NBC's The Sound of Music | Golden Skate

NBC's The Sound of Music

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
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Nov 24, 2006
Did anyone watch this on Thursday night? Thoughts? I thought it was beyond awful, it wasn't even in the 'so bad you can't look away' vein. I ended up doing some housework and tried to listen to it in the background at times when I had to look away.

It was a hit, viewer wise. But the reviews were mostly horrible. Poor Carrie Underwood was terrible. One critic called this "The Sharknado of all Broadway musicals". LOL.

Any thoughts?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Some things should just be left alone. Do not remake The Wizard of Oz recasting Judy Garland. Do not do a live version of Gone With The Wind without Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. :)
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
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Sorry to hear that it wasn't better; I do like Carrie Underwood. I wanted to watch and missed it Thursday, maybe that was a good thing.
 

heyang

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Jul 26, 2003
I watched with the mindset that I was watching a Broadway production, instead of the iconic movie. So, I didn't think it was horrendous, but perhaps just ok.

Overall, I thought the singing voices were fine.

Unfortunately, Carrie Underwood is not a strong enough actress to carry the lead IMHO. The other problem was that there was little chemistry between her and 'the Captain'.


I read that one of the descendants of Maria Von Trapp felt that Anne Hathaway would've been a better choice as a proven actress and singer. He had reservations about Carrie's acting skills - interview was taken before the production was aired.....
 

iluvtodd

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We watched it and enjoyed it. It will never take the place of the original Broadway cast recording (with Mary Martin & Theodore Bikel), the wonderful movie with "my" Julie & Christopher Plummer, but I didn't think it was terrible. We were lucky to see the 1998 Broadway revival with the very talented Rebecca Luker (who was also cast as Marian the librarian in the 2001 Broadway revival of "The Music Man"). I was very glad that two songs from the original Broadway cast recording that were not used in the otherwise terrific movie were included in this production - "How Can Love Survive?" and "No Way to Stop It' (actually an instrumental version of "How Can Love Survive was used during the dinner party scene in the movie, but it was great to hear the clever lyrics in this latest production). I was too young to see Mary Martin & Theodore Bikel on Broadway in TSOM, but I learned the music to TSOM and many other beloved musicals thanks to my parents buying the original Broadway cast LPs (and a great 6th grade teacher who would lead music assemblies every week in elementary school).
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
We watched it and enjoyed it. It will never take the place of the original Broadway cast recording (with Mary Martin & Theodore Bikel), the wonderful movie with "my" Julie & Christopher Plummer, but I didn't think it was terrible. We were lucky to see the 1998 Broadway revival with the very talented Rebecca Luker (who was also cast as Marian the librarian in the 2001 Broadway revival of "The Music Man"). I was very glad that two songs from the original Broadway cast recording that were not used in the otherwise terrific movie were included in this production - "How Can Love Survive?" and "No Way to Stop It' (actually an instrumental version of "How Can Love Survive was used during the dinner party scene in the movie, but it was great to hear the clever lyrics in this latest production). I was too young to see Mary Martin & Theodore Bikel on Broadway in TSOM, but I learned the music to TSOM and many other beloved musicals thanks to my parents buying the original Broadway cast LPs (and a great 6th grade teacher who would lead music assemblies every week in elementary school).

My reaction was similar to yours. I thought it was a good production, especially because it exposed many viewers to top-drawer Broadway singers who supported the leads, including Audra McDonald as the Mother Abbess. In fact, I completely disagree with the opinion that some shows shouldn't be remade. Broadway musicals are among the great treasures of American performing arts, and they ought to be revived regularly so that new audiences can share in the experience. The movie was wonderful and can always be rewatched, but the stage musical is a living organism that can always be reinterpreted. Just as Hamlet or other Shakespeare plays and great operas should be staged regularly, classic musicals should be shared again and again with both audiences and new performers. Some productions will be more successful than others, but there's always the chance that some lightning will strike for any given staging. That's what theater is for.

