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MickeyJoTheatre
I'D DO ANYTHING - where are they now? | Jessie Buckley, Rachel Tucker, Samantha Barks, and more
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- [00:01]
Max Rushton
Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raise with the World cup around the corner, Join me, Max Rushton and the Guardian's expert soccer journalist on Football Weekly for all the latest soccer action and news throughout the week. We'll cover more ground than Drew Bellingham in a Champions League final with conversations sharper than an Arsenal set piece for fine margins, fun debates and full blooded tackles. Football Weekly Listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube.
- [00:26]
Hayden
Howdy, howdy ho and welcome to Fantasy Fanfellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
- [00:34]
Stephen
And I'm Steven, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy.
- [00:38]
Hayden
And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
- [00:46]
Stephen
That's right. Hey hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.
- [00:52]
Hayden
And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.
- [00:59]
Stephen
News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy Fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:08]
Lowe's Announcer
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- [01:38]
Mickey Jo
When I was 12 years old, I became obsessed with a TV series called I'd Do Anything. This was on the BBC. It was a weekly live competition format seeking to find an exciting, undiscovered new talent to play the role of Nancy in a major new West End revival of Oliver at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, hosted by Graham Norton and sort of ruled over by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with a panelist of judges alongside. This was not the first of its kind. He had already used similar programs to find Connie Fisher to play the role of Maria in the Sound of Music at the London Palladium, as well as Lee Mead to play Joseph of Technicolor Dreamcoat fame. And in the years following, I'd Do Anything, there would be similar programs casting a Dorothy in the wizard of Oz, as well as a Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. But it's I'd do anything that I really want to focus on because 18 years later there is a completely different new revival of Oliver in the West End. And although Jodi Prenger won the series, two other contestants have also gone on to play the role of Nancy. And I'm very pleased to say that in the years since the all of them have performed professionally on stage and in entertainment. And I have seen almost all of them. One is an Olivier Award nominee, two have performed on Broadway, and one just won her first Academy Award. Truly, there has never been a better time for a deep dive into the careers of these exciting performers launched by I'd do anything. Let's find out where they are now, but just before we do, the quickest of introductions to me. Oh my God. Hey, if you're meeting me for the very first time. Hello, my name is Mickey Jo and I'm obsessed with all things theatre. I'm a content creator and critic here on social media. You can find me on podcast platforms here, on my theatre themed YouTube channel, and across any other social media app that you may have on your device. I go to the theatre between 200 and 300 times every year and I speak about it even more frequently. So if you would like to stay up to date with theatre news in the West End and on Broadway, throwback videos just like this, as well as all of my own personal theatre reviews, make sure you're subscribed here or following me wherever you may choose. For now though, let's talk about what happened to the Nancys after I do anything. So somewhat brutally, we're going to recap the contestants from the live shows in elimination order. But before we do, I would like to mention a couple who were featured in the early audition episodes but didn't make it to the live shows, including Nancy Sullivan, recently seen on TV and the ITV show Changing Ends. Prior to that, she was also seen on the barricades in Les Miserables as Eponine, as was another of the young hopefuls, Katie hall, who went on to play cassette in the 25th anniversary tour of Les Miserables as well as Fantine later for several years. Currently she is playing Sal Bowles in the multi award winning West End revival of Cabaret. Many of you will already know why that's quite interesting as part of today's conversation, but we're going to get to it. Let's not skip ahead. You've come here for Nancy's Let me deliver you some Nancy's the first to be eliminated. You may or may not recall was Amy Booth Steele. You may remember her on the program for wearing green. I have seen her on stage many times and enjoyed her consistently. She very quickly went on to have an exciting, varied and full theatre career after being eliminated from the program. She was in the original London cast of Sister act and you can hear her her on the cast recording. I can never remember which way around it is, but she and Debbie Kurup are Dolores, two