Over The Rainbow – The Wizard Of Oz – London Musical
Over The Rainbow
The Wizard of Oz Dorothy Contenders Updates
Sep 5th
The Wizard of Oz Dorothy Contenders
Whilst The Wizard of Oz waits until December to begin rehearsals with Danielle Hope as Dorothy, the public’s eventual favourite, an interesting picture is building up of the various activities from news surfacing from the rest of the Over The Rainbow Contestants. So if you were wondering, “Where are They Now?” Let’s take a look :
Sophie Evans
Sophie Evans, the runner up to Danielle will be Dorothy after all, she gets to play understudy for Danielle Hope’s holidays and also every Tuesday night at The London Palladium. Sophie has had some high profile appearances in Wales, particularly when the alternate Dorothy role was announced at the Cardiff Millennium Centre, at the big weekend festival in Pontypridd and helping to promote a new ice cream venture for the valleys.
Sophie Evans Will be Alternate Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Sophie is also joining some of her fellow Dorothies at the Arts Educational School (AES), on a musical theatre training course as funded by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels who came third, was the first Dorothy to appear on the West End Stage as a leading lady when she snagged the lead role as Sandy in Grease and she’s been working hard at it every night and twice on Saturdays since July. Well done Lauren!
Lauren Samuels in Grease
Steph Fearon
Steph Fearon rushed straight into a London theatre role in Smokey Joe’s Cafe at the tiny Landor Theatre off West End in South London. The show and Steph have met with much critical approval and there’s a good chance it will transfer sometime after finishing this week. Meanwhile Steph is going to be in “Wizz” a kind of motown version of “The Wizard of Oz” in Milton Keynes.
Stephanie Davis
Stephanie Davis was offered some musicals but chose to take up a regular part on Channel Four TV as a new character in Hollyoaks, her favourite TV soap. Stephanie plays 15-year-old Sinead O’Connor on Hollyoaks, part of a new family called the O’Connors.
Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson was called up to stand in for Steph Fearon in Smokey Joe’s Cafe for a few nights while Steph had an operation on her hand. Jessica has also moved down to London and will be attending the Arts Educational School alongside Danielle Hope and Sophie Evans.
Jenny Douglas
Jenny Douglas will be playing the prestigious part of ‘Meat’ in the touring version of ‘We Will Rock You‘
Emilie Fleming
As the Wild Card Dorothy, Emilie secured a place in the final eleven but, went out against Sophie Evans in week 4. Emile is now training at the Guildford School of Acting.
Bronte Barbe
Bronte was an early favourite for the top five but left in week two after finding herself in the sing-off against Lauren Samuels. Bronte is currently studying at Mountview Academy.
Dani Rayner
will be playing Jasmine in Aladdin at the Liverpool Empire this Christmas! With Pamela Anderson and Les Dennis. 10th December-2nd January.
Amy Diamond
Amy Diamond has been cast in The Drowsy Chaperone so that’s another Dorothy in London, although not quite the West End.
Danielle Hope
While Danielle Hope waits to begin rehearsals for The Wizard of Oz in December, there is little else to report. She’s done a few chat show interviews and that kind of thing, finished off her exams, and has been going to see a lot of London theatre shows.
Danielle Hope is Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Download Danielle Hope Over The Rainbow Single
May 23rd
You can download the brand new Over The Rainbow single by Danielle Hope from many places including the iTunes store or from the Amazon UK link below:
Proceeds from the sale of the single will go to 2 charities, one for prostate cancer – Prostate UK and the BBC Performing Arts Fund
Danielle Hope – Over The Rainbow Single
Final Performance – Winner Danielle Over The Rainbow
May 23rd
Danielle Hope winner of the part of Dorothy in the forthcoming Wizard of Oz musical in London triumphantly sings “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” for the last time on the TV casting show, but not for the last time by any means in her new career as a West End Star – Yes you are Danielle!!
Danielle Hope Fans
Best Acting Dorothy?
May 22nd
There’s been a lot of focus on the singing and dancing performances of the remaining Dorothys but which one would really be best suited to playing the part night after night in Wizard of Oz?
One of the recent missions was about maintaining the Kansas accent and here you can see each of four contestants in a scene from Wizard of Oz that allows us to really evaluate their abilities as actors.
Now Andrew Lloyd Webber seemed to be bowled over by Danielle, so we get a clue here perhaps as to who he would like to see the public vote for tonight, but he also praises Lauren’s professionalism and wonders if she can pull out just a little bit more from inside her own emotion for us. Personally, I found the Danielle performance just a tad drawn out and over done, but there’s no doubt she would make a smashing Dorothy, as would any of them really.
Over the rainbow – Mission
After watching them each have a go at the real acting, who do you think comes out of this mission in the best position for tonight’s vote?
Wizard of Oz Medley on Charity Single
May 21st
The B Side of the Over The Rainbow charity single, released on Sunday will feature a medley of Wizard of Oz songs from the show, as sung by the three Dorothy finalists, Danielle, Sophie And Lauren on the last show of the series.
From Monday May 31st, the charity single will be available as a physical CD, complete with The Wizard of Oz Medley, as performed by all three finalists and other Dorothy contenders from earlier episodes of the Over The Rainbow show, as a bonus B-side to the titular track. The medley will consist of some of the classic Wizard of Oz songs sung throughout the competition by the Dorothys including:
- Follow The Yellow Brick Road
- We’re Off To See The Wizard
- It Really Was No Miracle
- Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead
- The Merry Old Land Of Oz
- If I Only Had A Heart
For the three remaining Dorothys Lauren, Sophie and Danielle there is just one more live show left in which to convince the nation that each has the necessary qualities to win.
The three finalists will sing a range of songs including their own favourites from the series, as well as performing an exclusive group performance with the eight Dorothys who have already left the competition, all back on the Over the Rainbow stage set for the last time.
Over The Rainbow – Dorothys
Over The Rainbow Charity Single with Winning Dorothy
May 20th
On Saturday 22nd May, the winning Dorothy will be finally chosen by Over The Rainbow viewers, and now it has been announced that the lucky Dorothy, as well as going on to play the part in The Wizard of Oz when it opens in London next April, will also get to release a single of the iconic ‘Over The Rainbow’ song, as first sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film.
Wizard of oz
The charity single will be rushed out as a download available from midnight on Sunday 23rd May and all profits net of agreed expenses will be split fifty-fifty between two favoured charities of the TV show’s producers, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC: Prostate UK and The BBC Performing Arts Fund.
But the big question remains, whose voice will be singing “Over The Rainbow” on the charity single – will it be Lauren, Sophie or Danielle?
Sierra Boggess From Love Never Dies
May 18th
Sierra Boggess From Love Never Dies spent some time with the Dorothys last week giving advice and answering questions, specifically related to maintaining the stamina needed to fulfil the requirements of performing up to 8 times a week on the West End stage in London. She explained that the winning Dorothy who gets to perform in The Wizard Of Oz can expect not just a wonderful job but also a complete lifestyle as a leading lady. Sierra was impressed that the amount of working being put in by all at the Dorothy house was already a good preparation for the real thing.
On Sunday night’s Over The Rainbow, Sierra Boggess performed the title song from the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Love Never Dies
Sierra Boggess
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