Simon Lee had been slated to work as musical supervisor for the Toronto production, the same role he served for Webber's British revival. (CBC)

Simon Lee, the longtime Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborator charged with assault in Toronto on Sunday, has a problem of his own.

Webber’s London production company says it dropped the 46-year-old as musical supervisor for the Toronto run of The Sound of Music, still slated to begin in October.

Lee was one of three judges for Tuesday night’s CBC-TV’s reality competition How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?  Viewers were told that Lee’s absences for the last two episodes was for “personal reasons.”

Lee was arrested and charged with assault and forcible confinement after an incident at a Toronto hotel on Sunday morning. He was released on bail and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 27.

The veteran British conductor, who has performed with top orchestras around the globe, has served as the musical director or supervisor on projects ranging from the opening ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics to both theatre and film versions of Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.

More at CBCnews.ca

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	Personalities	Posted at 1:36 pm (31 Jul 2008)

CBC Television is adding a new competition/reality show to its mix.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking for a Canadian actor to play the lead in a Toronto production of The Sound of Music. To find the person, he and CBC TV have concocted… wait for it… a TV show.

Like many popular reality and game shows, this one started in Britain. Last year, viewers of the BBC program How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (it’s from the lyrics of the musical) picked a 23-year old to play the role made famous (infamous?) by Julie Andrews. Thousands competed to be among the ten finalists, which viewers eventually whittled down to one.

CBC Television has experimented with competition reality shows before.

• The much-maligned American show The One bumped The National out of its time slot one day a week — it was part of the contract with the show’s producers. The show was cancelled after a few episodes.
• And Garth Drabinksy is producing the three-part Triple Sensation which premieres October 7 at 8 p.m. on CBC Television. (The winner will get a scholarship to study at a leading theatrical institution.)

I will admit: I thought reality competition shows were a fad. I figured after a couple of seasons of Survivor, people would tire of the format. Clearly not. Turns out, it created an appetite for the format which still seems to be growing.

I’m of two minds about this whole thing.

1. On the one hand, you can’t argue with the numbers. CTV’s Canadian Idol is a ratings powerhouse, often leading the pack in the overnights. Even CBC Radio’s similar shows like Canada Reads (in which five celebs bring their favourite book and have to “compete” to have their book picked as #1) is one of the network’s top shows when it airs.
2. Then again, I’d like to think that Canadians are different — maybe a bit more discerning in how they spend their TV time. Shows like Canada: A People’s History proved we want to see compelling, well-produced programs that inform as well as entertain.

Have we gone too far down the reality show rabbit hole, Alice? What do you think?

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	Programming	Posted at 1:14 pm (25 Sep 2007)