Poll results, and more
September Poll Results
Here are the results of the September poll:
What do you think about "OUTLANDER: The Musical"?
- 20.48% - I like some of the songs, but not all of them.
- 13.81% - I love it! I've listened to the CD more than once.
- 13.33% - It's a silly idea. Jamie can't sing!
- 9.52% - I'm not interested in musicals.
- 9.05% - I like what I've heard so far, but I don't want (or can't afford) the CD.
- 9.05% - I want to see it made into a full-length musical.
- 8.57% - I've ordered the CD or plan to do so soon.
- 5.71% - What's that? Never heard of it.
- 4.29% - I'd like to order the CD, but I don't have a PayPal account.
- 3.33% - I don't like any of the songs.
- 2.86% - Other
There were 210 votes in this month's poll. I didn't vote in it myself, but I would have gone with the second group myself. I still listen to the CD frequently, both at home and in the car, and I'm enjoying it quite a lot.
"OUTLANDER: The Musical" is now available on Amazon.com.
I think the results of this poll are very interesting. Thanks so much to everyone who participated!
The October poll is a reprise of one that I did in March, 2009, all about the audiobooks. Please take a moment to vote.
Katherine Heigl as Claire?!?
And now I'd like to address a rumor that surfaced online yesterday as a result of a New York Times article on actress Katherine Heigl:
If all goes well, Ms. Heigl will then turn toward sharply dramatic work, starring as a Scottish heroine in an adaptation of "Outlander", the novel by Diana Gabaldon. “Scotland? 2012? What do you think?” she said.
What do I think? As I said on Compuserve this morning, I really, really, REALLY hope this is just a rumor and not a done deal! An American Claire would be SO wrong, on so many levels. I have insisted for a long time that I don't want to hear ANY American accents in an OUTLANDER movie, period.
And as for "starring as a Scottish heroine" -- I really hope that was just ignorance on the part of the person who wrote this NYT article, because I would much rather see this movie NOT get made at all, than turn Claire into a "Scottish heroine".
Judging from Diana's comments on Twitter last night ("Nope. Hadn't seen that! #blinking" and "No! Are you sure about that?"), she seemed just as surprised as we are to hear about this. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on Heigl's part. I certainly hope so! I am hoping that Diana will respond to it on Compuserve when she gets a chance -- she's in the middle of her book-tour for THE EXILE, and has very little free time -- just to keep the rumor mill from blowing this completely out of proportion.
Don't anybody panic, that's all I'm saying. Unless and until we have confirmation from Diana that Katherine Heigl has indeed been cast as Claire, this is all just speculation!
UPDATE 10/1/2010 12:42 pm: Diana has now posted her reaction on her blog. Very interesting comments, and I would urge you to take a look at them!
A rResounding No!!! on an American playing Claire. Why do the Americans always do this? Must everything become USified?
Anyway.
I boted Other in the October poll because I only have one of the audiobooks - don't even remember now, it must be one that audible was giving away for free? Anyway, I can't really sit and listen to things like that. Maybe if the house is completely quiet and I'm knitting or colouring at the same time. Even then, though, I simply get distracted and I miss whole sentences and words. But that's just me :-)
I can't see it, myself. She's played too many ditzes.
And of course the whole thing hinges on whether she can produce and maintain a correct British accent. Many people can't (Dick Van Dyke was no Cockney, no way no how). From what I've heard from voice coaches, it's easier for a British person to do a proper Southern accent than it is for someone with an American accent to do a faithful British accent.
I think the best of all possible worlds would be for the BBC to do Outlander as a miniseries.