Review of The Sound of Music Live! (2013) by Deven W — 04 Dec 2014

I watched it out of curiosity. I love musical theater and had never seen a live-telecasted musical before. I loved the original movie and was curious to see what it's like. I understand some people watched it and didn't like it, that's their opinion and to each his own. I think people forget that there is a difference between movie musicals and their stage counterparts. Not good or bad, just different. Therefore things aren't going to be identical between the movie and stage musical or even the same musical staged by different companies.

All that being said, there were some things that could have been done better. One thing that sticks out is there was this buzzing noise throughout the show that was really distracting. I hope for the DVD that they cut that out. Also as the show came to an end and they were running about the Abbey, you could hear footsteps very distinctly. There may not be much they can do about that but if there is, they should do it.

Now for the actors. I'm an actress myself so I know that there's bound to be mistakes during a live show. I think the actors would have been more prepared for dropped lines and such if they had more time to rehearse. By starting the casting process about 2-3 months before show time, they're cutting it a little short. I'm not saying spoon feed the actors, but for some this is their first performance and those nerves show.

In terms of hair and makeup, my main complaint is with the Captain. They should have made him look older. I don't know how old Steven Moyer (Captain Von Trappe) is in real life, but let's assume he's in his 30's. Mathematically it would take the Captain at least 20 years to obtain his rank. Since he served in WWI, that would have made him about 10 years old going into the service. How many 10 year olds do you know going into the service that young?

But overall I thought it was a good experiment and I'm glad I saw it!