Apparently she'll leave SOM next year and ALW is putting her in the lead for a revival for Funny Girl, according to a Sunday paper!

I'd love to see a production of Funny Girl!

Me to, and I did think it was one of the few roles Connie could do well, she has quirky look that doesnt suit many roles - this one however she would. Although she will really have to shape up her acting skills for that role. Interesting if ALW does do it, protecting his 'find' by casting her in his shows. She will need an alternate though (thats not a dig) but if she needs one for SOM she will certainly need one for Funny Girl.

But didn't he tell Abi that he would cast her in the lead, if ever he produced Funny Girl? Surely she would be more suitable for the part.

Rook to Queen 4

He didn't promise her the part on TV. It was just suggested as an idea.

Anyway, Abi, Connie, whoever blah blah blah - just someone put on a decent production with someone good in the lead.

Who's Abi?

I remember reading that someone else holds the Rights.
I can't remember who, though it may have been Cameron Mackintosh.

Abi Finley was the "Tomboy or Jewish Maria", she is currently in a touring production of fame. Connie would make an interesting Mary Poppins or maybe have a run in Chicago if it was still going. She'd be an interesting Roxie. Helena Blackman would be an interesting choice for Funny Girl but she's going to be doing South Pacific I think.

Eh, who cares? No one will remember who she is in 2 or 3 years. Just like 90% of the TV manufactured acts...

Sebastian

A revival of Funny Girl is way overdue. Imagine what Cameron or Andrew could do with that show! Connie would be great and I certainly think that now she has a foothold in the West End that he career will go from strength to strength. She's a talented gal.

Oooh, cynical you!

20 years of working in this business can do that to you!

Sebastian

No offence to Connie Fisher as she does a fine job in 'The Sound of Music' but she has neither the acting talent, personality or Comic ability to take on a role like Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl'.

She would be simply dreadful!

You need an actress with the talent of Caroline O'Connor or maybe Joanna Riding to take on the role, Maria Friedman would be also a good choice although I do find her singing voice somewhat limited.

I really do hope that should Funny Girl make it to the West End the producers will have the courage to cast the show with talent in mind rather than column inches, although as many say here the hysteria regarding Connie will hopefully have died down by then and maybe she'll have to line up with all the other West End leading ladies to get her work in the future.

I agree 100% Pesa!! Caroline O'Connor would make a fab Fanny Brice.......she's currently giving a masterclass in musical comedy in 'On The Town' (catch it before it closes on Friday) - would love to see her back on the London stage again soon. She has the talent and the experience to do the role 8 shows a week.

How do you know that she would be dreadful? How can you judge that she doesn't have the acting talent, personality or comic ability? Is this assumption based on the BBC TV show and the ONE show she has, thus far, been in in the West End? Surely someone's ability should be judged on more than one characterisation. I've seen plenty of actors putting in poor performances in one play or musical then totally stealing the show in another.

Maybe Connie would be a crap Fanny Brice, maybe she wouldn't. Who knows, but until she is given a fair chance at auditioning for it and displaying the comic talents etc etc that she may or may not have then who are you, or we, to judge her? Who are we to judge anyone's talents that we have not been fully exposed to?

I judge purely on what I saw in the Maria programme and on her 'acting performance' in the Sound of Music which I have seen, no more and no less.

You do say and I quote you 'until she is given a fair chance at auditioning for it and displaying the comic talents etc etc that she may or may not have then who are you, or we, to judge her?', this is fine and I have no problem with her or any other performer getting a role through talent and the audition process and if you read my reply to the earlier post I said it's time now for her to start auditioning for roles like every other actress has to do.

I just don't want her to be given roles because due to the Maria programme the producers think she will sell tickets when there are other actresses out there who's pedigree, experience and years of hard work show that they have the talent to do the role as well if not better.

Yes, I completely agree with you on this.



The point I was making is that this is a very categorically stated point of view based on very little evidence. You don't know that she would be dreadful as Fanny Brice because you've never seen her audition for it or play a similar character. You might think or suspect that she may be rubbish in the part and that's fine. Everyone is certainly to express their opinion. But it's wrong to categorically state something when you can't possibly KNOW whether that something is, in fact, true or not.

If I were a WE producer (which I'm not, like everyone else on this board) I would choose the performer of proven talent and with proven ticket-selling power over the talented actor who'd got the role through the conventional audition process. Every time. Because I'd be concerned with selling tickets not with giving breaks to actors who had worked their way up through the ranks. If it happened that I could promote someone from the chorus - fine, but that wouldn't be my first priority.

Connie;s next move should be one back to Tescos on the checkouts where she is at her best

Well I don't think it will be singing at any outdoor gig in the near future. Some people just cannot carry their voices in an open venue. Not a criticism of her talent. Just a fact.

