Will Maria’s Fisher Hook a Pay Rise???

Though Emma Williams has “withdrawn her services” (See News, 22 Sep 2006), there’s a chance that another alternate Maria may be hired to perform two shows a week in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s upcoming production of The Sound of Music. That’s because, according to columnist Baz Bamigboye writing in today’s Daily Mail, Lloyd Webber and his co-producer David Ian have balked at a whopping £4,500 a week pay rise and other perks now being asked for by How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? winner Connie Fisher, who last week was confirmed to take on all eight weekly performances. Rehearsals started this week for the production, which opens at the London Palladium in November. Meanwhile, Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice – whose collaboration in their early careers produced Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - have teamed up once again to write a new song, “Dance the Dance”, for Fisher’s forthcoming solo album, which is due to be released in the coming weeks.

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