the sound of music live

[DWGal210]

It was pushed, very forced. She was visibly straining. I thought she was going to hyperventilate -- her chest was just heaving and she was breathing 2-4 times for every phrase. On the higher notes I seriously thought she wasn't going to make it. The tone was so far back in the throat it was like she was swallowing her tongue.

Sent from me.

Sounds like she was nervous. I'm a singer and when I get nervous, my vocal quality suffers. I'm not nervous in familiar situations but get can rattled at times. I've seen her in concert, she did an incredible show and was sick, to boot but you'd never know it. The concerts are her wheelhouse; this was something new for her. I'm not saying she did her best performance but every performer, at one time or another, has a not-great performance. No one's perfect.

 

[DWGal210]

And I applaud her for stepping out of her comfort zone and taking a chance. Was it fabulous (from the little I saw)? No. Did she "nail" it? No. Was she the best performer of that part, ever in the history of time? No. But kudos to her for having the guts to put herself out there.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Sounds like she was nervous. I'm a singer and when I get nervous, my vocal quality suffers. I'm not nervous in familiar situations but get can rattled at times. I've seen her in concert, she did an incredible show and was sick, to boot but you'd never know it. The concerts are her wheelhouse; this was something new for her. I'm not saying she did her best performance but every performer, at one time or another, has a not-great performance. No one's perfect.

I can recognize nerves. What I heard was a singer with no concept of breath support at all. She was gasping in the same places every time, so it was obviously rehearsed that way.

Sent from me.

 

[LBIJim]

Broadway does color blind casting these days. Unless race is a factor in the plot, you will see a very diverse cast.

There is a dance number in a show -- I think it's Sweet Charity but I could be wrong -- which plays on the "Irish cop" stereotype. One of the "cops" was African-American.

Wonderful Town had a dance number with an African-American actor playing the Irish cop. When he started singing with the Irish brogue and dancing that "Riverdance" style jig, he brought down the house.

I've seen dozens of color blind casting choices over the past decade or so. But it's true there would never had been a black Mother Superior in 1930s Austria.

Overall I enjoyed the broadcast even with Carrie Underwood's weak acting. I think she may have looked at cue cards a few times. Not sure, but I think there may have been a mistake when the Nazi agents came to the house to enlist the Captain. Something about the dialog seemed awkward or off.

Jim

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Wonderful Town had a dance number with an African-American actor playing the Irish cop. When he started singing with the Irish brogue and dancing that "Riverdance" style jig, he brought down the house.

I've seen dozens of color blind casting choices over the past decade or so. But it's true there would never had been a black Mother Superior in 1930s Austria.

Overall I enjoyed the broadcast even with Carrie Underwood's weak acting. I think she may have looked at cue cards a few times. Not sure, but I think there may have been a mistake when the Nazi agents came to the house to enlist the Captain. Something about the dialog seemed awkward or off.

Jim

Yep, Stephen Moyer did such a good job covering that I don't think I would have noticed if the nazi officer hadn't started giggling.

Sent from me.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I give her credit for doing it. It's not a easy role with l very ittle or no acting experience.
I thought the captain was worse! Most of the cast was bad, so it's not all on Carrie.

 

[JanaDee]

I give her credit for doing it. It's not a easy role with l very ittle or no acting experience.
I thought the captain was worse! Most of the cast was bad, so it's not all on Carrie.

"Most of the cast was bad"??

Were we watching the same performance?

 

[brookepleins]

On a positive note, I did like Max better in this version than in the movie version.

 

[ElizabethB]

I started watching midway through. It was like watching a train wreck. I couldn't watch yet it was so bad I couldn't look away.

When one thinks about Broadway stars like Mary Martin, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and then watches that mess, it's pretty disheartening.

Ultimately, it was the desecration of a great American musical for no discernable purpose.

 

[sonnyjane]

I give her credit for doing it. It's not a easy role with l very ittle or no acting experience.
I thought the captain was worse! Most of the cast was bad, so it's not all on Carrie.

My friend said something similar to me in defense of her performance... "She's not a professional actress so give her a break!".

Um, if this was "Dancing with the Stars" and she "wasn't a professional dancer" then sure, good job. But don't sign on to BE a professional actress in a musical if you don't know what the heck you're doing. "You gotta start somewhere", but "somewhere" isn't live on network television in a huge musical production.

 

[yoopermom]

It was pushed, very forced. She was visibly straining. I thought she was going to hyperventilate -- her chest was just heaving and she was breathing 2-4 times for every phrase. On the higher notes I seriously thought she wasn't going to make it. The tone was so far back in the throat it was like she was swallowing her tongue.

Sent from me.

Amen. I had a HUGE diva of a singing instructor for our high school musicals, and her middle was like a tree trunk, seriously. She might have been what we would consider "morbidly obese" but she could sing from that diaphragm without ever seeming tired or having to catch her breath. I still use the skills that she taught me now. (Joke:she used to get the respect of the football players by letting one punch her in the gut. The hand would bounce back and she'd laugh in their faces! THAT was a singer!)

