Sunday, October 7, 2007

Twiddling Thumbs

Not exactly, but almost. Since posting off my manuscript, I've caught up on all the procrastination I missed in the last six weeks.

For one thing, I've done quite a bit of internet time wasting - so much so that we got the notice from our provider to say that we'd used 80% of our monthly total. Seeing as we recently 'upped' the total to 4G a month, I thought exhausting an amount that vast would be beyond us. I blamed the kids at first, until my husband reminded me of my fondness for YouTube.

Oh, yeah... YouTube. I've been re-living a lot of fun stuff on that little time waster. Anything and everything musical, usually. I had the Elvis fest at one stage, then moved on to Barbra Streisand. OMG, she's so divine. There was this montage of Barbra photos from the seventies while the soundtrack of 'Stoney End' plays. Oh, it's pure heaven. As is the clip from 'A Star Is Born' where she sings on the stage for the first time in front of her rockstar boyfriend's packed stadium. The song is 'Woman In The Moon', and it's one of her most powerful performances. It even held the attention of my almost teenage daughter!! Now that says something.

A dinner time conversation about John Travolta in 'Grease' took the whole family to YouTube for a sampling of his talents on the disco dance floor in 'Saturday Night Fever'. The movie's not suitable for the kids to watch yet, but boy, it's sweet watching the man move.

Then there's been 'Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat', a perennial favourite at our house that is currently getting a spin in the CD stacker. I entered the name of the musical in YouTube and got several 'bad' high school, or amateur versions. Some of them had less than adequate Josephs in the lead. And as the role requires Joseph to don a slave's outfit (loin cloth with the obligatory bare chest) for part of the show, let's just say some of the candidates were in a no-win situation from the start.

Just when I thought there wasn't going to be any decent, West End versions of Joseph on YouTube, I stumbled across a sensational man. The guy's name is Lee Mead, and as I followed the trail of video leads, I pieced together his story. Apparently, in the UK, there's been an 'IDOL' type of TV program to find the lead for the latest run of 'Joseph'. Andrew Lloyd Webber has been involved - as evidenced by his appearance at the auditions. Well, this guy Lee Mead - who had already been starring in The Phantom - blew everyone else out of the water. His voice is sensational and as for the slave outfit... well, that is something to be seen. One of the judges accused a fellow (female) judge of being in love with him. Fair enough accusation, I suppose, since there was lipstick on the photo of Mead she had in her hands as she gave him her 'feedback' after his audition.

Since we seem to follow close on the heels of London's stage 'revivals', I look forward to seeing 'Joseph' on stage here in Melbourne. The first time I saw it, a cousin took me to see it in London's West End. The year was 1992, and he said he only got tickets because, 'Jason Donovan's not in it any more, so it's okay to go.' Back then, I'd never heard of the musical, and I thought the title was ridiculous. The bible story wasn't one I was familiar with, and even if I'd known about it, it would have been hard to envisage it as a musical. I have no idea who made up the cast, back then, but the narrator was a woman with such an amazing voice that I often wonder if she's now a household name. At one stage, I remember she stopped the show. So much applause that the orchestra had to wait until the audience was quiet again before going on!

For a look at Lee Mead's 'slave' version of Joseph, and more importantly, his impressive vocal chords, have a peek below...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha another LoveLee!

I'm Dutch, and followed the 'idol like' programme on the BBC.

I've currently seen Lee twice in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat... it's (he is) addictive.

LLYB said...

What took you so long to discover Lee Mead?

Seriously though, Lee Mead has an AMAZING voice live.

I live in England so have been lucky enough to have seen him in JOSEPH and also at a recording for BBC Radio 2 when he took part in an Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute night in London in August this year.

Lee has such stage presence, very charismatic indeed ... starring in JOSEPH Lee is the perfect lead in this role. Even my husband agreed!

On the Any Dream Will Do programme, there could only have been one winner. I hope you saw all the performances from this programme on YouTube!?

Every performance is a favourite, I couldn't possibly single just one out....in the final of the series his performances were sensational!

Am I gushing? Sorry, but this guy is the best thing to star in the West End for an awfully long time!

You need an up to date photo! See Lee Mead's new website..

http://lee-mead.com/

Denethor said...

Lee Mead is fabulous and is also the nicest person you could wish to meet. He is supporting the Lee Mead Appreciation Society whose members are raising money for BBC Children In Need. He has a real musical theatre voice but can sing anything!Have seen Joseph and am going again next week.Check out the website www.lee-mead.co.uk for video songs pics and all things Lee.

Anonymous said...

Gooday.
How lovely to see that you have now caught up with Lee!!!
He really is something and looks great in his loincloth too.
Check out the LeeMead Appreciation site for lovely photo. Plus you can get all his songs there too - Mp3 as well.

Anonymous said...

Hurray......Our Lee is making himself known across the water with our Australian cousins!! Luckily for me I have seen the show more than once and am one of many thousands who ADORE Mr Mead!! Gorgeous to look at with a voice to die for he has exploded on to the West End stage and into our living rooms when he won the competition to star in Jospeh.
Please visit the Lee Mead Appreciation Site which is fantastic and has daily news on Lee and his wonderful journey. It is a great fan site and has been recognised by Lee himself with links to his official site.
Happy viewing if you do.....I promise he is worth it!

SCRIBBLY said...

What a surprise (and a pleasure) to be getting all these comments from the other side of the world! Surely a testament to Lee Mead's outstanding talent.
Thank you all for your information about the show, websites, etc, which I'll definitely follow up. As for the photo I chose of Mead, yeah, I knew there were more recent ones. It just happened to be one I liked.

Anonymous said...

Aren't we lucky to have found such an amazing talent? Lee has really taken off in England in a big, big way. His fans, known as Loppies, (Lee Obsessed People)are soooo friendly and welcome anyone who likes their boy! We have been discussing his future after Joseph and have thought that his next outing might be on Broaday as he is becoming popular over in the US. Fingers crossed, however, that he appears again in the West End after his stint in Joseph. We can't let him go too soon after just finding him!

Rosie said...

Lee Mead is fantastic. Glad to know that someone 'down under' has picked up on him. I have seen Joseph twice and he was amazing - the wholw show is great. I never saw it with Jason Donovan as I don't like him. Lee has lots of fans in this country already = Loppies. Lovelees, to name but two groups. I am sure that the world is going to hear more about him.

Debbieloppy said...

Another Loppy here!

One of the main things that endeared us to Lee was his lovely personality. He's not interested in being famous for fames sake. He just wants to provide a great performance.

He has everything required of a great stage performer - presence, looks. acting ability and great voice. Glad you've found him at last. Spread the word in Oz!!

Anonymous said...

Another LoveLee here!

So happy to see that the love for Lee Mead is still spreading! He is fabulous indeed and his fan base is continuing to grow. And with such gorgeous looks and an amazing voice, who could be surprised!