Ted Chapin, President, Rodgers & Hammerstein, says that on any given night somewhere in the world “The Sound of Music” is being performed.
“It’s done everywhere from high schools and colleges to dinner theaters, Broadway, the [London] West End, China and Moscow,”
And on Thursday, Dec. 5, it’s being staged again, on NBC, in a live television event starring Carrie Underwood as Maria, Stephen Moyer as Captain Von Trapp and a cast of Broadway pros, including five-time Tony winner Audra McDonald.
Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, this “Sound of Music” is based on the play, not the movie, in which Julie Andrews starred as Maria.
Fans of the film may become apoplectic when they hear Underwood sing “My Favorite Things” and some of Andrews’ other iconic numbers, but Andrews gave Underwood her blessing. At a 10th anniversary concert hall in Los Angeles this week, Andrews said, “I think she’s great. After 40 or 50 years it’s probably time somebody else had a crack at it.”
Still, the Oklahoma-born Underwood, dressed in tights and a green sweatshirt at a downtown Manhattan rehearsal hall, says, “I knew I had the furthest to go” of anybody in the cast. Working with dialect and acting coaches, Underwood was given extra time to prepare before the rest of the cast met.
“She’s one of those people who showed up the first day and knew every line of the script and every note of every song,” Zadan says. “She’s an unbelievably hard worker.”
And, Zadan reports, the twang is gone.
Zadan and Meron had had the idea to do another musical on TV, after having the successes of “Cinderella,” with Brandy and Whitney Houston, “Gypsy” with Bette Midler and “Annie” with Kathy Bates. Choosing to mount “The Sound of Music” as a three-hour event is in keeping with recent ratings trends that say live productions such as the Golden Globe Awards bring in large viewership. But they never wanted to upstage Andrews — or Austria, setting for the film. The production will be staged in a facility in Bethpage, Long Island, a far cry from Salzburg.
“We would never propose to do a remake of the movie. It’s sacrosanct,” Zadan says. “Nobody really knows the play and the differences between the play and the movie. We got excited by the idea of exposing a new generation to the play.”
They were also excited by the prospect of casting Underwood in the Andrews role. The 30-yearold singer, who won “American Idol” nearly a decade ago. has sold millions and millions of records and has a devoted fan base among country music fans — and among Christians.
“I think it’s very important, especially in a piece like this, a musical that deals with religion and nuns, that she has that fan base,” Zadan says. “There’s an element in faith-based belief in the show. The spirituality in the show lends itself to Carrie’s core audience.” Maria von Trapp’s devout Catholicism — she almost did become a nun, after all — was an especially appealing aspect of the role for Underwood. “Her faith was very important to her and it’s important to me,” she says.
And she’s up for the challenge. Keeping within the structure of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score has meant she can’t change the melody or hold the notes out, as she might with one of her own hits, but she’s happy to learn. “I like instructions, I like directions. People freak out when I’m on time,” she says.
There have been some moments in rehearsal, when she sang “The Lonely Goatherd,” when Underwood felt like she’s back home. “I’ve been yodeling my whole life, growing up listening to Kitty Wells and The Carter Family.” And others when, flanked by McDonald and the other Broadway actresses playing the nuns, that she felt transported. “When they sang, I thought, ‘This is what heaven’s going to sound like.’”