Fact?


All the best to Connie Fisher no matter what she chooses to do in the future. I don't think there was anything wrong with her voice, she just got a few words mixed up. I think her strong voice is perfectly suited to an open venue.

Lloyd Webber does not have the rights to 'Funny Girl.' But Connie will make a good Fanny Brice.

Why should Connie go through the, so called, normal route of auditions for a part? Connie Fisher has a huge fan base now, of which I am one. She is nationally, and to some extent, internationally know. Producers are aware of Connie Fisher's ticket selling powers. If you put a production on, selling tickets will count for just about everything. There is no point in putting on a production, if nobody buys any tickets now matter how talented they are.

Here is a young lady, Connie Fisher, who won the audiences over, won the critics over and will move on from strength to strength. Alot of people thought she would fall at the first hurdle. But she never did.



http://z10.invisionfree.com/Connie_Fisher/...p?showtopic=206

Well I don't think it will be singing at any outdoor gig in the near future. Some people just cannot carry their voices in an open venue. Not a criticism of her talent. Just a fact.

Connie is due to sing at the Bryn Terfel's Faenol festival in August, along with Ruthie Henshell (sp)? and Michael Ball.

Bishop to Queen 7

By chance, happened to see her interviewed on a morning TV show today. She will be in the show until February 2008. She sang beautifully The Hills are Alive.
She should NOT have tried to sing Memories at that concert. It just wasn't a good choice for her voice.

"Why should Connie go through the, so called, normal route of auditions for a part?"

Of course Connie should go through the same audition process as every one else.

Do you think that the Musical Theatre stars are just rung up an offered a part for heavens sake?
Even the best known and loved stars still join in the audition process at some point in the casting.
OK so maybe they are not in at the start but they still have to be seen by the Musical Supervisor, the Director and the Choreographer as well, and most importantly, the people with the money.

Nothing is a forgone conclusion.

From what I remember of Connie in the early audition days she is not the world's greatest dancer and if a part needs a voice who can dance for a major role, then OK dancer is just not good enough.

I sometimes wonder if this board just concentrates on the singing aspect of Musical Theatre, because there is a lot more to it than having a good set of pipes.

Hear Hear Red Momma! One leading role and she should no longer have to audition??? Nonsense.

Michael has his Ballites, what should Connies obsessive fans be known as? Anglers? Fisherites?

Connie's Fans


' 'Piscatorians'

Well, it depends! Sometimes new productions and revivals are built around a name; for example I think Sophie Thompson was always going to be the Baker's Wife for the Donmar's Into The Woods. I doubt Michael Ball and Maria Friedman auditioned for Passion. I wouldn't imagine Zoe Wanamaker had to audition for Thr Rose Tattoo, either [alright, it's not Musical Theatre]. If all the creatives (director, MD/Supervisor, choreographer) know the particular person and their work intimately there is sometimes no point in them auditioning. On the other hand even Jonathan Pryce or Michael Gambon might be persuaded to come for a meeting [never call it an audition] with a director they didn't know. Sometimes the negotiations surrounding this sort of situation can be drawn out and extremely political. I can quite imagine Connie Fisher being asked to audition for a commercial production of Funny Girl; I can also imagine some provincial theatre offering her a lead part in a show without an audition hoping that it's something she will want to do to broaden and stretch her, and knowing she will do wonders for the box office.

I don't think she will do wonders for the box office. She's bringing audiences in to The Sound Of Music because of the TV show. It doesn't follow that those audiences will transfer to her next production along with her. Audiences don't behave that way. She may have acquired a small number of genuine supporters but most of the audience are there to see "their Maria".

Fair enough. I should have written: in the vain hope that she will do wonders for the box office. Mind you, I'd probably fork out £20 to see her as Hedda or Cassie or the Felicity Kendal part in Jumpers just for the comedy element.

I don't know if her audience draw is 100% tied to the TV show. I think she still has a very strong draw based on her name and the critical acclaim she's received, and whether that draw continues is going to depend on how well she does in her next show. I really think her next show is going to do very well initially, because the people will remember her from SOM and be curious to see what else she can do. From there, though, I think it will be up to her. If she does well in her next show, I think she will be fairly well established, and her "name" factor will only increase. If she does not do well, then people may start losing interest, and she would have to work hard to gain it back.

I think she has what it takes to do well, but time will tell what happens. I do think, though, that if her next show is a hit, it will go a long way to silencing all this speculation about whether or not she has staying power.

I don't remember Barbra Streisand doing much dancing in "Funny Girl". Nevertheless I think Miss Fisher would be a very inappropriate choice for the leading role.

The public are very fickle. I never thought I would see empty seats for anything with Michael Ball, yet there were masses of them on the night I saw (groan! groan!) Kismet.

