Were you one of the millions of people in front of your television singing along last week? I know that a lot of people have criticized the television version of The Sound Of Music that Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer starred in, so the theater critic in me has come out. This was a theatrical performance done live for television with no audience and on a sound stage. I DVRed it so that I could watch it in perpetuity and here is my take:
Carrie Underwood is not an actress. She has never claimed to be, but she practiced every single day with that cast, most of whom were Broadway stars (Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti and Christian Borle – all of whom you know from Private Practice, Go On and Smash respectively). The question presented to the television station (I’m sure) was “What names can we get who can pull off such a heavy-hitting performances as Maria Von Trapp and Captain Von Trapp?” They have a budget to consider and while I and many people know the Broadway stars who were cast as supporting actors, they needed names.
Carrie Underwood has a killer voice, she’s the perfect age for Maria and you could see that she worked her tail off. Do I think she did a great acting job? No, but I’m personally okay with that. I have MAJOR issues with a few of the actors cast in the movie of Les Misérables and I think we all know that they were cast because they were names. Julie Andrews is a one and only. There are stars who can sing and act, but can’t dance. In my opinion, though Carrie Underwood’s performance was stiff, she knocked those songs out of the park. Would you have preferred a great actress that gave an “eh” singing performance? I know I wouldn’t have.
All in all, I think they made a great choice. I would LOVE to hear what other actresses/singers you have thought of that could have been cast (and actually done the part justice) because I’m drawing a blank. And in the case of the rest of the cast? I will watch this version along with my classic Sound Of Music in perpetuity.
If you’ve been looking for a deal on The Sound of Music CD from the Carrie Underwood television performance last week, your best price is $9.69 over at Barnes & Noble! You can also get the MP3 for only $11.99 on Amazon!