Plan B Forum

My cable network has been promoting a new release of a version of the Sound of Music. How could they go wrong?

First scene reveals, in an Austrian convent, an African-American "Mother Superior."

Jesus.

Fucking.

Christ.

Why not a man dressed in drag?

What's the world coming to?

Next thing you know them coloreds will be votin' and eatin' in our restaurants!

Get over yourself. Not that you'd care, but Audra McDonald stole the entire show, far outshining any of the other performers. Someone who didn't own a wardrobe of hooded sheets might have been able to look beyond the surface to recognize that, but clearly that leaves you out.

I didn't see it, but I've seen McDonald on Broadway in a few things (Ragtime and Carousel come to mind) and heard her on recordings many times, so it doesn't surprise me. The commercials with Carrie underwood singing were the main things that scared me off.

Her singing was actually good. I just didn't get a sense that she was connecting with the material. And of course, it is completely impossible to watch anyone take on that role and not compare her to Julie Andrews, meaning there is NO ONE who is going to measure up.

That being said, it was ratings blockbuster precisely because Underwood's fan base flocked to it, which is why she was picked for the role.

Another Sound of music? The horror...The Horror....

Well Scooter, again based only on the commercials, it was not so much that I thought her signing bad as that I thought it wrong for the material. Her styling does not lend it to this sort of music. But if the ratings were high and it was liked, it achieved what it set out to do.

Big RR wrote:I thought it wrong for the material. Her styling does not lend it to this sort of music.

And having watched almost the whole thing, you are right on the money. While technically flawless, I just wasn't feeling it.

Just like Karaoke from hell.

it was not so much that I thought her signing bad

She signed all the musical numbers?

Wow, that is a unique interpretation...(I hope she was better than the guy at the Mandela funeral...)

I can hardly wait for the semaphore version...

But seriously folks....

it was ratings blockbuster precisely because Underwood's fan base flocked to it,

Well maybe that was part of it, but I suspect you also had a fair number of folks in the audience who were drawn in by the "live" gimmick and wanted to see if anything went amusingly wrong...(apparently it didn't)

And also another group who were "hate watching" (apparently this has become quite popular in recent years) people who tuned in for the sole purpose of being appalled...(had I watched it, I would have fallen into that category)

I didn't watch it, and will not watch it, for this reason:

it is completely impossible to watch anyone take on that role and not compare her to Julie Andrews, meaning there is NO ONE who is going to measure up.

If there's something on called The Sound Of Music, and Julie Andrews isn't in it, as far as I'm concerned it isn't The Sound Of Music, and I'll be in another room reading a book...

And if somebody gets the bright idea to do a remake of Mary Poppins, I won't be watching that either...

(I realize that condemning something without actually seeing it and refusing to give it any sort of chance based on some snooty standard of purism is a rather Stroppish thing for me to do, but tough toe nails )

All of that having been said however, from the reviews I've read and conversations I've had with people who did watch it, the comments I've read and heard track pretty well with many of the opinions that have been expressed here...

That Underwood's singing was adequate, maybe even not bad, but that she really didn't connect effectively with the character. (In fairness to Underwood, she isn't trained as an actress, and since this was pretty much a thrown together stunt designed purely to drive ratings, it's likely she didn't have a whole lot of preparation and rehearsal time, or proper coaching.)

The other thing I read and heard consistently is that several of the supporting cast members were much better than she was, (Again, this is hardly surprising; Carrie Underwood: No professional acting experience....Audra McDonald: 5 Tonys)

My attitude about this is nothing personal towards Underwood; I'm not a huge country music fan, (though I like some of it, and I certainly don't detest it like some people) so I don't follow her music, but she seems like a likable enough young woman...

I just don't think anybody should be trying to fill Julie Andrews Milk Maid frock....

Gob wrote:Another Sound of music? The horror...The Horror....

Gee whiz, Strop didn't even like the original...

Now there's a shock...

I'll bet he thinks Mary Poppins sucks too...

Oh come on Jim, you're bowling pies at me now!

Lord Jim wrote:
And if somebody gets the bright idea to do a remake of Mary Poppins, I won't be watching that either...

Maybe the way a few people around here feel about an Americanized Sherlock Holmes . . .

I watch the original movie every time it comes on, when I have the time. I happened to have the time and watched the live NBC thing seriously wondering at the casting of Carrie Underwood. I was pleasantly surprised at her vocal ability. No she is no Julie Andrews but then neither is anyone else. Her acting needs work but one must realize that stage acting is very different than TV acting. I thought it was not half bad. The songs were sung out of place but then it was the stage adaptation and so allowances have to be made.

I won't rush out to buy the DVD but I did enjoy it over all.

An all male drag version? Oh baby bring it on! that would be a hoot and a half. I used to like to go to Bullwinkle's in Bloomington, a gay bar. They did drag shows that were quite awesome. The fellas do know how to put on a show.

TPFKA@W wrote:The songs were sung out of place but then it was the stage adaptation and so allowances have to be made.

That was what a lot of people didn't get and thus had a lot of misplaced criticism about - this was an adaptation of the original stage version and not of the movie, and the two are quite different (but I don't think Carrie Underwood compares to Mary Martin either, so...)

Yeah -- the "original" Sound of Music is the broadway play -- I've done the show several times (not on Broadway, obviously) and they had it 100% correct. The movie changed things around, added and deleted songs (Something Good was not song on Broadway, but they added it into the Carrie Underwood version).

My family are huge TSOM junkies -- we have Austrian heritage, so it was always a favorite. We've been to Salzburg several times, seen the real Von Trapp estate, the various places in town used in the movie, and of course spent time at the Trapp Family Lodge in lovely Stowe, Vermont (we took my Mom there for her 75th birthday last Easter weekend). Even my boyz love the movie, and have seen it and the stage production multiple times. My sister reports that during the snow this afternoon, they are watched the original movie with my Mom, who is there for the holidays.

We all watched the show because it was a fun family thing to do. We were mostly skeptical, and I think had similar views as the many of the ones reported here: Carrie was overmatched by the music and the acting, her voice was wrong for the part, and Audra McDonald kicked her ass. The Captain was stiff as a board, and even the Baroness and Max seemed far too smarmy by the end. That being said, it was interesting to watch another interpretation, but none of us will re-watch it any time soon.

Lord Jim wrote:

Gob wrote:Another Sound of music? The horror...The Horror....

Gee whiz, Strop didn't even like the original...

Now there's a shock...

I'll bet he thinks Mary Poppins sucks too...

Make sure to see Saving Mister Banks -- about the very same -- with the indomitable Emma Thompson in the role of P.L. Travers, the author of the story.

I would not care if a black person play a white role or if a white person played a black role as long as they were convincing and were true to the time and place. A white man could play Shaka Zulu and black man could play George Washington, but they would need to look like the character they played at least to some extent.

Why couldn’t the mother superior have been made-up to look like white woman? I don’t like historical pollution. What next the anti Nazi resistance was half black?

the Anti Nazi Resistance? who pray tell were they fighting?

BTW don't you remember Chocolate Mousse?