Those empty seats may have something to do with the crap reviews.....

I think I have found a review that puts it all in perspective. And despite negative reviews Michael Ball for the most part, I think two reviews, is complimented for going all out in his performance.
www.classicalsource.com/db_control/...iew.php?id=4663
I think this puts it all correctly

Re Kismet I don't think it's anything to do with being fickle. The bad reviews may have effected general sales but I don't think they would have stopped fans going to see Michael Ball. Most of them had had their tickets for Kismet since last year and all but 2/3 reviews put Michael in a very positive light. The cost of tickets has got more to do with the empty seats, that said the night I was there the stalls were pretty much full to the brim.

Alot of people will have initally gone to see Connie because of the Maria prog. On the strength of her performances some may continue to follow her career, after she leaves the Sound of Music. Much of that as with any performer, will depend on future performances, behaviours, reliability and whether she can convince people it's worth their while to want to keep investing their time and money if following her career.

Which is the Felicity Kendal part in Jumpers, clever clogs?

Wasn't Diana Rigg the original Dottie?

Do we know Connie couldn't do it?

Kendal played Dottie in the revised version in 1985.

Yes, Rigg was the original in 1972 (before my time).

I'd pay to see Fisher have a go, the point being no one, I suspect not even Fisher herself, knows whether she can do it.

Are we talking Hedda as in Gabler?! I'd pay £200 to see her try to do that! And no Stoppard play is ever just comedy...

Sebastian

Maybe it will be Connie Fisher, star of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Hedda - The Musical". Well, anything is possible nowadays.

By the way, I did not want to imply that Michael Ball gives a bad performance in Kismet. In fact he is superb, and the only really good thing about the ghastly production.

?

Tescos !

Strong voice?? I think she has a very weak voice from what I've heard. Playing Fanny Brice would be a terrible idea.

Just imagine the hysteria when she sings "I'm The Greatest Star".

I'm not a huge fan of Connie (although I haven't seen her in SOM so I am purely going by the tv show!) but I don't feel that these kind of comments are necessary, there is no need for such venom and bitchiness, all it has done is to make you look stupid!

A bit delayed but thank you Red Momma! I see no reason why Connie shouldn't have to audition for every part that she is interested in playing, she is hardly in the same league as Elaine Paige or Michael Ball just yet and I am sure that they still have to audition. I seem to remember that Connie is not the greatest dancer and her voice isn't the best I have heard. It's true that there is a hell of a lot more to musical theatre than just 'having a good set of pipes', there's the acting, dancing (if the part requires it!), the chemistry towards the rest of the cast, the warmth towards the audience (of which I think Connie has a limited amount) the professionalism and most of all the stamina to perform 8 shows a week, which I might remind everyone it became evident that Connie didn't have very early on when her performances were limited to around 4 a week!.

I would imagine neither Paige nor Ball have auditioned for years and years. Maybe Ball had to sing to Sondheim before Passion. If I'm wrong then apologies to all.

Just to set the record straight, she does six shows per week, not four, and I wouldn't count her out from being able to do eight in the future. Despite being a fully trained performer, this was her first West End show, and it was a lead. She's getting the "real-world experience" in this role that she did not have before, and from what I have heard her voice has been getting stronger since coming back from her vocal injury in March. Also, about dancing, nobody has really seen her do any complicated dancing because she didn't have to on the Maria show or in the Sound of Music, so I don't think anyone on here is qualified to assess her abilities as a dancer. As for warmth towards an audience, I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you--respectfully, but strongly, because I think that is one of Connie's strongest points. She does connect with audiences very very well from what I've seen. She also has a character to her voice, IMO, that I think is missing from a lot of today's performers.

We will see where she goes next, but regardless of whether you like her or not, I think it is beyond unfair to say she's only worthy of working at Tesco (as at least two earlier posters have said). Say what you will about her appeal--which I think is great, but others may disagree--but to say she has absolutely no talent is ridiculous, IMO. If she had got this role, still right out of drama school, but in the more traditional way rather than on a TV show, I do not think there would be nearly as much criticism of her by people on boards such as this one. Even if you don't like the idea of reality TV casting, she did not come up with the idea or produce the TV show--she just saw an opportunity and took it. I wish people would just forget about the way she was cast and treat her as a legitimate performer, whether they like her performances or not.

Oh, and for anyone who is really curious about what Connie is doing next, here's the latest newsletter from her official website:

Connie's Newsletter

We seem to have had this discussion in previous threads!

Nevertheless, I will repeat my assertion, that whatever Connie Fisher's merits, lookswise she is unsuitable to play Fanny Brice!

How can the cast sing If A Girl Isn't Pretty when she quite clearly is?

And please don't suggest a prosthetic nose a la Nicole Kidman in The Hours!

do you what a coinsedink!