<p>I’m sure as days pass by, we’re going to see more and more reviews from those associated with the movie. The actress that played Gretl, Kym Karath, got together with Charmian Carr (Liesl) and Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) to watch the show. She tweeted:
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<p>The whole thing is online: [The</a> Sound of Music Live!](<a href=“http://www.nbc.com/sound-of-music/]The”>http://www.nbc.com/sound-of-music/)</p>
<p>So interesting, and really so obvious, in the difference in the comments in this thread. Some of us trashing many aspects of the show, especially CU, and some who just watched and enjoyed. It certainly seems to break down to those of us with kids in theatre and who have seen many live shows from high school productions to Broadway, and those who have not had that opportunity. Having three sons with varying involvement in theatre, two of whom are theatre majors, I have been quite critical of CU’s acting, simply because I’ve seen outstanding high school productions where at least some of the acting was better than what she exhibited last night.</p>
<p>I started watching with the attitude that I really wanted to like it, but eventually I turned to DH and said, “She is no better than what we saw in high school.”</p>
<p>I’m really a little surprised they let that happen to SOM. And, that her management team let that happen to her.</p>
<p>I know some people enjoyed it and that’s great! But this isn’t really a matter of opinion or judgement here. She is universally being panned.</p>
<p>I don’t have a kid involved in MT and I wasn’t - except for chorus parts in camp plays - but I’ve been going to shows on Broadway since I was a tot and I enjoyed last night’s performance. I guess I am just not that picky - especially when I’m not paying $200 a ticket.</p>
<p>I’m on both sides. Carrie Underwood Just. Can’t. Act. And there were other problems: the sound, the lighting, the costumes, the lack of chemistry between Maria and the Captain. But I still enjoyed the show.</p>
<p>Had to tape it because I couldn’t watch it live. I’m so imprinted on the Julie Andrews movie that I could be one of Konrad Lorenz’s ducklings, and I share a lot of the complaints and some of the compliments expressed here.</p>
<p>Rolf looks older than the Captain. Everything was slightly off. BUT…it was still better than 95% of what we watch on an average night.</p>
<p>You know, I thought Rolf looked really old, too. But he’s still in college. And really talented.
The hair and make-up people OMG!</p>
<p>OMG. I have only watched the “Doe a Dear” song, but…but…but, couldn’t they have taught Carrie a few chords on the guitar so she is not just faking playing!!! How can you be a country singer and NOT know how to play the guitar, even just a little bit? I could teach her the chords and how to strum in less than ten minute…say an hour to get good at them. Disgraceful.</p>
<p>Regardless of the rest of it, I kept singing along, having been obsessed with many of the songs as a young kid. I find it nearly impossible not to sing along. So if Carrie wasn’t such a good singer I might have drowned her out, at least in my own living room.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I’ve had fun reading the reviews. </p>
<p>From the NY Times :</p>
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</p>
<p>The Boston Herald included snippets of reviews:
</p>
<p>The Boston Globe:
</p>
<p>People, which rarely gives bad reviews, says:
</p>
<p>The Washington Post:
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<p>CNN included some of the tweets. Among my faves:
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<p>Hey, even if you liked it, reading snark can be fun!</p>
<p>That’s so sad. I almost feel badly for her. Almost.</p>
<p>DiGiorno Pizza live tweeted it - all pizza related tweets. Pretty brilliant marketing and some humorous tweets. Dough Re Mi</p>
<p>I particularly like “The show lasted for three hours, but felt like 16 going on 17.”.</p>
<p>I must admit, I thought it was dreadful. I love the movie, and I love musical theater, but I did not enjoy this at all.</p>
<p>I don’t have anyone involved in musical theater, but I have been to a lot of broadway musicals over the years (though to be honest, in the past 10 years, other than The Producers or Spamalot, most of what passes for musicals these days are Disneyfied crap or stuff tourists love, like Mama Mia, a lot of broadways is catering to tourists…which is sad, because there are so many talented actors and actresses in musical theater. </p>