friends who you can hear interjecting and singing alongside her in Fabulous Baby. She would go on to appear in the National Theatre productions of the Light Princess and One Man, Two Governors. And afterwards I would see Amy performing on stage for the very first time in the UK tour of the underrated musical Betty Blue Eyes, beyond which she actually has far too many stage and screen credits for me to individually recap. She has worked at so many fantastic theatres on so many successful TV shows. She's done a lot of serious ensemble work under some great directors as well as replacing in Heather's the Musical. She was, I think the first replacement in the role of Mrs. Fleming, Veronica's mom. Not the only musical theater role she's played since. She was in Tammy Faye at the Almeida when it was here in London. She was also in a regional production of Assassins at Chichester Festival Theatre after the pandemic and the theatrical shutdown, which if I recall correctly impacted a planned London transfer for an Edinburgh Fringe show that Amy had performed herself called Honestam. This was produced by Paul Taylor Mills and the story is similar to that of Rob Madge's show My Sons Are Queer, but what can you do? Which sort of arose from unearthed videos that Rob shared on social media. Amy was writing these funny ukulele original songs and sort of Disney parody songs and sharing them online and it turned into an entire show reflecting on her experience with life and health. I really enjoyed this when I got to see it at the Fringe and I hope that maybe audiences may be able to see it again. The biggest headline though of Amy career of late is her Olivier Award nomination, an overdue nomination for her fantastic scene stealing performance in Paddington the Musical in the West End where she plays multiple characters to terrific acclaim. So she may not have had the chance to play Nancy and Oliver, but she has gone on to be one of the series most booked and versatile alumni. Carrying on. Week two saw the elimination of Cleo Royer, who I believe was wearing a lilac dress if memory serves, and one of the reasons why I wanted to sit down and do this in spite of the fact that other outlets have put together articles over the years doing Nancy's from I Do Anything. Where are they now? Is because they almost all omit Cleo and I think that's because they aren't actually aware of the fact that she has worked extensively in the West End until very recently. Only most of this work has been done under a slightly different name. Rather than Cleo Royer, she has been going by Cleopatra Ray, something which I discovered when I realized that I was watching her perform in Get Up Stand up, the Bob Marley musical at the Lyric Theatre in London. And this was only a couple of years ago, several years after the program, but she had replaced original cast member Gabrielle Brooks and she in the second act of this show sang a hugely powerful roof raising rendition of the iconic song no Woman, no Cry. It was a show stopping moment and I was like why do I not know who this performer is? I looked it up and I realized yes I did. And I had been wondering about her for years. So it was a really great solving of that mystery. With a stunning performance no less. After Get Up Stand Up, I believe she then has been performing as a live vocalist in the ABBA Voyage show, the one that uses the very high tech sophisticated avatars, if you didn't know. It does feature a live band and some live backing vocalists alongside and Cleopatra has been a part of that production until a couple of months ago. But prior to all of this and after I Do Anything, I think she first went into Dirty Dancing the Musical I as well as Motown, a different production of Sister act than the original one that Amy Booth Steele was in and the now long running West End production of the Book of Mormon. So again may not have been the nation's Nancy, but made it to the West End nonetheless. Now week three's eliminated Nancy was a performer named Tara Bethan who I believe was wearing the orange dress. She's a Welsh performer who after the program went on to appear as the narrator in the UK tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. That tour was especially at that time populated by alumni from the Joseph casting show from the year before. I think there were four, maybe even five Joseph hopefuls who ended up going into that tour after this. Tara, who had done a little bit of acting prior to I Do Anything, had a few screen roles I believe was part of a Welsh soap opera and based on my Instagram investigation, Tara is still performing, but more so as a singer doing Pride performances the festival circuit using the stage name Tara Bandito also was a judge on the Welsh Junior Eurovision, which you can only assume must have been a very rewarding role reversal. I may not have had the chance to play Nancy, but I will send this 12 year old to Belarus. Which brings us to week four. Francesca Jackson finds herself in the bottom two for the second time and this time is eliminated, having performed Whistle down the Wind alongside Ashley Russell. Francesca wore a pink version of the Nancy