The Sound of Music Live!
| The Sound of Music Live! | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster
|
|
| Genre | Musical drama |
| Created by | |
| Based on |
The Sound of Music by Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse |
| Written by | Austin Winsberg |
| Directed by | |
| Presented by | NBC |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Rodgers and Hammerstein |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Priscilla Taussig |
| Location(s) |
Grumman Studios Bethpage, New York |
| Running time | 135 minutes |
| Distributor | Universal Studios Home Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Color, NTSC, Widescreen |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original release | December 5, 2013 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Peter Pan Live! |
| External links | |
| The Sound of Music Live! | |
The Sound of Music Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical The Sound of Music, starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, performed and televised live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York.
Spearheaded by NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt, the network positioned the special as being a live television "event". In preparing for the broadcast, Meron and Zadan emphasized the logistical challenges that they would face due to the live aspects of the special, and the fact that The Sound of Music Live! was an adaptation based on the musical itself and not the 1965 film version. Meron felt that if the telecast were successful, the concept could become "another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV." By her request, Underwood's casting as Maria was personally endorsed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1965 film.
The production was met with mixed reviews; much of its criticism was directed towards the casting of Carrie Underwood to play Maria, whom critics (including the real-life von Trapp family) believed was not experienced enough in theatre to portray such an iconic role. While her vocal performance was praised, the acting performance of Underwood was described as being "amateur", "lifeless" and lacking emotion by critics. Despite these criticisms, the production was a ratings success for NBC; with a total of 18.62 million live viewers, The Sound of Music Live! brought the network its highest Thursday night viewership for an entertainment program since the series finale of Frasier in 2004, and prompted NBC to sign Zadan and Meron on to produce more live musicals for the network in the future.
...
Wikipedia