<p>Yeah, the sound was crappy, Carrie Underwood is not a great actress and so forth, but I still enjoyed it. If I paid 200 bucks to go to a broadway show, I would be ****ed off, but given this was live tv, the 3 hours of my time was worth it,and for whatever reasons I was okay with it. Sure, if they put a broadway pro in the lead, it would have been better, but the reality is that NBC was going to go with a name pop star for this, whether it was CU or not, and the reality was that it allowed, with all its flaws, live tv to happen, which in a see of absolute crap like honey boo boo, the various rich housewives of some la la land, mob wives, little people, big people, duck people, storage wars and 10,000 clones of American Idol, we have something original. In a sense, it was recreating the 1950’s, and a lot of that, despite what people tell you, didn’t work, for every 12 angry men or marty or requiem for a heavyweight, there were a lot of miscues, too. Hopefully given the ratings someone will realize there is room for something different and maybe because of this people will get the chance to see other musicals done, especially these days when the cost of going to see plays and musicals has gotten so ridiculously high. </p>
<p>I always argued that broadway producers and the unions were morons for not allowing the plays to be taped and shown on TV (it has happened, but not enough), broadcasting a live play is not the same as being there, but it is still magical, but their greed stopped it (I know people who made attempts to convince the league of producers and the unions to go along with it, and immediately it became a ‘bowling for dollars’ kind of thing). I suspect with an audience of 18 million, that some of those, besides the ones looking to spear fish it, came out and said ‘wow’, and actually would like to see more, and even if they live outside the major theater centers, maybe they will go to a regional theater or a college production of something. I also give Carrie Underwood a lot of credit, not only did it take a lot of guts to do this, knowing she would face the knives, but it seems to me like she didn’t go into this as the diva, it looks like she took it seriously and tried, and going out live like that is more daunting then performing her live country performances, and if she fell short on acting, I can’t hold that against her.</p>
<p>I saw the same thing when people like Paul McCartney made attempts at more classically oriented music, and the classical music snobs, especially the ones who had relatives who were composers, went ballistic…meanwhile, the kind of composers they claim are real write 12 tone music that few can listen to without their heads exploding, or copy Phillip Glass without understanding music as he does…</p>
<p>I leave you with some quotes to think about:</p>
<p>“As an actress, her emotions range the gamut from A to B” (Dorothy Parker, talking about Katherine Hepburn)</p>
<p>“No one ever made a statue dedicated to a critic” - Jean Sibelius</p>
<p>This singing was pretty good but Carrie Underwood showed all the acting range and ability of a cigar store wooden Indian.</p>
<p>musicprnt, Well put and I agree with you.</p>
<p>This, however, I disagree with:</p>
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</p>
<p>She was strumming and playing chords, but she was also singing, and acting (yes, we all agree that wasn’t very good), and moving up and down the staircase, and probably doing some other things we weren’t aware of. I thought the little bit of strumming she did do was enough to let us know that Maria came with her own instrument.</p>
<p>Last night my g/f took a few of us to see The Book of Morman. We were discussing SOM, and her office manager loved it. It made me aware that some of us CCers can be snobbish, based on our experiences. The office manager had seen the movie once. I think she was in the target market.</p>
<p>I am watching the show again now. I’m focussing on the other actors.</p>
<p>The more I think about it, the more I think it would have helped to have a live audience. it would have added warmth and energy. Part of the reason it looked so flat was that they were performing the play as if they had an audience, but there was none. I’m not an actor, but I’m sure that performing onstage for a live audience is different than performing for a camera. They should have either made a movie, or done a play for a live audience. Trying to film a play without an audience just falls flat.</p>
<p>Even old bad sitcoms had a laugh track, because we as viewers respond better when we think others are responding with us. Most sitcoms today are “filmed before a live studio audience.” There’s a reason for that.</p>
<p>I think that if they filmed an actual broadway show, in front of an actual audience, with a variety of camera angles (and no, the cameras don’t have to be onstage, ESPN can show the chin hairs of a batter from an outfield HD camera) - now THAT would be something worth watching.</p>
<p>Very Happy, She wasn’t playing real chords, just putting her fingers in different positions on the strings…not the same. Her “chords” had no relationship to the music, and when you are watching the closeuos on a HighDef big screen TV, it is painfully obvious, bothers me in movies when they have extras and bit-part actors playing characters who are supposed to play violins, cellos, etc, and they obviously don’t have the faintest idea how to play. I think, REALLY? With all the millions of talented people out in the show business world that play an instrument, the talent manager couldn’t have hired someone who plays?</p>