The Sound of Music LIVE ITV — Page 4

Maria Friedman seems very understated, particularly after her very overstated performance in EastEnders this year. Still, she's about to sing...

The attention to detail in the sets is superb - as evidenced by the way the stonework in the garden has been aged and the moss on the walls. The lighting is also very good, seeming very natural in the outdoor scenes. I thought this production's biggest handicap would be not being filmed on location but I'm not missing that anywhere near as much as I expected.

Just finished... okay, wow. Again, HOLY CRAP!!! I can't believe that was a live broadcast. If I didn't know that ahead of time, I would have thought this was filmed in advance and expertly edited. The camerawork, editing, and pacing were completely flawless. It's obvious ITV lavished all the expertise and experience they have from years of filming period dramas on the actual physical production here. The sets, as Scripps2 said, are so detailed and elaborate -- both the indoor and outdoor scenes were just looked amazingly true to life. I read that they used actual period furniture and they seem to have invested as much research into the costumes as they do for something like Downton Abbey.

All that said, I feel like I didn't get the emotional impact I usually do with The Sound of Music. I don't know what ITV's plans are with respect to releasing this in the U.S., but I suspect that when Americans see this version, they'll find it somewhat dour. ITV were obviously going for a much more naturalistic, verismo approach here, with incorporation of newsreel footage of the rise of the Third Reich (which got a bit heavy-handed toward the end) and acting and even singing that was much more restrained and understated. Emotional scenes were dispatched with a very matter-of-fact attitude. I don't agree that any of the actors were necessarily miscast, but some were definitely cast against the archetype that most of us are familiar with.

Chief case in point is Kara Tointon as Maria. Her Maria... was an odd creature. I don't know what to think of her, and I don't know how others will respond to her. "Earthy" is the first word that comes to mind. Her aura has a very salt-of-the-earth quality to it which I felt worked for Maria's penchant for disappearing into the Alps on her own. But I felt she lacked some requisite sweetness and innocence. She had warmth, especially with the children, but not the emotional fragility needed for the part, IMO. I felt emotionally disconnected from her narrative arc. Maria is written as naive, and Tointon seemed too world-wise. The direction played to that, though.

I thought the rest of the cast was excellent. Julian Ovendon had the most heart out of anyone on screen, IMO. His emotional arc worked for me more so than Kara's. I hate "Something Good", but I loved his rendition of it. There was ardor and pathos there. Maria Friedman's Mother Abbess was... very restrained. There was nothing particularly wrong with her performance. In fact, there was probably a lot to be commended about it. Her acting was excellent, especially in the scene leading up to "Climb Every Mountain." But the almost "inside voice", speak-singing approach she was directed to take for that number robbed it of its transcendent beauty. And, I admit, Audra McDonald spoiled me.

The children were just about serviceable. Their acting wasn't as good as the NBC cast, but one thing I noticed: they all actually look like siblings. They had similar features looked like they could actually be related. Katherine Kelly was good as Elsa, but I admit I preferred Laura Benanti. She just had a certain spark to her performance, and basically stole the show from Carrie Underwood. On the other hand, I much preferred Alexander Armstrong to Christian Borle's OTT performance as Max. He gave an excellent interpretation of that role.

Over all, I am truly impressed with the quality of this production. The physical production and camerawork all blow NBC's efforts out of the water, and I am curious to see (if this ever gets shown here in the US or gets a DVD/BluRay release here) if this will force NBC/FOX/ABC et al. to up the ante on their production values, because... wow. This was just gorgeous to look at.

Plannietink08 said: "Please tell me that someone saw the youngest child fall over during "Do-Re-Mi"

She couldn't sit still all night. Really kept taking me out of the performances and Fredrick had to restrain her a few times to stopped her flailing her arms, it was inevitable that she should trip.

"

I'm currently watching this, and I'm only 4 minutes in and I don't know how they filmed this live. The camera work is absolutely stunning, it looks like a film. Good job to whoever made his production happen!

Sister Sophia is Asian? YES!

broadwayboy223 said: "Is there a link to watch this somewhere?

"

check your private messages

c0113g3b0y said: "broadwayboy223 said: "Is there a link to watch this somewhere?

"

check your private messages

Please could you send me a link if you have one? I'm in Australia and dying to see it. I'm only getting snipped from what people are posting on twitter.

"

I would also love a link :)

I am interested in seeing this as well. If anyone would be so kind as to provide me a link to the program that would be a really nice Christmas present!

What I take away from this is that the British are NOT playing around with their camera work. The set design, lighting and camera work were impeccable, and I almost have a hard time believing this was all pulled off live. Some of the camera transitions seems almost impossible in their cleanness (what I mean is, cutting and seeing a place where a camera has just been). As for the performance itself...it's, ya know, pretty good. The Maria was very good, and I loved Maria Friedman. Wasn't crazy about Julian Ovenden, who didn't quite pull off the whole dead-inside-to-the-point-of-light-insanity thing that the Captain has to deal with. The kids sang well, that was about it. And it occurs to me....with the exception of wartime propaganda films, is Sound of Music the only media about Nazis to not even mention Jews?

While there don't appear to be any Jewish characters in the story, I always thought that Max was probably gay and that he would have ended up in a concentration camp as a result. Isn't there a plot point where the Nazis offer him a position on some kind of government arts council and he accepts? I always thought it was Max kissing Nazi butt in order to save his own life; sort of like climbing the ladder in the hopes that the higher he goes the less likely the Nazis will turn on him. Perhaps I was reading too much into it?