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

marcijimlove I am so tired of hearing everybody compare this production to the Julie Andrews classic. This musical was a TV version of the stage production and it was delightful. The children were believable and the whole family was fun to watch. I want to buy this DVD as a regular tradition for our family to enjoy along with the original Sound of Music production. Each version (the live and the original) of Sound of Music has it own unique reasons to love and enjoy them. There are moments in this new one that will take your breath away because the music is so ethereal and beautiful. Most of the movie was full of joyful, exuberance that was in every song and word. I was surprised when I looked at the web and saw so much criticism and meanness about this production. I am glad we did not listen and instead were treated to a night of beauty and inspiration. 10 Stars is not enough. Carrie Underwood and the entire cast gave us a treasure and another beloved holiday classic that we can enjoy for years to come. Thank you!

Patrick Rusk Read all the favorable reviews that discuss the importance of comparing this to the Broadway play, rather than the Andrews' movie. They cover that much better than I can.For my part, I think this was a towering achievement for Carrie Underwood. She is just 30 years old, just as Andrews was in the '65 movie. But Andrews had 15 years of experience on stage and in film before making the movie. Underwood was discovered by American Idol only eight years ago, and has mainly been busy selling 16 million albums and winning every singing award possible. Her star power was necessary to bankroll and draw viewers to this production. Just having the *courage* to do this is laudable, but she nailed even the acting as well as anyone could possibly expect her to.You only need to reflect on the strength of the performances of Captain Von Trapp and the Abbess to realize how flawless the performance would have been if they cast a seasoned Broadway actress in the role of Maria. But would you have tuned in? Maybe a quarter of you would. I don't think I would have. Answering the question "Can she pull this off?" was half the fun of watching... and she did!One other outstanding feature of the production: the camera angles were immaculate. I have never seen a live event with so many camera angles and changes. The height of professionalism in direction.Also, I loved the scene changes where characters walked from one set into another. Very clever, and excellently done.

SewbDude As a child, I was treated to my mother's record of the 1965 Sound of Music and spent a few family movie nights watching a VHS copy. Since I was not alive to see the original run of Sound of Music on Broadway, this 1965 record is the original version of the music and characters to me. Julie Andrews' enjoyable portrayal of Maria, Christopher Plummer as the respectable Captain Von Trapp, and the fun loving cast of children and Uncle Max is unmatched. Classic songs that I once broke into as a child, hiking up the foothills of North Carolina, have been destroyed in this "attempt." As darling and talented as Ms. Underwood is, her voice sounds very throaty and unpleasant in this rendition. Similarly, the entertaining and endearing group of nuns in the original turn into an ear piercing gang of screamers. After their first few songs, I had to mute them or prepare to start bleeding from the ears.All in all, this 2013 attempt is very disappointing. The magic of the original was not even remotely recaptured. Like the flu, you cannot wait for it to be over. Avoid.