Sound of Music Live on NBC 12/5 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/arts/television/nbc-will-air-the-sound-of-music-live-on-dec-5.html?ref=arts
Starring Carrie Underwood as Maria and Stephen Moyer as Captain Von Trapp.

I'm morbidly curious/excited. I'm also just happy to see this attempted again. Anybody else going to be watching?

 

[KPmusmag]

You bet I will be watching! The movie version is my favorite film, and is, of course, iconic and beloved by the world. But this is a popular classic of its day. There can and should be many interpretations, just as there are many interpretations of La Boheme, Carmen and La Traviata, Hamlet and Macbeth. I am excited to see what they do with it; supposedly, they are sticking to the Broadway script (although every revival has included the songs written for the film; we'll see). I am also excited that this is being presented on one of the major networks, not PBS. Hopefully, it will find a wide audience. It is a refreshing change from the endless reality shows and crime dramas that pervade the networks.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I'm watching.

 

[Charles Smith]

Definitely.

 

[Ockeghem]

I've already watched The Making Of The Sound Of Music which aired a few nights ago, so I will definitely be watching this later this week. Although this is not a remake (they said as much during the special), the music is for me worth experiencing again and again. The Sound Of Music and Fiddler On the Roof are my two favorite musicals.

 

[Sumnernor]

For your information, the people in Salzburg do not like the movie except for the money brought in by tourists. The movie is more fiction than fact

 

[Stan]

For your information, the people in Salzburg do not like the movie except for the money brought in by tourists. The movie is more fiction than fact

I saw a show on Discovery or something like that and it's true They interviewed people in the area and many were completely oblivious, didn't even know about the movie at all. It was almost like there was an anti Sound of Music vibe.

You would think that an internationally famous movie, filmed in your backyard would make you want to cash in on all the tourist trade, etc.

I'll enjoy the fantasy of the film, the locations are off my bucket list.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I saw a show on Discovery or something like that and it's true They interviewed people in the area and many were completely oblivious, didn't even know about the movie at all. It was almost like there was an anti Sound of Music vibe.

You would think that an internationally famous movie, filmed in your backyard would make you want to cash in on all the tourist trade, etc.

I'll enjoy the fantasy of the film, the locations are off my bucket list.

Oh, they love cashing in on the tourist trade, but you have to realize that THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a remake of what was the biggest German box office hit up to that time. As far as the Austrians and Germans were concerned, the Trapps' story was perfectly told in THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS before Rodgers and Hammerstein Americanized it with all those Tin Pan Alley songs. Try to imagine if Austrian filmmakers went to Iowa to do a remake of FIELD OF DREAMS with added music by Mozart.

I'll definitely be watching because they are apparently doing the stage play and not the film. THE SOUND OF MUSIC is one of my favorite movies and doesn't need remaking. If I want to watch the film version, I'll watch the film.

 

[Charles Smith]

Happy 100th Birthday, Mary Martin!

 

[KPmusmag]

For your information, the people in Salzburg do not like the movie except for the money brought in by tourists. The movie is more fiction than fact

Rodgers & Hammerstein created an entertainment; they never intended it to be a documentary. Besides, the basics are true: a young woman in a religious order chooses to marry a widower with children rather than take her vows and then the family has to leave the country in a dangerous political climate.

 

[Stan]

Certain "classics" can't be re-done, this is one of them.

Carrie Underwood? Not a chance at recreating Julie Andrews. She's a good singer, but she's an American Idol singer, not natural, just show off the high notes and move on.

I honestly can't picture her in this role. Very rude, but her "style" has always seemed to me to be a backwoods Tennessee hooker.

Vocally she is pretty decent, but in this role, no.

 

[classicmovieguy]

This will be telecast LIVE, warts and all. I believe Carrie Underwood is the bravest woman in showbusiness at the moment. I sincerely wish her, and the cast, all the best.

 

[schan1269]

Certain "classics" can't be re-done, this is one of them.

Carrie Underwood? Not a chance at recreating Julie Andrews. She's a good singer, but she's an American Idol singer, not natural, just show off the high notes and move on.

I honestly can't picture her in this role. Very rude, but her "style" has always seemed to me to be a backwoods Tennessee hooker.

Vocally she is pretty decent, but in this role, no.

Julie Andrews herself(and most women in general would...) became that very "backwoods Tennessee hooker" in a movie as well...

 

[Cinescott]

I'll definitely be watching. One of the most exciting things on TV in a while.

 

[Sumnernor]

I live in Munich which is a circa 110 minute train ride and so I have been there many, many times. Sound of Music was my mother's favorite movie but before DVDs. When she flew over I took her on the "Sound of Music" tour and she started telling the guide about the movie!!!