dress and this episode is actually quite an interesting one because she is eliminated after singing Whistle down the Wind, which I think may have been her first professional credit as a young actress years before appear hearing on the TV show. But the song that she sang in the episode itself was a Tina Turner song. She sang what's Love Got To Do With It. Great song, not necessarily very Nancy, although there are parallels between their lives. What's interesting is she would go on to be, I believe, part of the original western cast of Tina the Musical at the Old Witch Theater in the West End. That is also, I believe, the most recent stage performance that she has done. But she's had an extensive stage career, much of which took place actually prior to appearing on I'd Do Anything. While some of the contestants on those shows over the years had been plucked from obscurity and had not yet had the chance to perform professionally, others were working actors trying to boost their profile. Rachel Tucker was one of these. Lee Mead was one of these. Only Francesca was a little more conspicuous because I believe just before doing the TV show, she had been playing Joanne in Rent Remixed in the West End. The less said about which the better. If that's your first time hearing those two words together, you're about to have a fascinating Google search because I'm not willing to be the one to tell you. Anyway, she appears in that opposite Denise Van Outen, who is playing the role of Maureen, who is then on ice. Do anything as a judge. That must have been a fascinating dynamic. But it gets even more interesting because one of the other shows that Francesca did towards the beginning of her career was Oliver at the London Palladium. The show was being brought back in 2008, but she had been in the last major revival of it before that was happening, playing Bette, Nancy's best friend a little bit. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Francesca had also appeared in tonight's the Night the Musical, maybe even alongside and perhaps understud Rachel Tucker. I know she was in that production, but it's hard to find exact details about some of these shows. Back from the mid 2000s. She was also in a couple of Bill Kenright tours. Bill Kenright, may he rest in peace, was always sort of floating very closely to the TV casting world in the years after I do anything. Meanwhile, she swapped out jukebox musicals for Sondheim shows, appearing in multiple productions at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, including Into the woods and A Little Night Music. And unless I saw her in Dreamboats and Petticoats, which is not impossible, there's a very good chance she is one of the two performers from the series I haven't actually, actually had the pleasure of seeing on stage. Now, when Cleo was eliminated, she had performed in the bottom two opposite Keisha and Ponce Banson, who had been saved. And throughout the history of these TV shows, it does illustrate something of a picture of racial bias in the voting habits of the nation. Conversations around subconscious bias are still happening in television today, and this was, like I said 18 years ago, worth pointing out. If either of them had won the program, they wouldn't have been the first actresses of color to play the role of Nancy in a major production. That accolade, I believe, goes to Sonya Swaby, who starred in the 90s production at the London Palladium. And in the years since, it's been very nice to see Nancy once again being played by actresses of color. Eva Brennan, currently playing the role in the West End, having taken over from Shanae Holmes as well as Cat Simmons, who replaced on the tour, which we're also going to talk about a little bit later as well. We'll get to it. Keisha and Ponce has done plenty of shows I believe was in Motown the Musical at the same time and alongside Cleopatra. Keisha has also been seen in Matilda Rock, From Here to Eternity, and I saw her, I think for the first time in the UK tour of Girl from the North Country. She's another one who has worked consistently and ongoingly, but whose career doesn't necessarily get talked about as much as some of the show's
- [12:55]
Max Rushton
Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raise with the World cup around the corner? Join me, Max Rushton and the Guardian's expert soccer journalist on Football Weekly for all the latest soccer action and news throughout the week, we'll cover more ground than Drew Bellingham in a Champions League final with conversations sharper than an Arsenal set piece for fine margins, fun debates and full blooded tackles. Football Weekly Listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube.
- [13:20]
Hayden
Howdy, howdy ho and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
- [13:28]
Stephen
And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.
- [13:32]
Hayden
And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
- [13:41]
Stephen
That's right.
- [13:41]
Lowe's Announcer
Hey.
- [13:41]
Stephen
Hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.
- [13:46]
Hayden
And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.
