Don't RUIN The Sound of Music!

Most people know my favorite movie is ‘The Sound of Music’.  It is the perfect film.  It has a perfect score, the perfect songs, perfect performances, and the perfect star, the goddess, Julie Andrews. It has action, romance, adventure, Nazi’s, a cemetery search, and a midnight escape, everything you could ever want in a movie.  Nothing will touch or even come close to the perfectness of that movie, ever.

                That being said there is some grumbling about the ‘Sound of Music Live!’ that airs tomorrow night on NBC.  What exactly is it?  Is it a remake of the movie? A play of the movie? I’ve heard all these questions, and even less astute ones.  Let me clear the air for those who are less obsessed with this topic.  Tomorrow night’s performance is a live, filmed performance, of the Broadway play, ‘The Sound of Music’.  It stars Carrie Underwood, 5 time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald, Christian Borle (of NBC’s Smash and Broadway’s ‘Legally Blonde’), and Laura Benanti, Tony Winner of the Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy. 

                People’s reactions when I mention this production include the following,

‘Oh you can’t beat the movie why would they even try?’

‘Why would you cast Carrie Underwood? She can’t beat Julie Andrews. She’ll ruin it’

‘Why are they turning it into a country musical?’

                All of these are naïve and uninformed questions.  I am writing this to help these people understand the answers to these questions.  I am also writing this so that THOSE people DON’T ruin tomorrow’s experience with uninformed comments like the previous. 

                First off, they are not remaking the movie.  They are doing a live performance of the Broadway play.  The play is different.  For instance, the music isn’t the exactly the same.  The Broadway has some songs not in the movie, and is missing for instance, ‘I Have Confidence’, which was written specifically for the movie.  Don’t get me wrong 90% of the musical is like the movie, but there are a few things that will be different tomorrow. 

A live performance of a musical is very rare. You might say, ‘Well I saw Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandy in the 90’s’.  Well, that was taped and made into a TV Movie.  A live taping means it’s like SNL - it’s happening real- time.  A musical has not been taped live on TV since Roger and Hammerstein’s ‘Cinderella’ in 1957, which ironically was written for and starred the young Julie Andrews.

People balk at the casting of Carrie Underwood, and being a Broadway purist, I was one of the loudest.  I’m still nervous about her performance.  You have to ask yourself why they would cast her.  We already know she can sing well and do it live on TV, hence why she won American Idol.  She also is a huge name.  If a studio is going to bother putting this much money into a one night show, they need people to watch, and they NEED to bring in a recognized name to bring viewership.  Carrie will bring in a much broader audience than say, Sierra Boggess (who really should be playing Maria, in my opinion). 

The casting of Carrie is what we call a reduction of risk.  It makes the performance more likely to succeed and bring in viewers, it also makes it easier for people to buy into the idea.  The arts have a difficult time getting funding on TV, just ask the poor people running PBS fundraisers.  Luckily she can sing, and although she sounds slightly too focused, she really does sing well on the album, which you can listen to on Spotify already.

The cast surrounding Carrie is phenomenal. Although a little bit too much of a stretch for color-blind casting, Audra McDonald will likely redefine the role of Mother Abbess.  She alone is reason enough to watch the entire show.  She’s won 5 Tony awards for a reason.  Christian Borle, who is a Braodway star and ex-husband of super-star Sutton Foster is a good actor with a great voice.  Laura Benanti is gorgeous with an equally beautiful voice.  They will provide possibly more depth and grace to Max and the Baroness than even the movie. Even the performance  of ’16 going on 17’ at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade was encouraging, and hopefully a foreshadowing of things to come. 

Things to remember when you watch tomorrow night:

This is not the movie, it is a taped version of the play.  Remember it will be different.  Expect it.  The medium is different.  You can’t do nearly as much on a stage as you can flying a camera around Austria, like they did in the movie.  Carrie is fundamentally a singer, and this is her first piece of major acting.  Carrie will be surrounded by extremely talented people, some of the best in the business.

Questions to ask yourself when evaluating it tomorrow night:

Regarding the material and medium…

1.       Do I like the script of the movie or the play better?

2.       Do I feel like I know the characters or story better or worse in this version?

3.       Do I like the taping of a musical live on a stage?

4.       Do I enjoy the inclusion of songs cut from the movie?

5.       Was the taping of the musical an effective capture of the performance?

6.       Do I like the movie better simply because I’m more familiar with it?

            Regarding the performance?

7.       Do I feel like the acting was good?  Who was the best? Who was weak?

8.       How was the singing?  Any standout performances? Any blemishes?

9.       Did the performance seem fluid?

10.   Anything go wrong live?

11.   Would you want to see other things done this way? Like what?

I am excited to see what happens tomorrow night, and to see this talented cast.  I am very excited that a studio is willing to put money up for something like this, and I would LOVE to see more things like this.  I am glad that there are a large handful of legitimate musical actors who can carry the show. I am anxious and excited to engage in thoughtful discussion after it airs, with people who intelligently can discuss the performance.  It is time for people of the Office’s ‘Finer Things Club’ to unite and relish this artistic and cultural delight!