Carrie Underwood was not spectacular, but she was good enough, I thought. There were several factors in her favor. Her voice is lovely and rich, and it adapted well to Broadway style. It is more like Mary Martin's voice than Julie Andrews' (lower range than Andrews and a rather coppery tinge that I've always liked). Her speaking voice is timeless, not modern American mall rat as in so many young American actresses. Her face is also very old-fashioned, so that I bought her as a sheltered girl from the 1930s. Yes, Ann Hathaway would have been an excellent choice, superior in acting ability and wonderful both visually and vocally. But Carrie Underwood did her job, and many viewers posted their enjoyment of a musical they could share with their children.

I too was thrilled to hear the two stage songs reinstated. They're fun and also meaningful in the way they bring both the Baroness's character and the political realities (which Rodgers and Hammerstein would have wanted front and center--remember South Pacific). I am very familiar with the original cast recording because like Iluvtodd's family, mine also had the record, and I played it again and again. So while watching the telecast, I found myself singing along, and I remembered a surprising amount of the lyrics!

In fact, one of the few times I got brave enough to take part in a musical myself was one summer in sleepaway camp, when I played the Mother Abbess. The only thing that kept me from fainting with stage fright was the fact that we literally put on a show in the barn. How high-pressure could that be?

I think that considering all the factors, this was a success, and I'd watch it again. And I hope they televise more musicals.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
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Joined
Jun 27, 2003
My reaction was similar to yours. I thought it was a good production, especially because it exposed many viewers to top-drawer Broadway singers who supported the leads, including Audra McDonald as the Mother Abbess. In fact, I completely disagree with the opinion that some shows shouldn't be remade. Broadway musicals are among the great treasures of American performing arts, and they ought to be revived regularly so that new audiences can share in the experience. The movie was wonderful and can always be rewatched, but the stage musical is a living organism that can always be reinterpreted. Just as Hamlet or other Shakespeare plays and great operas should be staged regularly, classic musicals should be shared again and again with both audiences and new performers. Some productions will be more successful than others, but there's always the chance that some lightning will strike for any given staging. That's what theater is for.

Carrie Underwood was not spectacular, but she was good enough, I thought. There were several factors in her favor. Her voice is lovely and rich, and it adapted well to Broadway style. It is more like Mary Martin's voice than Julie Andrews' (lower range than Andrews and a rather coppery tinge that I've always liked). Her speaking voice is timeless, not modern American mall rat as in so many young American actresses. Her face is also very old-fashioned, so that I bought her as a sheltered girl from the 1930s. Yes, Ann Hathaway would have been an excellent choice, superior in acting ability and wonderful both visually and vocally. But Carrie Underwood did her job, and many viewers posted their enjoyment of a musical they could share with their children.

I too was thrilled to hear the two stage songs reinstated. They're fun and also meaningful in the way they bring both the Baroness's character and the political realities (which Rodgers and Hammerstein would have wanted front and center--remember South Pacific). I am very familiar with the original cast recording because like Iluvtodd's family, mine also had the record, and I played it again and again. So while watching the telecast, I found myself singing along, and I remembered a surprising amount of the lyrics!

In fact, one of the few times I got brave enough to take part in a musical myself was one summer in sleepaway camp, when I played the Mother Abbess. The only thing that kept me from fainting with stage fright was the fact that we literally put on a show in the barn. How high-pressure could that be?

I think that considering all the factors, this was a success, and I'd watch it again. And I hope they televise more musicals.

This! I was one of the ones that was all anti watching - not because they were remaking, but because I couldn't think of liking another voice other than Julie's in the role. Funnily enough I was totally fine with Carrie's singing, but I couldn't stand the actor playing Von Trapp! I wanted Christopher Plummer back in the worst way! Go figure! LOL
 

iluvtodd

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I just read on a FB friend's wall that Eleanor Parker, the actress who portrayed Baroness Elsa von Schrader passed away @ age 91! She had some very memorable lines in the movie. RIP, Eleanor.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yes, I noticed the announcement abut Elinor Parker, too. She was quite a significant actress for a decade or so and was even nominated for an Oscar more than once.
 