- [13:53]
Stephen
News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fan fellas wherever you get your podcasts,
- [14:02]
Mickey Jo
their alumni. Now, in week six, Rachel Tucker finds herself in the Sing off opposite Sarah Lark. They sing as if we never said goodbye from Sunset Boulevard. Interestingly, Rachel Tucker would go on to appear as Norma Desmond in the Jamie Lloyd directed revival at the Savoy Theater on the nights when Nicole Scherzinger wasn't playing the role. But at this performance, it was Sarah Lark who was eliminated. Now, Sarah Lark is another one who had started her professional career years before being on the series. In fact, she, I, I think she also did a Whistle down the Wind, you know, and there would have been a lot of young actors around this particular time who had probably brushed shoulders with Whistle down the Wind, just like there are many performers in their late 20s now who were workhouse children in this very revival of Oliver that they were casting for, including, I believe, Mitch Shanghaja and Hannah Lowther. Anyway, back to Sarah. One of her most auspicious early credits was originating the role of little girl in the Witches of Eastwick, making her already, to some extent, known to producer Sir Cameron McIntos. She would go on to have a long professional relationship because for the past nearly 20 years, Sarah Lark has been on the barricade at Les Miserables, holding the company together as dance captain turned she has a more specific role now. I interviewed Sarah. I actually recruited her for a series that I was sort of consultant producing called A Spotlight on, which was shining a light on interesting roles within the theatre industry. And I wanted Sarah to talk about, about being a dance captain and what that means in a show that isn't necessarily known for dance as Les Miserables isn't. But by that point, she actually had a more specific title. She was called Musical Stager, I believe, and she had some responsibility of rehearsing in New Company members for the production because, you know, it's a long running show and she is one of the most senior and established cast members. Having been in it a really long time, I think she has now covered almost all of the ensemble tracks that she could. I think she's also been in emergency cover Gavrock. She has many, many stories, some of which she has told me about her time on the barricade in Les Miserables. But she is a West End legend at this point after the number of years that she has spent being the glue in that building. Basically, if you don't know the short version of this is it is the role of a dance captain to when people are sick or injured or unable to perform to ensure that every aspect of the show is going to be performed, that every individual solo line gets covered. If a couple of the female ensemble aren't able to come in that day, it was Sarah's job to make sure that somebody sings and in a bed. And perhaps I made that sound trivial, but she has been and continues to be instrumental in the going on of the show and is still in the West End, is still holding up that barricade at Les Mis. Also, I brushed right past the role she played immediately after I Do Anything because in almost all of these series, while the nation helps to crown one single winner, they usually pick another contestant to understudy the role. And this time around that was Sarah. She appeared in the revival of Oliver at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and also understudied the role of Nancy. Now next up we have Ashley J. Russell. After the program she appeared in We Will Rock youk, covering and playing the role of Killer Queen. Years later she returned to the show, but before that she was also in Sister act at the London Palladium, presumably alongside fellow I Do Anything alumna Amy Booth Steele. And although she didn't make it to Theatre Royal Drury Lane with the company of Oliver, she did perform at that theatre as part of the original West End cast of Shrek the Musical, at which time I presumably her in the ensemble. Now Ashley was actually back on stage in 2025 in the stage musical adaptation of Wild Rose playing the role of Callum, which I believe is not the same role that Jesse Buckley played in the original film upon which the stage show is based. But Jessie Buckley is a name that we are going to talk about because she is also an alumna of I Do Anything. So it's an interesting note. Now we have made it to the final five and as a treat for making it this far I will let you know who they were. They were comprised of the show's eventual winner, Jodi Prenger, runner up Jesse Buckley, as well as, by this point, Neve Per, Rachel Tucker and Samantha Barks, all of whom are quite possibly names that you recognize from their work in the West End, some of them on Broadway as well. And sadly, it was Neve Perry who was eliminated next. However, it wasn't all tragedy because she did land a role in a major new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical the very next year. Neve was part of the original West End cast of Love Never Dies, playing the role of Flick. I think I saw this production after it was briefly shut down and revamped during its original West End run. It played at the Adelphi Theatre, which Sir Lord Lloyd Webber got fined for painting black to be aesthetic. And, you know, I could spend an awful lot of time talking only about Love Never Dies. An interesting footnote is that it's just been announced that it's coming back in concert to the London Palladium later this year as part of the Phantom of the opera's 40th anniversary celebrations. And I mention