Shirtless Josephs and ruby slippers: Remembering Andrew Lloyd Webber’s bizarre reality TV empire

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “So they gave the vests to us, which I’m not sure helped that much.” From 2006 to 2010, the BBC and musical theatre were in big business together, producing four reality TV series in which West End leads were picked by public vote: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do, I’d Do Anything and Over the Rainbow. But, as Boys, who has since starred in West End productions of Avenue Q and Falsettos, points out, “Andrew Lloyd Webber originally said he wanted a cross between Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake and I’m not sure whether any of us were particularly that.” For all their cries about challenging ideas of who could play these big roles, the contestants were overwhelmingly white – as were all the winners. “You know, young girls coming down, all crying hysterically, being asked to take their shoes off to sit on a crescent moon and fly across the stage.” Samuels is in agreement, adding: “We did realise how ludicrous it was… All there was to hold on to was a wrist strap, so I remember saying at one point, ‘What happens if I fall off the moon?’ And they said, ‘Oh no, you’ll likely just break a wrist or something.’” open image in gallery The last five hopefuls Abi Finley, Aoife Mulholland, Siobhan Dillon, Helena Blackman and Connie Fisher rehearsing ‘So Long, Farewell’ on ‘How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?’ The tears in their eyes, however, were real. “That’s never ever happened since and I don’t think it ever will again.” While the Lloyd Webber shows were a short-lived phenomenon, the relationship between reality TV and musical theatre has continued.