Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

TheLittleSongbird To me, this production did have serious problems other than any mistakes that can happen live or on opening nights, things small or major always happen in live performance and opening nights and as a singer and performer I took that into account. This production did have a big task to do, take on a well-known musical that is one of the best ever written and not an easy one to take on either and do it live, while I didn't care for it the effort is commendable.Why see it in the first place? My love for The Sound of Music(stage musical and the timeless 1965 film) is the biggest reason but also it was to see whether it was the performance-with-no-redeeming-qualities that it was described as by viewers of this year's Peter Pan Live. Is a performance with no redeeming qualities? Not to this viewer. The songs are of course amazing, one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best scores and the orchestra play it most beautifully and with stylish energy, something that you wish was matched by what was happening on stage. The costumes are nice on the eye, accurate to period and like you would expect costumes for a production of The Sound of Music to look. And there are a few good performances here, two of them great even. Those two performances belonged to Laura Benanti and especially Audra McDonald. Benanti could easily have made Elsa one-dimensional but she actually does a lot with the character and makes her interesting and likable. McDonald's Mother Abbess is quite easily the best performance of the production, dramatically she gives a very strong and warm-hearted performance and the best voice of the cast by far belongs to her. Her Climb Every Mountain was the only real time here that made me really sit up or gave any emotional impact, it is magnificently sung and a huge improvement on the rendition given in the 1965 film. Christian Borle is good too, playing Max very charmingly indeed.Sadly most of the performances don't work. The children are not as prominent here and don't always look very involved, the singing is okay but there was clearly not as much detail to the acting as to the music and the children aren't exceptions, Sophia Ann Caruso was pretty good actually as Brigitta but for examples Ariane Rinehart is rather stiff as Liesel(particularly in Sixteen Going On Seventeen, Michael Campayno matches her as an even stiffer and a too-old Rolf) and Peyton Ella is not quite cute enough for Gretl. A lot of the supporting roles are very amateurishly played, let down by the lack of stage direction. But it's the two leads that disappoint the most. Stephen Moyer's singing is pretty much tuneless and devoid of passion or nuance- while Christopher Plummer in the film didn't have the most exceptional of voices either there was an intimacy to his singing that Moyer's lacked- and unfortunately his acting is just as bad, the captain is literally remote and without feeling here(like when the Captain has a change of heart there wasn't that huge amount of difference seemingly).As much as this is going to sound like "bandwagon jumping", I am in agreement with those who found that Carrie Underwood didn't work as Maria, though she does deserve a lot of credit for trying. There is no denying Underwood can sing, there is evidence of beautiful tone here and she has the notes and such right but there is a tendency for a belting quality to come through that can sound harsh and it just doesn't sound right for the role(this is meant as judging her on her own merits and with no vocal stereotyping) and there definitely could have been more dynamic range. Her acting is where she largely fails, she is very wooden in the early half of the production and never did come over naturally in personal opinion throughout the production, singing and saying her lines with not a huge amount of emotion or understanding what she's singing about(strange because she brings those qualities singing country, put it down to inexperience maybe). She and Moyer's chemistry never shows much spark, even in their lovely but staid duet together, but the stage direction doesn't give them any favours. The staging, with the exception of Climb Every Mountain, very rarely comes alive, the only convincing chemistry is between Elsa and Max and there are numerous times where the actors don't look sure what to do or how to deliver a line, which means we never get to know or care for the characters even when knowing the music and story inside out. The production also makes the mistake of down-playing the Nazi's role in the story, which dilutes the tension present in the second half of the story. So when the staging doesn't come alive, despite being more laudably faithful structurally and in song-placement to the stage musical than the film, neither does the story. Visually, the production is not a very appealing one outside of the costumes and the camera work was alright(better than in Peter Pan Live) if never exceptional. The sets really could have done with more scope and colour, instead looking very plain and sound-stage-like, while the lighting also could have been bolder. The lack of a live audience hurt the production somewhat, it would have made the performance more exciting maybe and somehow it didn't feel like a live production. Lastly, the audio is not very good, at some points in the production it is close to awful, it often favours the orchestra to the extent that you can't hear much else and some of the singing due to the lack of balance sounded a touch distant.Overall, not as bad as reputed to be because it does have some bright spots(particularly McDonald) but considering the source material this was disappointingly mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

dragora116 There are some who compare the live TV production to the 1965 film; others compare it to the original Broadway production. Although such comparisons may be inevitable, I think that things should stand on their own merits and deserve to be seen in their own light (I mean, no disrespect intended to the extremely brave and wonderful Von Trapp family, but has anyone compared them to the Broadway and/or Hollywood version of themselves). My impression of the 'live' production was that it was quite a Herculean task to pull off and they were certainly ambitious in their efforts. And, everyone involved should be applauded. However, when dealing with such a huge undertaking a subject matter, as well as such iconic roles, casting becomes a huge issue. Yes, Carrie Underwood is a wonderful singer and can hit the high notes, and yes she is popular, but her acting is nowhere near up to snuff. I would go as far as to say she was wooden and lacked all of the charm the role needs. I'm not saying this to be malicious. It is only my impression of her in this particular role, not a criticism of her as a country-western performer, nor human being. Yes, Stephen Moyer is handsome, dashing, and can carry a tune. But he does not have the charm, nor charisma of a Captain Von Trapp. He seemed lost and too concerned with hitting his marks.And, who can ignore the enormous vocal talent that is Audra McDonald. But even she was far from believable as the Mother Superior. She seemed to be playing the role of a 'Grande-Dame of the Stage', dressed in a habit.What it comes down to, for me only, is if a production has the combined chemistry of all of its parts to draw me in and make me care for the characters, feel their emotions, and invest in their outcome. For this group, I did not.I may say 'A' for 'ambition', but a definite 'D' for 'dull'.

rheijoelmd As far as I know this is a live television adaptation of the original stage musical and NOT the film version. I know a lot would not agree with how the show was made but who's to blame? The magnificent voices of the cast brings back memories on how the Von Trapp family became a sensation. Carrie may not have had the best of acting abilities but when she starts to sing the chemistry that defines her as Maria starts to appear. I don't think it would be fair to compare her with Julie Andrews but I do believe that she did better than any other Broadway actresses who played Maria on-stage. I can only say to myself that they did cast the right people for a television show. To play on-stage would be a different thing.Kudos to Carrie Underwood.

David Farris and the word barftastic comes to mind. Would have scored it a 1 but I only wretched 3 or four times.I guess acting wasn't a qualifier for casting. Then again the singing is trite and uninspiring. Watching this made me cheer for the Nazi's. Well only in capturing and locking away the family for crimes against artistry. Even the evil administrator made me want to turn on monster truck wars or something more entertaining. And whoever had the bright idea of putting a guitar in her hands, should resign from ever writing again. It looks robotic and bizarre. The whole look and feel of the movie seems faked, thrown together and in the end, this is a remake that should never have been done.