Any Dream Will Do

So I was surfing around the TV on Sunday and I fell across a show on BBCAmerica I'd heard nothing about.

It's called Any Dream Will Do, and it's another version of last year's reality show Grease: You're the One That I Want. (To be fair, the BBC started the whole thing by doing a reality show to cast the lead in The Sound of Music - so it's not that they're copying us. Quite the other way around.)

On this show, the contestants are competing to see who is going to win the lead role in the upcoming production in London of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor™ Dreamcoat.

Since I'm involved in community theatre, you'd think this kind of show would be my cup o' tea - but I really had to fight to make myself watch it. I think I struggle with it because it turns the whole concept of theatre on its ear - instead of focusing on the creative process, it turns auditioning into a cutthroat competition, with each performer trying to out-cheese the other.

It's a shame, because I love the musical "Joseph" - I directed it years ago for First Stage Theatre and had a great time. But this show leaves me cold.

As a guy I know used to say, if you like this sort of thing, here it is.

Here's the description from the website:

BBC America shines the spotlight on the world of musical theater in Any Dream Will Do where judges and viewers search for a new West End star that has the charisma and star quality to take on the lead role in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor™ Dreamcoat.

Hosted by presenter Graham Norton, Any Dream Will Do features world-renowned musical composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber as the head judge. Also lending their expertise at the judges' table are Torchwood star John Barrowman, Broadway and West End leading lady Denise Van Outen (Chicago), acclaimed theatre producer Bill Kenwright, and opinionated voice coach Zoe Tyler.

Thousands of hopefuls auditioned across the UK with only 100 boys making it to the London callbacks. The Joseph wannabes have to prove their worth in front of the judges who test the boys on both their musical theater and pop ability before deciding the lucky 50 who will move onto Joseph School.

Only 12 boys will 'graduate' from Joseph School, and it's then up to the viewers to decide who will become the West End's newest Joseph.