| Genre: | Reality competition |
| Creator: | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| Starring: | Gavin Crawford (Host)> Simon Lee (Judge) Elaine Overholt (Judge) John Barrowman (Judge) |
| Channel: | CBC Television |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 6 |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Temple Street Productions |
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a 2008 Canadian reality competition television series derived from a 2006 series of the same name broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. The Canadian version aired on CBC Television between June 15, 2008, and July 28, 2008.
The premise of the contest was to find a musical theatre performer to play the lead role of Maria von Trapp in the 2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Mirvish revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Initial auditions were held in seven Canadian cities. The show was hosted by Gavin Crawford and featured Simon Lee, Elaine Overholt, and John Barrowman as the judges for the show.
The first episode of the show featured the top 50 auditioners at the show's Maria School being cut to 20. The second episode had the Marias performing in front of Lloyd Webber in London, and then the 20 were cut to 10 with his input. Beginning June 22, the Marias performed live in Toronto every Sunday night with a live orchestra. The voting results aired on the following night.
Ten contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.
| Finalist | Age* | From | Apron Color | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alison Jutzi | 29 | Guelph, Ontario | Burgundy | Eliminated 1st in Week 1 | |
| Allie Hughes | 22 | Toronto, Ontario | Dark Blue | Eliminated 2nd in Week 2 | |
| Katie Kerr | 19 | Windsor, Ontario | Baby Pink | Eliminated 3rd in Week 3 | |
| Kyla Tingley | 24 | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | Hot Pink | Eliminated 4th in Week 3 | |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 22 | Bowmanville, Ontario | Orange | Eliminated 5th in Week 4 | |
| Tamara Fifield | 21 | Truro, Nova Scotia | Sky Blue | Eliminated 6th in Week 4 | |
| Marisa McIntyre | 25 | Waterloo, Ontario | Dark Green | Eliminated 7th in Week 5 | |
| Jayme Armstrong[1] [2] | 24 | Richmond, Ontario | Red | Third place | |
| Janna Polzin | 24 | Woodstock, Ontario | Lime Green | Second place | |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 23 | Surrey, British Columbia | Purple | Winner |
* at the start of the contest
| Place | Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elicia | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 3 | Safe | Winner | |||
| 2 | Janna | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up | |||
| 3 | Jayme | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Third Place | |||
| 4 | Marisa | Bottom 2 | Safe | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated | |||
| 5 | Tamara | Safe | Safe | Bottom 3 | Eliminated | Eliminated | ||||
| 6 | Donna | Safe | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated | ||||
| 7 | Kyla | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated | |||||
| 8 | Katie | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated | |||||
| 9 | Allie | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated | ||||||
| 10 | Alison | Eliminated | Eliminated | |||||||
The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one (or two) following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant(s) ended the program by leading a performance of "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.
Following the first week of the competition, Alison was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:
| Performance Pair | Order | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allie Hughes | Pair 1 | 1 | "It's Oh So Quiet" | Safe |
| Kyla Tingley | 2 | "Torn" | Safe | |
| Elicia MacKenzie | Pair 2 | 3 | "Color My World" | Safe |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 4 | "I Am Changing" | Safe | |
| Tamara Fifield | Pair 3 | 5 | "Over the Rainbow" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 6 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | Safe | |
| Marisa MacIntyre | Pair 4 | 7 | "Jolene" | Bottom 2 |
| Katie Kerr | 8 | "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" | Safe | |
| Janna Polzin | Pair 5 | 9 | "My Baby Just Cares for Me" | Safe |
| Alison Jutzi | 10 | "I'm Every Woman" | Bottom 2 |
| Sing Off Song | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Marisa McIntyre | "Take That Look Off Your Face" from Tell Me on a Sunday | Saved by Lee |
| Alison Jutzi | Eliminated |
As the mission for this week, the potential Marias had to prove how fit they are by taking part in a thorough workout.
For their individual performances, the contestants sang songs by Canadian artists to celebrate Canada Day.
