“‘The Sound of Music’ Live!” scored so high in the ratings on the evening of December 5 that it is likely that NBC-TV, which took a huge gamble, may well be encouraged to repeat the exercise. According to TVMediaInsights, the show peaked at an 11.5 rating at 8:30 p.m., a half-hour into the three-hour epic of the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Compare that to the 10.5 rating, which the top-rated “The Big Bang Theory” delivers in its similar time slot.
The first live broadcast of a musical since Julie Andrews starred in “Cinderella” in 1957 indicates that the hunger for “event” television remains undiminished and points to an interest in Broadway musicals which has been engendered by a number of factors, including Disney’s animated features and such TV shows as “Glee” and, to a lesser extent, “Smash.” Also helping was the marquee name of “American Idol” winner of Carrie Underwood in the role of Maria as the would-be nun who trades in the wimple for an aristocratic title and a passel of kids.
While critics gave Underwood props for daring to assay a part forever associated with Julie Andrews in the Oscar-winning film of the musical, the consensus was that she was clearly out of her league, especially when paired next to such Broadway veterans as Audra McDonald, as the Abbess, and Laura Benanti, as Frau Schraeder. Stephen Moyer, of “True Blood” vampirish fame, took on the role of Captain Von Trapp. But the acting of both him and Underwood caused a Variety critic to lament, “Given the absence of chemistry, one could be forgiven for hoping he’d lapse into ‘True Blood’ mode and simply bite her neck.”
What remains to be seen is what may be forthcoming in terms of another “event” production from Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (“Chicago”), who have probably done more than any other producers to translate the Broadway musical into the mediums of film and television. Another thing to watch for are the grosses for the Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” which has not exactly set the box office afire. It is rumored that Fran Drescher may step into the role of the evil stepmother in order to goose sales.
Photo by Will Hart/NBC