them as long as they're well done and keep the opportunity open for trained-but-undiscovered performers like Connie and many of the others from the "Maria" show.

[Matthew Winn]

As for other shows like this, I don't mind them as long as they're well done and keep the opportunity open for trained-but-undiscovered performers like Connie and many of the others from the "Maria" show.

I wasn't all that bothered by the idea as a one-shot concept, and had it stopped there I wouldn't have minded it. But it hasn't stopped there. It's turning into a rush to jump on the bandwagon and audiences will soon tire of it. At that point there's the risk of the concept Big-Brothering: seeking ever more extravagant ways of spicing up the contest to maintain viewer interest.

[Epcot99]

I really enjoyed HDYSAPLM last year and am following most of the former contestants careers with interest.

I have seen Connie, twice infact and can say I thought she was excellent in the role, I personally never noticed wavey arms etc........

I have also seen Aoife Mulholland as Roxie in Chicago and as Simba said earlier "turns out an amazing performance".

However I'm not that enthusiastic that the BBC and ITV have jumped on the bandwagon and are doing more shows. Yeah I suppose they'll be fun but I think HDYSAPLM should have been a one off and not turned into a yearly event for the casting of various West End shows!.

[Gavin]

The only problem with this is that several of the contestants on that show, including Connie, *had* gone through years of training at theatre school. From what I understand, Connie was in the same position as a lot of other struggling young actors--working a dead-end job to pay the bills, all the while going to audition after audition and waiting for her big break. This show just gave her that break. I say, more power to her.

She went to mountview,I was actually working with her in the telesales job before she got into the HDYSAPLM programme. You described her life before SOM perfectly. Whilst I was there she had auditions for other big west end shows like Les Mis and Mamma Mia.