this also because it was a concert production where I saw Nev Perry perform a couple of years ago. It was a reunion concert for the musical Taboo. Neve had played the role of Kim around a decade previously in, I believe, an off West End production in Brixton, and she's done some fascinating shows. An off West End production of another Lloyd Webber musical, a rarely seen one, the Beautiful Game. She also played Joanna in regional production of Sweeney Todd. She was a Sophie in Mamma Mia in the West End for a time. She also played the brilliant role of Girl in Once in a production in Dublin at the Gaiety Theatre, and was most recently seen in the West End in a major role in a major play at the Palace Theatre, the one that's still playing then now. And before I move on, what's quite nice about the Love Never Dies of it all is a couple of the performers from this series, because he would have been writing Love Never Dies and developing it and workshopping it around this time were brought into workshop versions of that show. Rachel Tucker, I think, workshopped the role of Meg Giry and Neeve ended up being a part of the original West End cast. So, you know, it wasn't all quite as cutthroat as Only one will win and I will never contact any of the rest of you ever again. Like many of them had the chance to work with Lloyd Webber in some capacity, or Bill Kenright or sick Cameron McIntosh. They remained quite close to a lot of these talents. Which brings us to the top four and everyone who was a part of this program was a brilliant talent. But this top four have really been stratospheric and I distinctly remember where I was when I watched Rachel Tucker get eliminated singing the song Cabaret from the musical Cabaret. Again, an interesting note that we will come back to. She found herself in the bottom two alongside Samantha Barks, who the week before had sung Defying Gravity with some coaching from original green witch Idina Menzel. Only it would Rachel Tucker who would find herself playing that role. Not that I don't think Samantha Barks will at some point. I absolutely see that coming. But Rachel Tucker has in the show's history been one of the more formidable and memorable actresses to have played the role of Elphaba. That wasn't the first thing she did after I do anything. She, I believe almost immediately joined the cast of We Will Rock youk in the West End playing the role of Meet, a role originated by Carrie Elliot Ellis, who interestingly would actually replace Jodie Prenger in the revival of Oliver that they were casting. Everything stays quite closely connected. This wasn't Rachel's first jukebox musical or first rock musical. She had already toured the UK in the who's Tommy. She had toured in Tonight's the Night, the Rod Stewart musical, which I must have seen her in. I later realized I was at the time quite a young child. Probably too young to have been seeing Tonight's the Night, the Rod Stewart musical. Actually, she had also been in a production of Rent, but it's the role of roles that she would go on to play after. I'd do anything that would make her really well known and beloved. Rachel joined Wicked In, I believe 2010 when I saw her play the role of Elphaba at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London. She was with the show for quite a time and then headed over to Broadway to be one of very few actresses from the UK to get to play Elphaba on Broadway. Kerry Ellis is another. What's interesting is Rachel's production images with her all greened up as Alphabet continue to be displayed outside the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. For whatever reason, it's that cast who are still featured in the promotional artwork outside the theatre. So even if you didn't get to see Rachel Tucker on Broadway, you may actually have seen Rachel Tucker on Broadway. And she's another one who has done so many things on stage, especially in the last couple of years, all of a sudden she is going from show to show to show. I don't know if you have seen today's news, but Rachel is going to be replacing Katy Braben, Olivier Award nominee, in the role of the Baker's Wife, the Woods at the Bridge Theatre, which I believe is her first ever Sondheim. It's a fascinating career transition which many other actresses who have played Elphaba have also been making of late. Stephanie J. Block also justified some beans on Broadway and I highlight this among all of the shows that she has done Come From Away, John and Jen, Sunset Boulevard, the Last Ship, Todrick Hall's Midnight very recently Hadestown, playing Persephone in the West End. I highlight into the woods specifically because I think it marks a major turning point point. She has been nominated for an Olivier Award previously for originating the roles of Beverly Bass and others in Come From Away at the Phoenix Theatre. But for her to now be playing the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods I think is such a moment of transition for her. Undeniably one of the meatiest acting roles that she will have ever had the chance
- [23:18]
Max Rushton
do you want your soccer analysis more direct than an Arsenal set piece? Join me, Max Rushton and the Guardian's expert soccer journalist for the latest action and you're news from the Premier League to the Champions League and all the way to the World cup, we'll have chat more out of the box than a Dominic Szoboslay free kick, more panelists than Chelsea have players. And unlike var, we know where to draw the line for fine margins, fun debates and full blooded tackles. Football Weekly Listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube.