The show performances were:
| Performance Pair | Order | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donna Lajeunesse | Pair 1 | 1 | "Something to Talk About" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 2 | "Constant Craving" | Bottom 2 | |
| Marisa MacIntyre | Solo Performance | 3 | "Seven Day Fool" | Safe |
| Elicia MacKenzie | Pair 2 | 4 | "Black Velvet" | Safe |
| Tamara Fifield | 5 | "Complicated" | Safe | |
| Allie Hughes | Pair 3 | 6 | "I Will Remember You" | Bottom 2 |
| Janna Polzin | 7 | "Turn Off the Light" | Safe | |
| Katie Kerr | Pair 4 | 8 | "Insensitive" | Safe |
| Kyla Tingley | 9 | "Dance Me to the End of Love" | Safe | |
| Sing Off Song | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Jayme Armstrong | "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita | Saved by Lee |
| Allie Hughes | Eliminated |
For their individual performances, the contestants sang songs from the musicals.
The show performances were:
| Performance Pair | Order | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katie Kerr | Pair 1 | 1 | "Easy to Be Proud" | Bottom 3 |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 2 | "Cabaret" | Safe | |
| Marisa MacIntyre | Pair 2 | 3 | "If I Were a Bell" | Safe |
| Janna Polzin | 4 | "Defying Gravity" | Safe | |
| Tamara Fifield | Pair 3 | 5 | "You Must Love Me" | Bottom 3 |
| Jayme Armstrong | 6 | "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" | Safe | |
| Kyla Tingley | Pair 4 | 7 | "All That Jazz" | Bottom 3 |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 8 | "Out of My Dreams" | Safe |
| Sing Off Song | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Katie Kerr | "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar | Eliminated |
| Tamara Fifield | Saved by Lee | |
| Kyla Tingley | Eliminated |
As the mission for this week, the contestants act with the children to help separate between the potential Marias.
The show performances were:
| Performance Pair | Order | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elicia MacKenzie | Pair 1 | 1 | "Shout" | Bottom 3 |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 2 | "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" | Bottom 3 | |
| Janna Polzin | Pair 2 | 3 | "California Dreamin'" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 4 | "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" | Safe | |
| Tamara Fifield | Pair 3 | 5 | "You Don't Own Me" | Bottom 3 |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 6 | "Downtown" | Safe |
| Sing Off Song | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Elicia MacKenzie | "Tell Me on a Sunday" from Tell Me on a Sunday | Saved by Lee |
| Donna Lajeunesse | Eliminated | |
| Tamara Fifield | Eliminated |
This week, just like the British version, the mission was a chemistry test with John Barrowman, which involved his giving the Marias a surprise kiss.
The show performances were:
| Order | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janna Polzin | 1 | "Anyone Who Had a Heart" | Safe |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 2 | "You Needed Me" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 3 | "I Say a Little Prayer" | Bottom 2 |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 4 | "River Deep Mountain High" | Bottom 2 |
| Sing Off Song | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Jayme Armstrong | "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard | Saved by Lloyd Webber |
| Marisa MacIntyre | Eliminated |
For their individual performances, the contestants sang songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The show performances were:
| Order | Andrew Lloyd Webber song | Order | Song of the Season< | --North American English, don't change to series--> | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jayme Armstrong | 1 | "I Don't Know How to Love Him" | N/A | N/A (already eliminated) | Eliminated | |
| Janna Polzin | 2 | "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" | 4 | "Defying Gravity" | Runner-up | |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 3 | "Memory" | 5 | "Cabaret" | Winner |
Elicia MacKenzie won the most votes, as announced prematurely on the Canadian Press wire at 7:30pm, July 28, half an hour before the show aired in the Toronto area.
On August 14, 2008, it was announced that runner-up, Janna Polzin, had been cast as an "alternate Maria" for the Toronto stage production. Janna played Maria twice a week (Wednesday evenings and Saturday matinees), while Elicia will perform the role six times weekly (Tuesday evenings, Wednesday matinees, Thursday through Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees).[3]
Some viewers of the show have claimed that the panel and Lloyd Webber favoured Janna over the other performers in the competition. However, Elicia MacKenzie ended up beating Janna in the final.