Musicals On TV - The Sound of Music Live

NBC/Universal, 2013
Starring Carrie Underwood, Stephan Moyer, Christine Bennati, and Audra McDonald
Directed by Rob Ashford and Beth McCarthy-Miller
Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

Hoping to promote more live events, NBC made The Sound of Music their big holiday special for 2013. At the time, it was a big gamble. A live musical hadn't been seen on television since the 1960's. Not only that, but their staging was based on the original Broadway show, using only one of the songs from the film. How well did they do? Let's return to those famous Austrian hills...or a stage approximation...to find out...

The Story: Maria Rainer (Underwood) is a novice nun at Nonnberg Abbey in Austria, but she's too spirited for the order. The Mother Superior (McDonald) sends her to be a governess to the stern Captain Von Trapp (Moyer) and his seven children. The Captain uses a whistle to call them and expects Maria to do the same, but she gives them respect and plays music with them instead, gaining their trust. The Captain comes home to discover his children and Maria are running around in clothes she made from her discarded curtains. He dismisses her after she points out that he barely knows his children...but changes his mind when he hears the children singing for his good friend Max Detweiller (Christian Borle) and fiancee Countess Elsa Schrader (Benatti).

He holds a party for them and dances a lander, an Austrian national dance, with Maria. Realizing she's in love with him. Maria runs off, but the Mother Abbess realizes she's hiding and sends her back. Meanwhile, the kids are upset and no longer feel like singing, and the Captain is disgusted by Max and Elsa constantly insisting that he should go along with the Nazis and their taking over Europe. Maria says she'll stay until they can find another governess, but the Captain has realizes that he loves her.

The Nazis invade Austria while they're on their honeymoon. When they return, they discover that Max has entered the family into the Kaltzenburg Festival and the Captain has been commissioned into the German Navy. Maria convinces the Nazis to let them sing at the festival...but it'll take all their know-how, and some help from the nuns at the Abbey, to allow them to escape over the mountains to freedom.

The Song and Dance: The supporting cast really shines here, with Broadway stars McDonald, Borle, and Benatti the stand-outs as the warm and wise Mother Abbess, sarcastic Max, and self-centered Countess. Ariene Rinehart and Michael Campayno are lovely as Von Trapp's eldest daughter Lisel and her sweetheart, too. I actually like that the story returns to its original contours. "The Lonely Goatheard" makes more sense as a way for Maria to cheer up the children than as a random number for them and puppets.

Favorite Number: Underwood and the kids have a great time marching in place as she teaches the kids "Do-Re-Mi" and still follows their father's orders. Rinehart and Campayno are adorable rolling down the hill in "Sixteen Going On Seventeen." "The Lonely Goatherd," with the kids hiding under the bed as Underwood sings the story, is just too funny. We get to hear more from Elsa and Max, who point out the inevitability of invasion in "No Way to Stop It" and "How Can Love Survive?"

What I Don't Like: While it is nice to hear two songs that didn't make it into the film, they also put more emphasis than needed on Max and Elsa and less than you'd like on Maria's relationship with the kids. Despite mostly sticking to the show, they actually did sneak a movie song in, "Something Good." The scenery, while lovely, can't match the very real Austria in the film and lacks the intimacy and warmth it displayed.

The biggest problem is the leads. Underwood is a wonderful country singer, but she's not much of an actress, and her instrument is totally inappropriate for Broadway showtunes. Moyer's stiff and dull opposite her.

The Big Finale: Underwood is no Julie Andrews, but the supporting cast is good, and it gets far closer to the original Broadway show. If  you're a fan of Broadway or the cast or are willing to check out a different  "Sound of Music," this is worth at least a look.

Home Media: Cheap and easily found on DVD and a few streaming services.

DVD
Amazon Prime (buy only)