The Sound of Music Live! (2013)

A live telecast of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

Directors:

Rob Ashford, Beth McCarthy-Miller

Writers:

Austin Winsberg (adaptation), Howard Lindsay (book)

Stars:

Carrie Underwood, Stephen Moyer, Laura Benanti

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carrie Underwood	...	Maria Rainer
Stephen Moyer	...	Captain Von Trapp
Laura Benanti	...	Elsa Schrader
Christian Borle	...	Max Detweiler
Audra McDonald	...	Mother Abbess
Ariane Rinehart	...	Liesl von Trapp
Michael Campayno	...	Rolf Gruber
Sophia Anne Caruso	...	Brigitta (as Sophia Caruso)
Peyton Ella	...	Gretl von Trapp
Michael Nigro	...	Fredrich
Grace Rundhaug	...	Marta von Trapp
Ella Watts-Gorman	...	Louisa (as Ella Watts)
Joe West	...	Kurt
Jessica Molaskey	...	Sister Berthe
Christiane Noll	...	Sister Margaretta

Storyline

A live telecast of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

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Plot Keywords:

live broadcast | delivery boy | religion | christian | catholicism | 

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Taglines:

The beloved family classic comes alive again.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Family | History | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Sound of Music

Filming Locations:

Grumman Studios, Bethpage, Long Island, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sony Pictures Television,Storyline Entertainment,Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Moyer played Captain vonTrapp in this live adaptation of The Sound of Music and appeared in Priest (2011) with Christopher Plummer, who was the original Captain vonTrapp in The Sound of Music (1965)

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Goofs

After the dancing, and dinner is announced, Baroness Elsa Scraeder walks into the room and someone behind her steps on her dress.

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Quotes

Captain Von Trapp: Before you meet the children, you will put on another dress.
Maria Rainer: I haven't any other dress. When we enter the abbey, our worldly clothes are given to the poor.
Captain Von Trapp: What about this one?
Maria Rainer: The poor didn't want this one.

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Connections

Featured in The Untold Story of the Sound of Music (2015)

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Soundtracks

Finale Ultimo: Climb Ev'ry Mountain
Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by Audra McDonald, Christiane Noll, Jessica Molaskey, and Elena Shaddow

User Reviews

NBC's The Sound of Music a Solid Adaptation

On Thursday night, NBC attempted to do a challenging task by putting one of the most beloved musicals of all time and adapting it into a stage production. For the most part, NBC did it well and it turned into a very entertaining adaptation of the classic Rodger's and Hammerstein's musical, The Sound of Music.

The production, done completely like a Broadway play with stage sets, worked well, keeping the mood of the scenes just good enough and displaying the settings nicely. The songs: Yeah, they were all there, and a few others that were not in the classic Julie Andrews movie, but rather are in the original Broadway production. Those songs would be "How Can Love Survive" and "No Way To Stop It", and they were a welcome addition indeed.

Besides putting on a Broadway television type show, NBC also decided to take another chance by giving the lead role of the musical of Maria to none other than country superstar Carrie Underwood. Underwood, who won American Idol many years ago has made herself into a big name and had a chance to do something that she rarely has ever done, and that's act. Did it work? Well... a little bit. Her singing was solid. I was wondering if her country sound might come into her voice, and it didn't. Her acting though, was just average. Now, we knew coming into watching this that she would not be a great actress. After all, as I said, she did not have much experience, but for that I do appreciate her stepping into a different medium. As a singer though, she did a good enough job, and for a musical, what else do you really want?

The other lead of the movie, Captain Von Trapp, was played by Stephen Moyer. Moyer, like Underwood was solid in the role, but did not impress me the way I had hoped with his singing. What did impress me however was the supporting cast of this adaptation. The Von Trapp children all were good and as sweet as ever. The Baroness, played by Laura Benanti and Max Detweiler, played by Christian Borle were both excellent and had wonderful chemistry together whenever they were put on stage at the same time. And the Mother Abbess, played by Audra McDonald was tremendous, nailing her big song, Climb Every Mountain with every note and was a performance that would have brought a house to his feet.

Now, was it as good as the original movie? No. But, all in all, despite its flaws and perhaps somewhat poor casting choices, this NBC adaptation was a good watch, and I applaud NBC for putting it on for all of us to see for an evening. It was interesting to not only see some of the differences from the movie that I had grown up watching, but to also see a Broadway stage production of a musical that I rarely see period.

Rating: 7/10