The Sound of Music: More News and a Trailer

So, I think that one of the main thing that viewers of NBC's live stage version of The Sound of Music will complain about is that it isn’t like the movie. I just read the list of songs for the soundtrack, which will be released around December 3rd, and it looks like they will be using the script for the original Broadway version, and not the movie. I’m excited that they’re actually doing the stage version.

Some of the differences from the stage version and the movie are:

• “My Favorite Things” will be sung by the Mother Abbess (Audra McDonald) to Maria before she goes to the Von Trapp’s, instead of Maria singing it to the children during the thunder storm
• That means Maria will sing “The Lonely Goatherd” to the children when they are afraid of the thunder storm, not while presenting a puppet show to their father and Baroness Schraeder
• Maria won’t sing “I Have Confidence,” which was written for the movie
• They will be doing two songs that were not in the movie: "How Can Love Survive," and my favorite song from the musical, “No Way to Stop It.” I'm excited to hear Laura Benanti and Christian Borle sing both of these songs.

The Von Trapp children have been cast. The majority of the kids have theatre backgrounds, and since they didn't cast any "big names," I'm sure they can act and sing or they wouldn't have been cast. Actually, I'm pretty happy with their casting so far, I just hope Carrie can act and Stephen Moyer can sing. *wink* The young actors are: Ariane Rinehart (Liesl), Michael Nigro (Fredrich), Ella Watts-Gorman (Louisa), Joe West (Kurt), Sophia Caruso (Brigitta), Grace Rundhaug (Marta), and Peyton Ella (Gretl).

I am getting more and more excited about the production, and I hope that it gets good reviews and ratings and that NBC and other networks will produce more musical productions like this one.

EW has just posted a trailer for the musical. Since the show will be broadcast live, the trailer shows rehearsal footage. Fun!

Casting News for NBC's The Sound of Music

Stephen Moyer (True Blood) will join Carrie Underwood in NBC's new version of The Sound of Music as Captain Von Trapp. It's an interesting choice, and I hope he can sing. I have no doubt about the singing of three other actors who have joined the cast. Five-time Tony award winner, Audra McDonald (Private Practice), will play the Mother Abbess, Laura Benanti (Tony award winner for Gypsy) will play Baroness Elsa Schrader, and Christian Borle (Smash, Tony award winner for Peter and the Starcatcher) will play Max Dettweiler. I love it when the casting directors for movie (and television) musicals  look to Broadway for the roles. They have made smart choices so far, since this show is going to be broadcast live.

Side note: I had the pleasure of seeing Audra McDonald in concert a few weeks ago. I knew she had an incredible voice, but she is amazing live. I can understand why she won all of those Tony awards. She will make an amazing Mother Abbess, and when she sings "Climb Every Mountain," she is going to blow everyone away.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Carrie

It looks like Carrie Underwood wants to be the next Julie Andrews, or is that Maria von Trapp? 

Carrie is the latest American Idol alum to go into musical theatre. She will star in a three-hour live stage version of The Sound of Music that will be broadcast on NBC during the holidays in 2013. I really like Carrie Underwood, and I think she has a great voice. I've never seen her act, so I can't say whether or not I think she can fill the role well. You can hear her sing the title song from the musical in the following video:



I was impressed by her version, though she does sing some phrases like a pop singer, not a musical theatre singer. However, the song was done for a concert, not for a stage production of the musical. I just hope they won't let her sing the last phrase of the song the way she did in this concert. *wink*

It will be interesting to see if the production will be the real stage version of the musical or if it will be a stage version of the film. There are many differences between the original stage production and the movie, and most people aren't familiar with the stage version. Audiences will expect Maria to sing "My Favorite Things" during the rain storm, not "The Lonely Goatherd." In the stage version, the Abbess sings "My Favorite Things" to Maria before she goes off to her new position as nanny to the von Trapp children. Audiences will also expect Maria and the Captain to sing "Something Good," and not "An Ordinary Couple." I hope they include my favorite song that was not in film, "No Way to Stop It."

Speaking of the Captain, I wonder who will be cast in that part? Hmmm.

How do you feel about Carrie playing Maria? Do you think she'll do a good job? Did you like her rendition of "The Sound of Music?"