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Watford Preps Capello Musical for World Cup Win

We’re glad to see some theatre companies embracing rather than fighting World Cup fever. Watford Palace Theatre is positively breathing a sigh of relief that England beat Slovenia yesterday (23 June 2010) to keep the nation’s 1966-style dreams alive, at least for another few days – as they’ve just started rehearsals for a new community musical, confidently titled Hello, Mister Capello.

Had England been knocked out in the group stages, it could have meant goodbye for Capello and a hasty change of title for the piece, written by Nick Stimson, which will be staged at Watford Palace on 3 and 4 September 2010.

Director James Williams explains: “Nick Stimson and I agreed on the name Hello, Mister Capello many months ago during the tail end of England’s qualification campaign. It looked a safe bet that Capello would remain in charge. Two games into this tournament and we were suddenly all biting our nails.” If England had gone out after the opening group stage, Capello would most likely have resigned or been sacked as manager.

“Thankfully, the England team and Fabio have done us proud, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the team in the knockout stages.” In the next ‘round of 16’ in South Africa, England face Germany at 3pm this Sunday 27 June.

Set against the backdrop of the World Cup, Hello, Mister Capello tells the stories of a group of Watford residents who live football, love football, or may even come to loathe it. The production is presented in partnership with Watford Football Club, with support from Watford Borough Council and the BBC Concert Orchestra. On the eve of England’s match yesterday, the whole company of Hello, Mister Capello met for this first time at the Palace to begin rehearsals.

Meanwhile, as the nation geared up for yesterday’s 1-0 win over Slovenia, we launched a new spot poll on Whatsonstage.com to find out how much theatregoers’ loyalties are currently divided. If you haven’t yet voted, please do so now – just for fun!

- by Terri Paddock

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	WOS Poll: Do You Prefer Theatre or World Cup? - 23rd Jun 2010 News