Also...I accidentally took a nap from 8 to 9:45 so I am up and watching videos of Audra McDonald on Youtube...like I am generally want to do.
I must start by saying I was VERY excited by this concept from the beginning. A live staged version of The Sound of Music a la Julie Andrews in Cinderella or Mary Martin in Peter Pan. I sadly was not alive to witness those live, but I have read about the power such things had.
Then I got wind of Carrie Underwood and was certainly skeptical...but hopeful (a la Amy Adams in Into the Woods).
I was still very, VERY excited to be able to watch it live. The experience of it all, but I had to work so I DVRed (is that correct?) it. I got home and my roommates were part way through it. I watched a bit and then went to my room. They told me to lower my expectations greatly. And what I saw of it was very soap opera-esque.
Now let us back all the way up to get my general feelings and history of The Sound of Music in my life. I still remember so vividly watching it in Ms. Thompson's first grade music class. I remember the room, where I was sitting. I remember that I was sick and missed the first day of viewing so it started with the terrace scene with Max, the Baroness, and the Captain. I was obviously enthralled. I got the movie for Christmas or my birthday on VHS. And watched it over, and over, and over again. Three summers later my community theatre was doing it. I was the prime age to play Kurt, but my family was taking a trip to Israel (#class) so I was unable to audition. Our worship minister/later my voice teacher played the captain and my music teacher (Ms. Thompson) was the Mother Abbess. I remember my mother taking me and being obsessed. I believe it was my second live musical.
Cut to my sophomore year of high school. It was announced that we would be doing The Sound of Music for our spring musical. It was of course my dream to play Rolfe. I sang On the Street Where You Live for my audition...a brilliant choice if I do say so myself. I nailed it. Then at some point I thought maybe I should set my sights on playing Friedrich. But truly being a sophomore was poor...not old enough to play Rolfe not young enough for Friedrich (not a girl, not yet a woman).
I was cast in the ensemble...aka a fat lot of nothin'. My sophomore ego was VERY bruised. I did end up getting bumped up to playing Admiral Von Schreiber when both of our Rolfe's left, Herr Zeller was bumped up to Rolfe, etc etc. I landed a boring scene with a few lines that meant nothing to me. I was a DIVA.
After that I was very meh about The Sound of Music. I haven't watched the movie in many years. I just didn't care a whole lot.
Now it is the night of the live airing. My roommate's finished it and I started it after. It was very late and I got about forty five minutes in. I was very turned off by Carrie and Stephen Moyer. I thought maybe that was going to be the extent of my experience.
I must again interrupt the story to say that over that night and the next few days I saw a whole lot of backlash via Facebook and other social media sites about the whole experience. It really turned me off to people. Especially the fact that Nelson Mandela had died that day, but Carrie Underwood dominated the news cycle. Perspective people.
A week or so later I went back to the viewing one afternoon after work. I don't know why. Curiosity, I guess?
And I must say, I was swept up. I am not going to break it down in any major way, but there are things worth mentioning.
In any revival of a musical or play I hope to learn something new/have something new revealed to me (a la Denis O'Hare in Into the Woods). Now it has been made clear that I know this show intimately. And there were moments that I grasped in a way I never had; the gravity of it all. From the moment he receives his orders to what it truly means for him to perform with his family. And then the moment at the concert where Uncle Max makes the announcement that the Von Trapp family will be singing one more time. Now the book of this musical is VERY clunky. Certainly no South Pacific. I always viewed this bit of dialogue as extraneous. But it so DIRE. Max is saying this, because there is no other way to let them know that men have shown up to take him away immediately. And it is that moment that saves them. And then the final moments with Rolfe in the abbey. There were many tears throughout the entire experience.
Some shout outs:
- Those four actresses doing How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was just delightful! The staging, those four consummate Broadway professionals! When they all got down on their knees to pray. That should be done in EVERY production it was so smart!
- I have never found Laura Benanti entirely relevant to my life in any way, but I loved her portrayal of Elsa. She is certainly underwritten and under appreciated...and not the character we see in the movie version. She was lovely. And human. And there are some moments that show a bit of her uglier (human) side and she leaned into them. She presented no judgements.
- And the most special of shout outs to Audra McDonald. What a revelation as the Mother Abbess! I read an article about her approach and skepticism of her playing the role. And she brought such humanity. The scene leading up to Climb Ev'ry Mountain resonated in so many ways. Her honesty. She made the dialogue sing. And then her straightforward acting of the song. How could I not be stirred up?
Now, for Carrie. She is one of the most gifted vocalists of our time. She is one of the most celebrated country stars of the twentieth century; the biggest thing to come out of American Idol. An actress she is not...I will not say she is. And her voice does not fit the music. But she was so completely committed. And her sincerity in that scene before Climb Ev'ry Mountain is all I could ever ask for in a Maria. I bought exactly what she was selling. And she handled it all with grace. I commend her. (And I am sure this all means a lot to her...) So we can all say that she took a role away from a Broadway actress or whatever...but first we must look at the SCADS of theater people in that filming.
And most importantly...and NBC's point, I believe, is that if it hadn't been someone like Carrie people wouldn't have seen it! Because, while Laura Osnes would do it with aplomb. She would not bring in the viewers.
The NBC execs didn't sit in their office and think "Oh, I wonder what programming we could do for all the pithy, bitchy gays of this world? Oh, I know! The Sound of Music starring Carrie Underwood." They thought about Julie Andrews and Mary Martin. And the experience they may have had as a child sitting on their stomach on the floor of the television room tuning in like the rest of the country to watch a live musical event. And they thought that as a world we are so caught up in everything else and we don't come together enough. And that night nearly twenty-two MILLION people tuned in. Not that many people see a Broadway show in a YEAR.
Now I must leave you with two things.
1. The reason we all love Carrie Underwood.
2. One of the many reasons we all love Audra McDonald.
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