NBC's three-hour televised musical The Sound of Music Live!, starring country music star Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp and True Blood's Stephen Moyer as Captain von Trapp, aired live last night.
For the uninitiated (and if you're not familiar with The Sound of Music, then I am surprised that you are reading this blog), The Sound of Music tells the story of aspiring nun Maria's adventure to become governess for the widower Captain von Trapp's seven kids, but her romantic emotions for the Captain kick in and she begins to doubt her religious calling.
I will be honest with you, I didn't think there was anyway they could have improved on the original movie, and they didn't. However, I did come into watching it with an open mind. I was quite excited to see it, since The Sound of Music is one of my all-time favorite movies. To be fair, this was a televised version of the musical and there is a fair amount different, including the placement of songs. However, even though it was not a remake of the Julie Andrews classic, I felt that in a lot of ways it fell flat.
First off, I hate when a movie changes something that would have been too far fetched historically for the sake of political correctness. And The Sound of Music Live! did this in the first second of the production. Audra McDonald is a wonderful actress and she sings beautifully, but really NBC an African-American Mother Superior in 1930s Austria. (And yes, I am fully aware that the movie is nearly wholly inaccurate historically, but...) That's a smaller detail, and I did my best to suspend my belief on this. However, by halfway through the movie, I was ready to give up on it. I was a bit bored. I didn't give up, but I wanted to. Carrie Underwood is a fine singer, but she's not particularly a great actress. The descendants of the real Maria von Trapp would have preferred Anne Hathaway, though I don't necessarily agree with that either. Underwood did a decent job, just not a wowing performance like I had hoped for.
What I want to know is: did you watch it? what did you think? I would love to hear your opinion. I liked it, but I also didn't like it. The fact is, I'm a bit neutral when it comes to my opinion of The Sound of Music Live!
14 comments:
I didn't.
I couldn't.
I can't even fathom Carrie taking over such an iconic role.
I flipped over to it out of curiosity, I am not a SOM fan and have only seen it once. Reluctantly. It was okay for me.
I though her voice sounded good, if a bit too strong, and it didn't seem to have any emotional connection.
I had a pretty crappy day on Thursday and TSOM was what I needed to just escape for a little while. I was never a fan of the movie, but wanted to see how NBC would pull off the production.
I enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting Masterpiece Theater, so I wasn't disappointed. Yes, Carrie can't act, but I thought her singing was very good. And Audra blew me away with "Climb".
Was it the best thing I had ever seen? No. But for the time I was watching it, it did take me away from the sh*tty day I had. :-)
I watched most of it. It didn’t blow me away but it wasn’t the worst show on TV. Audra McDonald did a great job. Carrie’s singing was better than I expected but the rest of her performance seemed a little lacking. I thought Stephen Moyer was a poor choice for Captain Von Trapp.
I did not watch it.
I love Carrie Underwood.
But as with "Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind", you don't mess with "Sound of Music".
I agree with you, Robert.
Did not see it as I have no TV (Best move I ever made was to give it away!!!)
And, from what I have heard from friends today, glad I missed it....for the reasons stated in the posting and in the comments....
I didn't even knew that it was going to aired.
I remember seeing a lot of times «The Sound of Music» when it was in theaters and then, I was comparing it with the «original» version of the «Trapp Family Story» of 1956...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049876/?ref_=nv_sr_2
That original movie was my first encounter with this lovely story.
Now I must say that the «Sound of Music» is now to me the best modern version in music and cast too...
CHEERS.
Considering that this was the best TV had to offer last night, I thought it was OK. I noted the black Mother Superior, thought it was a bit weird. The music was nice, though technically there were issues that I picked up on, something not necessary with today's technology and a controlled environment.
Bottom line: It was enjoyable, but I won't watch the rerun.
Peace <3
Jay
If part of the plan here was to get your attention and generate conversation -- then they succeeded with the black mother superior.
Didn't watch. Didn't care. Carrie Underwood's a registered Republican who's done everything she can to bash liberals. I see no reason to give her an ounce of support.
Carrie was terrible.
The dance/party scene was the worst! Like Capt. VT only has trained 20ish dancers for friends? All those complicated lifts? Really?
And the nuns! Mostly 20-something hot chicks in habits! And eye-liner! Never met any nuns like that.
And the chick playing the Baroness? Played her like Cruella DeVille. Completely wrong.
And, the kids "play clothes"? Grey? They're supposed to be recycled from some tacky curtains. Totally missed the point!
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