When I first went to download the music, I made sure "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" downloaded first, because I heard a snippet of Audra McDonald singing it, and I was completely bowled over by the clarity and beauty of her voice in this song! This song usually has a very operatic sound, and to just have the beginning in a subdued straight tone that builds to the vibrato is so beautiful to me. The emotion and fervor intensifies noticeably to it's climatic and hopeful ending and I think it gives more layers to the song. It's just so gorgeous and Audra McDonald more than does justice to it. I absolutely love her and it was a great move to cast her in this role!
So this production is based on the original Broadway musical, not the wonderful film, and there are some songs in this that maybe people who are just familiar with the film might not have heard. Like one of my top favorite songs from this musical - "How Can Love Survive" which is sung by the Baroness and Max. It's sort of a comic relief song where they bemoan the fact that you rarely have love stories featuring rich couples - memorable romances need obstacles. First of all, true, and second it's such a fun and buoyant song - I absolutely adore it. With such wonderful singers cast, I'm glad they included this song in this production. The other non-film song for the Baroness and Max and Captain Von Trapp is "No Way to Stop It" - is also fun I guess, but I've never really cared for it. I wonder if seeing it in the live show will make me like it more, but for now I don't like the message of it - basically give up and be selfish.
The one word that comes to mind when I think of Carrie Underwood's voice as Maria is strident. Which is fine. Maria has a strong personality and it makes sense that her voice reflects that. For the romantic number "Something Good" (which also happens to be my favorite song from the musical) I would have liked a little more softness and lilting, especially to match Stephen Moyer's softer tenor, but in the other songs it is perfect. Stephen Moyer doesn't have the strongest voice but he has a very nice sound and I especially loved him in "The Sound of Music Reprise" and "Edelweiss".
This is a great recording of the musical overall, and it made me even more eager to see the show live tonight. It's great to hear the stuff that didn't make it into the film and also to hear some of the really fantastic people they gathered together for this production!
I didn't have the chance to watch this, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the live show!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post it probably around Christmas for that week's Awesome Adaptation! I don't know how forgiving you are of the limitations of a live TV production, but I thought they did a great job making it work. It could have used stronger leads, and Carrie Underwood underwhelmed in the acting, but it was enjoyable overall!
DeleteI wish I would've taped this!! It was so popular I am expecting them to do a reshowing of it before Christmas. Or at least I hope they will. I wasn't really interested but then when I saw everyone's reactions I knew I missed something good!!
ReplyDeleteThey probably will! They also usually show the film around Christmas too - so I wonder if they will show both! It was really fun reading comments on twitter - and seeing how many Sound of Music fans I didn't know was on my twitter feed. :D
DeleteTotally enjoyed this production. Agree the singing was great but acting was so, so! The staging and dancing was lovely..and audra Macdonald climb every mountain was amazing!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! If they do more of these live stagings, I hope they take a chance on casting some really great actors AND singers in the main roles.
DeleteSo sad I missed this! I've only seen the movie with Julie Andrews (and fell in live with it years ago) but love the Von Trapp family :) So great that the singing was good, although the acting fell a bit flat. Do you think Underwood was a good choice as Maria?
ReplyDeleteUnderwood's acting was just not good enough for this sadly. But it is still enjoyable - definitely nice to have the film to watch when you want to see perfection though! :)
DeleteI had so much fun watching The Sound of Music Live! I was disappointed in Carrie Underwood's acting, but I was happy that they stuck to the original script and kept "How Can Love Survive" in, and Audra McDonald's voice is so amazing! I saw a quote of Carrie saying that it was like Audra just "opened her mouth and butterflies came out," and I couldn't agree more. :)
ReplyDeleteAlice @ Alice in Readerland
Yay for another fan of How Can Love Survive! Seriously I listen to that song a lot. :D That Carrie quote sounds about right - Audra has such a beautiful voice!
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