One feature of the movie is at ther end they are going away from Salzburg but actaully they were actually near Bertesgaden going TOWARDs Salzburg! You can see this if you visit "The Eagles Nest" whuch is the english name.

I think that Salzburg is my favorite TOWN in Europe.

 

[David_B_K]

A movie remake would have been ill-advised. But I think musicals that were written for the stage should continue to be produced, whether they've been filmed or not. Live productions often have a bit more zing to them than filmed versions, what with dubbed singers, etc. I'll be watching for sure.

 

[Charles Smith]

Certain "classics" can't be re-done, this is one of them.

Carrie Underwood? Not a chance at recreating Julie Andrews. She's a good singer, but she's an American Idol singer, not natural, just show off the high notes and move on.

I honestly can't picture her in this role. Very rude, but her "style" has always seemed to me to be a backwoods Tennessee hooker.

Vocally she is pretty decent, but in this role, no.

1. The classic being re-done is the original 1959 stage version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC -- not the movie version, which is quite different.

2. I should hope that the powers that be have no intention whatever of allowing or encouraging Carrie Underwood (who I don't know from a hole in the ground) to "recreate Julie Andrews".

I'll tell you who tries to "recreate Julie Andrews". Hundreds, if not thousands, of misguided high school and community theater idiots. It's just amazing, and laughable, how many young ladies unthinkingly and unwittingly lay on the Britlish accent for this role.

 

[KPmusmag]

1. The classic being re-done is the original 1959 stage version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC -- not the movie version, which is quite different.

2. I should hope that the powers that be have no intention whatever of allowing or encouraging Carrie Underwood (who I don't know from a hole in the ground) to "recreate Julie Andrews".

I'll tell you who tries to "recreate Julie Andrews". Hundreds, if not thousands, of misguided high school and community theater idiots. It's just amazing, and laughable, how many young ladies unthinkingly and unwittingly lay on the Britlish accent for this role.

I couldn't agree more. I am certain that Ms. Underwood is being directed to portray the character of "Maria", not attempt an impersonation of Julie Andrews. The role of Maria in R&H's SOM had been done by Mary Martin, Florence Henderson and others before Julie did the film. Julie was born to play the role, and her performance will always be unforgettable. But that doesn't mean there can't be other respectable and entertaining interpretations.

A movie remake would bother me, but I celebrate this undertaking.

 

[Ejanss]

1. The classic being re-done is the original 1959 stage version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC -- not the movie version, which is quite different.

Julie Andrews aside, I have a feeling NBC will thickly lay on the movie-friendly improvements over the stage version's (which never was as good), since the whole impetus is to compete with ABC showing the movie every holidays.
("Wait a minute, the Mother Abbess sings 'My Favorite Things'? That's heretical! We can't have that! Somebody messed with the stage version!")

As for other actresses, I remember a soppy national tour a few years ago with Marie Osmond as Maria--Didn't do too bad, although the regional paper headlined their review with "Cute, Maria, real cute."

 

[Craig S]

Julie Andrews aside, I have a feeling NBC will thickly lay on the movie-friendly improvements over the stage version's (which never was as good), since the whole impetus is to compete with ABC showing the movie every holidays.
("Wait a minute, the Mother Abbess sings 'My Favorite Things'? That's heretical! We can't have that! Somebody messed with the stage version!")

The song listing (including performers) of this new version is available to peruse on iTunes (although there is no music to sample yet), and it looks like it will be very close to the stage version. There is one major nod to the film that I could see for sure: the substitution of "Something Good" for the stage's "An Ordinary Couple". Other than that, it all looks like the stage version - the song order; the performers (yes, "My Favorite Things" will be a Maria/Mother Abbess duet just as in the original), and the inclusion of the two songs for the Baroness & Uncle Max ("No Way To Stop It" and "How Will Love Survive") that were dropped for the film.

I personally am excited that they're going back at least partially to the original version, which lately seemed to have been confined to history as so many recent productions seem to want to ape the film. I grew up on the Mary Martin original Broadway cast album, and I continue to prefer it to the movie soundtrack. This is not a dig on Ms. Andrews (who is indeed wonderful); I just prefer the cast album's sparer arrangements which give a little more emphasis to the vocals. I also really like the 2 Baroness/Max songs - they help flesh out those characters, and as they reflect the slightly more world-weary, pragmatic attitude of those characters they help counteract the oft-voiced criticism that the show is too sugary-sweet (FWIW, something I have never subscribed to).

All that aside, I am looking forward to this. I hope it is a success and will lead to more classic Broadway-on-TV productions.