Nearly 50 years have passed since the last time an ambitious producer attempted to stage a musical on TV and have it performed live. And the last time, the project was also a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. In 1957, “Cinderella” was broadcast live on CBS — to an astounding audience of 107 million viewers who tuned in to see a Broadway sensation named Julie Andrews, then only in her early 20s, play the lead role with her usual lilting grace. A tape of the original color broadcast does not survive.
The supporting cast had some names. Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley were the evil stepsisters and Edie Adams was the fairy godmother. But it was clearly Andrews’ show. Her pristine vocals soar over the somewhat primitive production values and muddy photography on display in the black-and-white kinescope.
The success of that production led to two filmed remakes. Lesley Ann Warren played the title role in 1964 (she and Andrews later worked together in “Victor/Victoria”) and Brandy Norwood played it (Whitney Houston, of all people, was the fairy godmother) in a 1997 Craig Zadan/Neil Meron production that drew 60 million viewers.
The original star of “The Sound of Music,” the legendary Mary Martin, starred in another live musical production for television, the hit play “Peter Pan,” on NBC in 1955. Martin had already played the role on Broadway, winning a Tony Award. The 1955 broadcast was so popular, Martin did it live again a year later. Her third performance of the role was videotaped, this time at the NBC studio in Midwood, Brooklyn — later home to “The Cosby Show” and the soaps “Another World” and “As the World Turns” — while Martin was doing “SOM” on Broadway.
Talk about a work ethic.