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.

The Sound of Music Live!
Promotional poster
Created by	Craig Zadan Neil Meron
Based on	The Sound of Music
Written by	Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse
Directed by	Rob Ashford Beth McCarthy-Miller
Presented by	NBC
Starring	Carrie Underwood Stephen Moyer Audra McDonald Laura Benanti Christian Borle
Composer	Rodgers and Hammerstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Craig Zadan Neil Meron
Producer	Priscilla Taussig
Production locations	Grumman Studios Bethpage, New York
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	December 5, 2013

The production was met with mixed reviews; much of its criticism was directed towards the casting of Carrie Underwood to play Maria, who critics (including the real-life von Trapp family) believed was not experienced enough in theatre to portray such an iconic role. While her vocal performances was universally 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 presentations of musicals for the network in the future.

Following its original airing, an encore presentation of The Sound of Music Live! aired on December 14, 2013. It notably displaced one of NBC's two traditional airings of the film It's a Wonderful Life (the other being on Christmas Eve), which was bumped ahead to December 20, 2013.^[1][2]

The production starred musical theater newcomers Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp and Stephen Moyer as Georg von Trapp, backed by Broadway veterans and Tony Award winners Audra McDonald as Mother Abbess, Laura Benanti as Elsa Schrader and Christian Borle as Max Detweiler.^[3] Benanti had previously portrayed Maria von Trapp on Broadway in 1998.^[4] Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who had previously worked with Borle on the NBC musical drama television series Smash, served as executive producers.^[4][5] Other cast members included Michael Campayno as Rolf, Sophia Caruso as Brigitta von Trapp, Peyton Ella as Gretl von Trapp, Michael Nigro as Fredrich von Trapp, Ariane Rinehart as Liesl von Trapp, Grace Rundhaug as Marta von Trapp, Ella Watts-Gorman as Louisa von Trapp, and Joe West as Kurt von Trapp.^[5] Other credits include Rob Ashford and Beth McCarthy-Miller as directors, Ashford also was the choreographer, Priscilla Taussig served as producer, David Chase as music director, Derek McLane as production designer. Catherine Zubar was costume designer and Bernie Telsey was the casting director. The production is taken from the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse with suggested book of The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp.^[6]

On June 30, 2012, NBC's chairman Bob Greenblatt announced the network's plans to broadcast a live adaptation of the Broadway musical The Sound of Music in 2013.^[7] On November 30, 2012, the network announced that country music performer Carrie Underwood would star as Maria von Trapp in the production. In a statement, Greenblatt justified Underwood's involvement, saying that "[Maria] was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist."^[4][8] On September 16, 2013, NBC revealed the full cast of the special, and released a promotional image depicting Underwood as Maria von Trapp, wearing blond braids and a dirndl, referencing one of Julie Andrews' "most iconic moments" from the film adaptation.^[3][9] According to Underwood, prior to being cast she went and asked Andrews if she could do the role and Andrews approved of her casting and the airing of the televised event. Underwood stated "Whenever I do a cover of somebody's song or whatever, I always get permission of the artist first."^[10][11]

Produced on a budget of around $9 million, The Sound of Music Live! was broadcast live from a soundstage built at Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York.^[12] Zadan considered it to be "one of the profoundly complicated, amazing experiences we’ve ever had", noting the additional challenges created by the live broadcast. The producers also noted that while promoting the special, they and NBC particularly emphasized that the production was not a remake of the film, but the actual musical itself. Neil Meron believed that "what we are hoping is in success that we open the door to another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV. I think that the audience will discover, within the first few minutes of watching the show, that they are not seeing a TV version of the movie. They'll know right away it's The Sound of Music, but it's a different Sound of Music than they are accustomed to seeing on film." Meron also praised the involvement of Underwood as the star of the production, believing that she was a quick learner, and "has all of the qualities of Maria." NBC Entertainment president Robert Greenblatt was highly supportive of the project, as he was, in the words of Zadan, a "passionate devotee of theater".^[13][14]

Promoted by NBC as a "three-hour holiday event",^[4] The Sound of Music Live! was aired as part of a push by NBC to air more live entertainment specials. Among its most popular programs in recent years have been those with live components (such as The Voice and Sunday Night Football); NBC's Jennifer Salke believed that the increased level of social network interaction possible in a live broadcast, along with the feeling of being part of an "event", would encourage viewers to watch the special live instead of on-demand or from a recording. NBC's previous attempt at a live event, The Million Second Quiz, was met with mixed reviews and viewership, but NBC did indicate that Subway's advertising throughout the series brought a higher level of awareness to the brand.^[15] The television special is also the first live musical special in almost fifty to air live on NBC.^[16]

Retail chain Walmart served as the presenting sponsor for The Sound of Music Live!. NBC also produced five themed Walmart commercials to air throughout the special, featuring scenes of a family using products from the store set to songs from The Sound of Music. The five ads were timed to air during the commercial break following the scene where the song was featured; NBC's advertising chief Dan Lovinger considered the ads to be a way to "enhance the excitement" of the presentation for families.^[17]

Critical reception

The Sound of Music Live! received mixed reviews from entertainment critics, commending the show for its scope and supporting cast while questioning Underwood's acting capabilities. Prior to the broadcast, members of the real-life von Trapp family were critical of casting Underwood to play Maria, agreeing with the notion that she would be a good singer but a poor actor. They suggested that Anne Hathaway, who played Fantine in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, would have been a better choice.^[18] On the topic Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast wrote that "Naturally, Underwood sounded astounding, as alive as those damned hills, every time she was asked to stand on top of things and belt. But whether it was because of nerves or lack of experience, her acting was painfully lifeless and amateur throughout the first two thirds of the lengthy ordeal. The singer, it seems, is a proud graduate of the school of 'If I don't blink, they'll think I'm acting!'"^[19]

