Is it worth watching the entire three hours? Probably not. There are some good performances (Audra McDonald, Kristine Nielsen, Laura Benanti; rule of thumb: the more Broadway credits, the better the performance here) and some mediocre ones (mainly Underwood; nice enough voice, but no charisma in the acting department).
The biggest problem (to these tired old eyes) was the flatness of the physical production -- everything seemed to happening on the same plane in the same places (one review asked if the Captain was so impoverished that he, the model of order and propriety, would hold a formal ball on a patio furnished in IKEA furniture), and the odd use of footlights. Rob Ashford was a poor choice as stage director. He's not good with actors -- and Underwood needed a lot of help that she didn't get -- and his choreography is pretty boring -- and was hampered by the, again, flatness of the sets. The biggest problem for me is the show itself. Hammerstein was ill (on the verge of death) through the preparation of the book and score, so the book was outsourced and the lyrics are not his best. Had he been well, he might have licked the inherent problems the book presents, but in his diminished state, was unable to. (I'm no fan of the movie, but Ernest Lehman dealt with many of them better -- high praise, considering Hammerstein is the most important librettist in the history of the musical theatre.) As Jon says, give it 15 minutes; you'll hear Audra sing, then either watch or FF until you see something that looks interesting. I'd especially recommend any of the book scenes with Benanti and McDonald's "Climb Every Mountain" (the Act I finale). All in all, I found it dull, but then I find the show dull. If I had to guess at next year's show, I'd guess "Fiddler" (good roles and songs), "Guys and Dolls" (one of the best and most fool-proof shows in the canon, with plenty of showcases for big names), "Annie Get Your Gun" (with, hopefully, Reba McEntire reprising her Broadway role), or -- most likely to me -- "Grease." (again, not a good show, but a familiar and popular one that would allow for the same type of casting as the film: popular young singers for the kids and cameos for beloved older stars in the adult roles.) (If it were up to me? I'd choose "She Loves Me," one of the most beautiful shows ever written, touching, funny, and heart-tugging -- and perfect given its Christmas Eve finale. But as perfect as the show is, it's not well-known enough and would never be chosen.) --Dave Sikula On Tuesday, December 10, 2013 10:09:32 AM UTC-8, PGage wrote: > > I have this in my DVR but have not yet watched it. I assume they did not > do a second live show for the West Coast (like some network series have > done), so I figured I would not be watching it live anyway. > > I have seen some good and bad comments on my FB feed - do people here > think it is worth sitting through the whole 3 hours? > > > On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 9:41 AM, Mark Jeffries > <[email protected]<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> Beth McCarthy-Miller defends Carrie Underwood, says that the sound design >> needed to be rethought, would've given more time for camera blocking (and >> she felt she was too conservative in her shot choices), would do another >> live mujsical for NBC after a long nap: >> >> >> http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/sound-of-music-director-on-what-went-right-and-wrong/?src=twrhp&_r=0 >> >> -- >> -- >> TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "TV or Not TV" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<javascript:> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] <javascript:> >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> > > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