The scene where Carrie had to sing her way up and back down the grand staircase was horrifying for how exhausted she seemed. When they cut to commercial break I thought, "Well at least now she can catch her breath!"

I'm still very, very glad to see televised theatre. I loved being in plays when I was in school, and have a hard time getting to live performances now that I live in "the middle".

Terri

 

[asta]

This discussion is beginning to remind me of American Idol discussions. Voice experts tell us what we are supposed to like (or at least appreciate) based on their training. The rest of us continue to like who sings the way we want our performers to sound. This does not mean that anyone is wrong. We all have different tastes.

For what it is worth, Carrie Underwood is tremendously more popular than any of the other performers in last nights show. That is why all of the promos for the show featured her with very little or no mention of the others.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I've seen a report today that the Sound of Music was the most watched non sporting event on NBC since 2007.

Criticize the cast, nitpick at the lines, and moan and groan away that a community theater production was better, but NBC is laughing all the way to the bank.

As another poster said earlier, her younger daughters watched only as Carrie Underwood fans, not a musical fans. Without Carrie Underwood, the ratings would have been nowhere what they were, and the bonus is that some of the younger Carrie fans may have sparked an interest in watching other theater productions.

It may not have been flawless, but the show did its job.

 

[Phlip]

I wanted to quote a post by Imzadi up board, but for some reason, it didn't work, but here's the part that came over:

Quote---

It was a disservice to Broadway, too. I'd hate to see the statistics upcoming, and whether Broadway attendance goes down by tourists not attending as much as before this performance.

Last year, I attended a SAG Nominating Committee/Directors/Writers Guilds screening of Les Miserable. There was a Question & Answer session after the film with the director, Tom Hooper, and some of the cast of the film, (Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne (Marius), & Samantha Barks (Eponine).

Tom Hooper also said live theatre, not just Broadway, is actually an urban-centric thing. Many people around the world, and indeed, even in the sticks of the U.S. do not have live (community) theatre the way we do in the big cities. So for many, their first and only experience of Musical Theatre is from the movies or seen on TV.

I HATE the idea that many people will think THIS production of the Sound of Music is the level of acting and talent that Musical Theatre is capable of and what we have on Broadway.

I can just see the conversations:

Wife: Honey, should we see a Broadway show while we are in NYC?

Husband: How much are the tickets?

Wife: About $130 each for decent seats.

Husband: <grimacing> If it's going to be anything like Carrie Underwood in Sound of Music, let's do something else for 2 hours with that money.




End Quote---

I'm sorry, but that is hysterical.....yeah, cause that's why I'm not going to see a show on Broadway. Because of a TV show. Uh, no.
I think people a just a little bit smarter than that. Maybe a lot smarter than that. I mean seriously, it's Broadway.

 

[sonnyjane]

Pretty much sums up my thoughts:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat...rie_underwood_reviewed.html?wpisrc=burger_bar

 

[Conservative Hippie]

This discussion is beginning to remind me of American Idol discussions. Voice experts tell us what we are supposed to like (or at least appreciate) based on their training. The rest of us continue to like who sings the way we want our performers to sound. This does not mean that anyone is wrong. We all have different tastes.

For what it is worth, Carrie Underwood is tremendously more popular than any of the other performers in last nights show. That is why all of the promos for the show featured her with very little or no mention of the others.

I think my cooking is good, my family thinks my cooking is good. i get praised for certain things i have made for my friends. so i am just as good as a chef as someone who has gone to culinary school for years and years, right? i mean we like what we like right?

Sent from me.

 

[Schmeck]

I only caught the thunderstorm/Lonely Goatherd scene. Underwood's voice could not match the song at all, and I was wondering if she had a chest cold or something? Forced, off key, wobbling between notes, maybe she just didn't have the training to hit those types of notes cleanly and was searching for them?

Whatever it was, it was too below the standard set by Julie Andrews, so I had to turn it off.

 

[JaneBanks]

I think my cooking is good, my family thinks my cooking is good. i get praised for certain things i have made for my friends. so i am just as good as a chef as someone who has gone to culinary school for years and years, right? i mean we like what we like right?

Sent from me.

But Carrie Underwood is a professional and successful singer...

 

[Conservative Hippie]

But Carrie Underwood is a professional and successful singer...

She is a professional and successful at what she does.

Sent from me.

 

[asta]

I think my cooking is good, my family thinks my cooking is good. i get praised for certain things i have made for my friends. so i am just as good as a chef as someone who has gone to culinary school for years and years, right? i mean we like what we like right?

Sent from me.

Well I have eaten at restaurants that are celebrated as being the best and I did not like the food as much as I like some of my mother's dishes. So yes we like what we like.

The American public, record sales and concert turn outs show that time and again many people do not value perfect vocal technique. That may be very important to you but not to everyone else.