However, Underwood's musical performance was near-universally praised. Verne Gay of Newsday noted that "[Underwood] can sing, and she is a luminous stage presence who had the guts to take on one of the most iconic roles of the stage or screen."^[20]

Brian Lowry of Variety described the production "as lifeless as [its] alpine backdrops."^[21] Much of the telecast's criticism was directed at Underwood. While Marc Bernardin of The Hollywood Reporter commended the production's aesthetics, however calling it a "very expensive karaoke", and Underwood's vocal performance, he criticized her acting, writing, "[Underwood] doesn’t acquit herself so well when it comes to the carrying the emotional weight of the production." Bernardin also spoke similarly of Moyer, criticizing his vocal performance and describing "his attempt at conveying an emotional hollowness" as "mildly constipated" and "clenched." However, he lauded Benanti, Borle and McDonald's "strong" performances.^[22]

Ratings

The Sound of Music Live! was watched by 18.62 million viewers and had a 4.6 rating in the 18–49 demographic (where it was beaten by The Big Bang Theory).^[23] It was the most-watched program on the night, and had the largest non-sports Thursday audience for NBC since "Goodnight, Seattle", the series finale of Frasier in 2004 (which averaged 22.6 million viewers).^[24] It was also NBC's most-watched non-sports show on any night since its 2007 Golden Globes broadcast.^[25] The show performed the best with women in the 25–54 demographic, reaching a household rating of 7.0 for that demographic during the primetime broadcast.^[26] It did particularly well in Oklahoma City, the capital of Underwood's home state, where it was watched by 28% of TV viewers.^[27] At least 38.69 million viewers watched a portion of The Sound of Music Live!.^[28] Factoring in DVR viewership over the week following the broadcast, the special was viewed by 21.84 million, with 3.1 million within the first three days.^[28][29][30] A rebroadcast on December 14, 2013 attracted 3.1 million viewers.^[31]

Robert Greenblatt considered the production to be a success, and signed Meron and Zadan on to produce another live musical for the 2014 holiday season. Greenblatt believed that there were enough recognizable, family-friendly musicals to make events like The Sound of Music Live! an annual tradition, and indicated that over the following weekend, NBC received numerous e-mails and phone calls from theatrical rightsholders who expressed interest in having their musicals adapted in a similar fashion.^[32]

The Sound of Music Live! also influenced the viewership of ABC's annual broadcast of the 1965 film version of The Sound of Music (which itself was up against NBC's Sunday Night Football); with 6.5 million viewers and a 1.3 share, it was ABC's highest-rated airing of the film since 2007.^[28]

The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event was released on December 3, 2013.^[33] The soundtrack, released by Sony Masterworks, includes studio recordings of songs that were later performed live during the broadcast.^[34] Walmart stores sold the soundtrack with an exclusive nine tracked sing-along bonus disc.^[35] The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 17 with sales of 38,000.^[36][37][38] On December 21, 2013 the soundtrack debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Soundtracks chart.^[39] The following week the soundtrack held the number 2 spot on the Billboard Soundtracks chart,^[40] as well as its third week on the chart.^[41] It has sold 103,000 copies in the US as of January 2, 2014.^[42]

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the soundtrack three out of five starts and did not give much of a positive review. He stated that the soundtrack "is absent the one quality that made the televised musical so interesting: it is not recorded live; it was cut in the studio" and stated that by doing so the cast are show how they "are throwing themselves into their roles." Erlewine did however praise them for staying true to the original Broadway musical and the film by stating "the arrangements are faithful to either the original Broadway production or, most often, the 1965 film -- which is appropriate" and concluded by stating "This 2013 staging is a nostalgic celebration of one of the most beloved 20th century musicals and it does right by its source material."^[33] Matt Bjorke of Roughstock praised Underwood's vocals stating "She really suits musical theater (much like she’s a classical country singer at heart). Her pure and pristine voice simply shines on songs like "The Sound of Music," and "My Favroite Things" (with Audra McDonald)." Bjorke also predicted that the album would do well due to Underwood's appearance on the soundtrack and stating her duets with Moyer and Rinehart "are equally strong and beautifully crafted with musical director/conductor David Chase." He also stated that due to Borle's, McDonald's and Benati's appearances this would "help the soundtrack give fans something to enjoy long after the live event concludes." Bjorke concluded by stating "This is an iconic Broadway production and while there has been some ‘worry’ that they’ll mess it up, this soundtrack should easily put those worries to rest and it should give fans excitement that Carrie Underwood could one day headline a Broadway production if she so chooses to do so."^[43]

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits for The Sound of Music: Music from the NBC Television Event are adapted from AllMusic.^[44] Additional credits adapted from liner notes.^[45]

On instruments

Sounding

Managerial

Technical and production

Visuals and imagery

Chart performance

The special was released on DVD on December 17, 2013,^[46] through Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes look, titled "The Making of The Sound of Music Live!"^[47] and a preview of the soundtrack.^[48] It was released on DVD in Canada on January 7, 2014.^[49]

• 2013 in American television
• Carrie Underwood discography
• List of songs recorded by Carrie Underwood

• A^ Track listing adapted from AllMusic^[33] and Amazon.com.^[50]
• B^ Track listing adapted from Walmart.com.^[35] Length is taken from the physical compact disc.^[51]

• Official website
• The Sound of Music Live! at IMDb