- [23:43]
Hayden
Howdy, howdy ho and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
- [23:51]
Stephen
And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy.
- [23:55]
Hayden
And we are currently Deep Div Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
- [24:04]
Stephen
That's right. Hey hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.
- [24:09]
Hayden
And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.
- [24:16]
Stephen
News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy Fan fellows wherever you get. Your podcast
- [24:25]
Mickey Jo
wants to play. Next up, third place finalist Samantha Barks who was one of the youngest contestants on the series and has had this extraordinary career in the years since. She was another one who did a Bill Kenwright tour. Very quickly afterwards, she starred as Sally Bowles in the Rufus Norris directed production of Cabaret, the last major revival before the current one, after which she, like many others, played the role of Eponine in Les Miserables in the West End. Would go on to recreate that performance in the 25th anniversary concert staging which was filmed as well as in the feature film adaptation. One of very few musical theater actors who had played one of those roles who got to play a really big principal character. Now she was given the exciting news of her casting after a performance of the UK tour of Oliver Cameron McIntosh, Sir Cameron McIntosh, excuse me. Joined her on stage to announce to the audience that she would have to leave the tour tour because she'd been cast as Eponine in the movie, but she had been playing the role of Nancy. I mentioned that a couple of others had the chance to play Nancy and Sarah Lark was one understudying Jodi Prenger. Samantha Barks, who did the tour, was the other. And thereafter she's had this incredible global musical theatre career. Velma Kelly in Chicago at the Hollywood bowl, originating the role of Amelie in the Broadway production, originating the role of Vivian Ward in the Broadway production of Pretty Ward Woman. She did the last five years opposite Jonathan Bailey, which we can all agree is a lifetime achievement. She did concert productions of Chess. All of this before one of her most major and most recognizable roles, Elsa in the West End production of Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Now, Samantha opened and closed that production. She also appears in the pro shot, which you can watch on Disney plus. And it wouldn't be her last time working with Disney because she is right now, this very moment, performing in the world premiere production of the Grand Greatest Showman, playing the role of Charity Barnum. That production is playing at the Bristol Hippodrome. If it transfers to the West End, there's every possibility she may reprise her performance. She may go with the show to Broadway. As someone who has performed there before, who knows? I do think, however, she's had a really exciting career. She's done a great job of boosting her public profile. Alongside that, she was on the Masked Singer. She was a judge on another TV casting show, Mamma Mia. I have a Dream. Everything is cyclical, everything comes back. And I think that roles like Fantine in Les Mis and Elphaba in Wicked are almost definitely in her future. Then we get to the final two, Jessie Buckley in green, Jodie Prenger in purple. And it was Jodie Prenger who would eventually win. But first, let's talk a little bit about Jessie, who is kind of the main reason why I'm bringing this up right now because she just won the Academy Award. She's had this very exciting rising star film career career over the past decade or so. She finally won the Oscar as well as every other major acting award this season for playing the role of Agnes in Hamnet. It's a very celebrated performance, but she has been doing great work on screen for some time now. She's another one who was also very, very young during the TV show and subsequently went to go train at rada. She was cast by Trevor Nunn as Anne Eggerman in a West End revival of Little Night Music at the Garrick Theatre starring Hannah Waddingham. And that was, I believe, the last musical she did for a little while. She next appeared at Shakespeare's Globe in a production of the Tempest, which I saw the first time I saw Jessie Buckley on stage. She did a couple more high profile Shakespeares, but it was largely screen work that she would go on to do for some years until returning to the West End in a big way, in a big musical theater way, playing the role of Sally Bowles in a major revival of Cabaret Cabaret at The KitKat Club aka the Playhouse Theater, where as the story goes, she was chosen by Eddie Redmayne to appear opposite him in a production of the show that he was somewhat curating. And he made a good choice because they, along with two of their co stars, both won Olivier Awards for their performances. Jessie is now this really prestigious celebrated actress. If