Twitter-based talent search #searchforatwitterstar, which has had theatre fans across social site Twitter expressing their excitement in 140 characters or less, is to move out of the cyber world and into the real world.
Ten finalists, chosen from hundreds of entries made via Twitter and YouTube, will take to the Lyric theatre’s stage on 9 July, where one winning leading lady and one winning leading man will be crowned.
The search for a new star was launched by anonymous Twitter phenomenon @westendproducer, the Twitter user who claims to be a theatrical impresario and has amassed a following of more than 15,000 people.
The man – or woman – behind the Twitter account will be on hand at the live contest, which will be judged by a quartet of influential industry professionals; leading lady Louise Dearman, musical director Mike Dixon, agent Gemma Lowy-Hamilton and casting director Anne Vosser.
Speaking about the event, producer Tony Green, who is presenting @westendproducer’s #searchforatwitterstar, said: “I was so impressed with some of the talent coming through #searchforatwitterstar and feeling our industry is poorly represented by the current run of TV talent shows, I decided it was time to give our ‘stagey’ wannabes the opportunity to show us what they have; in the right environment that will enable their talent to really shine through.”
Turning normal theatrical etiquette on its head, the #searchforatwitterstar audience will be positively encouraged to keep their phones on and tweet to their hearts content about each performance, before using the social site to vote for their favourite.