CoyoteChris

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Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I agree. I was fine with Carrie...her singing was great and for her first acting gig, it was a good job. Georg wasn't good at all and there was no chemisty. I am not sure this needed to be remade...some remakes work, Like True Grit, and some don't, like "Flight of the Pheonix". Incidently, the true story of the Von Trapp family is very interesting if you have never researched it, its worth doing...I would like to see a movie about that........
This! I was one of the ones that was all anti watching - not because they were remaking, but because I couldn't think of liking another voice other than Julie's in the role. Funnily enough I was totally fine with Carrie's singing, but I couldn't stand the actor playing Von Trapp! I wanted Christopher Plummer back in the worst way! Go figure! LOL
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
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Jun 27, 2003
IT WAS NOT REMADE. It was the Broadway version, NOT the movie version.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
IT WAS NOT REMADE. It was the Broadway version, NOT the movie version.
Technically true, but technology blurs the difference....we used to watch movies in a movie theatre and watch plays in another theatre.
Now we watch both on the Hi-def telly....True Grit was a book. Then it was made into the movie that somewhat followed the book, then the movie
was re-made that more closely followed the book (I am told). So.... was the movie really re-made or was it a new movie? The dialogue was different between the two movies
just like Sound of Music play dialogue is different from the movie dialogue....but Reviewers called it a remake....and some reviewers called this version of Sound of Music a Remake....
From the frame of reference of the person sitting in front of the telly, it really wasn't the same as a live "play", even though of course it was.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I missed it on tv, watched online-hated commercials. I think everyone was okay to very good. I liked Carrie. There are not many wholesome young singers who could do that role. Audra was great. I too could not stand the stiff they found for the Baron. Where did they get that guy? Who COULD have chemistry with him? Streep would be unable to relate. Max was the guy from SMASH!

Anyway, it is to be rebroadcasted tonite at 8 EST and I will watch. The movie is one of the few I ever went to as a child, and saw with both my mother and father. This week has been hell, I dropped my phone in bath tub-a foot of snow expected and I am glad they remake anything good and wholesome. In a dark world with horrid movies, this blast from past is welcome. Thumbs up.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Ooh, thanks for the alert! I'm watching and singing along.

And I have to say, the second time around, Carrie Underwood has a lot more vitality than I remember from the earlier viewing. She certainly made great use of the music and the interaction with the kids in "The Lonely Goatherd," and her vocal range was wonderful during the yodeling--done live, might I remind us all.

I think maybe part of the problem was not Underwood but the guy playing Von Trapp, who took the "repressed" aspect of his character way too far. For one thing, he might be a bit too young for the part. I found myself yearning for Christopher Plummer just as Toni did. You knew that Plummer's Von Trapp had been vivacious at one point. This guy, I'm not so sure.
 

SoundtracksOnIce

On the Ice
Joined
May 16, 2013
I really enjoyed it. I felt like this Von Trapp actually seemed closer to his children and I enjoyed Carrie Underwood. The best voices I thought were the Captain's and the Abbess'. Once I saw they were really making it a stage musical filmed I never even thought of it as a remake and just instead felt like I was going to the theater for free!

And although I adore Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer really made me angry with his comments about the original movie and I wish he'd never taken the role. So it's nice to have someone else to think of now.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
The final scenes had real power, and by the end, I felt that Carrie Underwood was the ideal choice. I don't know whether she's a subtle actress, but her very sincerity fit the role well. The first singing of "Climb Every Mountain" demonstrated this especially effectively. It seemed that Underwood herself was moved to tears by Audra McDonald's singing, and her honest reaction was exactly what Maria should have conveyed. During the rest of that last section, Underwood's straightforwardness was the right contrast to the more worldly Frau Schraeder.

I think that the emphasis on the political situation at the end was just right, and I have to say that even though I knew the outcome (both in the production and in historical reality), I was on pins and needles. I missed seeing this section the first time the show was telecast, so I got the full impact of it tonight.
 

SoundtracksOnIce

On the Ice
Joined
May 16, 2013
I adore Anne Hathaway but I don't think she has the "innocence" for this part. I think she had the spunk that would have made her a good real Maria but for musical Maria Carrie was better.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
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Did anyone watch this on Thursday night? Thoughts? I thought it was beyond awful,
Any thoughts?

Yay!! I was able to watch it last night and my thoughts, it was good!!!

Poor Carrie Underwood was terrible.

I thought she was good.

I went into it thinking it was going to be terrible as you reviewed it and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. I may not be refined enough to know the difference but her voice was splendid and her acting was young and innocent (as is how most actress who are as young as Carrie were at one time).
 
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