and when she does return to the stage, it's going to be in something of a very serious, legitimate vehicle. Her screen work, I should also mention, includes what could be considered her breakout role in Wild Rose, a supporting role in the film Film Judy, as well as many, many others, including Misbehavior, the Lost Daughter, Wicked Little Letters, the Bride. Hopefully it's not the last time we've seen Jesse on stage, but there's been a lot of conversation recently about, you know, the journey that actors go on being their own and not being able to perceive the success that is eventually waiting for you. She came second. She didn't get to play the role of Nancy in Oliver, but she has just won one of the most major accolades for acting that there is is. So congrats to Jesse Buckley and everyone else who appeared on this program. Finally though, we have to Talk about the winner of the series, Jodie Prenger, who won the role of Nancy in a major revival of Oliver at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. One of the reasons why TV audiences really fell in love with Jodie was because of her charm and personality and she would go on to play a lot of comedy roles like the lady of the Lake in the UK tour of Spamalot, as well as being in One Man, Two Governors, Just like a Amy Booth Steele. She also appeared in pantomime in Manchester and nowadays as well as performing she also I believe co writes adult pantomime parody shows which are performed at venues like the Other Palace. But back to her stage appearances, she has been in musicals like Annie where she played Miss Hannigan. She has done another Andrew Lloyd Webber, she was in Tell Me on a Sunday. She's also been in plays like Abigail's Party and Shirley Valentine. I saw Jodie on stage for the first time back in 2014 in a UK tour of calamity Jane. She was playing of course the title character and I was very sad to miss her recent performance of Rose in a one night only concert production of Gypsy produced by the Hope Mill Theater. I'm sure she would have been fantastic in that and there's no reason why we couldn't do Gypsy again with Jodi Prenger for a longer run. That is if she is available. Because these days she is also a soap star appearing in Coronation Story street, which she has been appearing on since 2020. Two years after TV audiences voted for her to play Nancy, she was back on their screens once more. And it goes to show that there are so many different pathways that all of these talented actresses ended up taking through the industry. Some of them remained in musical theater, some of them traveled around the world performing in shows, others moved to screen, to singing to television. Either way, an extraordinary amount of talent was unleashed onto the world by that particular program and I think you'll agree it's remarkable that so many incredible careers came from that one series. Which brings us to the end of this glance back into the past. If there are any major details that I have missed, please let me know in the comments section down below and share as well. If you have had the chance to see any of these performers on stage and which roles you've seen them play. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to this. I hope you enjoyed if anyone would like for me to do a video, a similar video for any of the other TV casting series, maybe the Josephs, the Jesuses, the Dorothy's, Let me know your thoughts on that as well. And if you enjoyed, make sure to subscribe here on YouTube or follow me on podcast platforms. I have been Mickey Joe and as always I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a Stagey Day. For 10 more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe
- [31:56]
Max Rushton
Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raise? With the World cup around the corner, join me, Max Rushton and the Guardians, expert soccer journalist on Football Weekly for all the latest soccer action and news. Throughout the week, we'll cover more ground than Jude Bellingham in a Champions League final with conversations sharper than an Arsenal set piece for fine margins, fun debates and full blooded tackles. Football Weekly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube.
- [32:21]
Hayden
Howdy, howdy ho and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
- [32:29]
Stephen
And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball. But you can call me the Smash Daddy.
- [32:33]
Hayden
And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Stephen here has not read Mistborn before.
- [32:41]
Stephen
That's right. Hey hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reaction reactions to every single chapter.
- [32:46]
Hayden
And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.
- [32:54]
Stephen
News flash. I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy Fan Fellas wherever you get your podcasts.
- [33:02]
Lowe's Announcer
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