The Reviews Are In: NBC's "The Sound Of Music" Isn't A Very Smooth Tune

The Sound of Music Live with Carrie Underwood – it happened, now we have to deal with the fallout. Many musical theater buffs were apprehensive about this NBC adaptation of the classic, but was it really as terrible as expected? Underwood was cast as Maria von Trapp in what is arguably the most beloved musical of all times because of her musical talent and her stage presence – both qualities, which helped her through the show last night.

In fact, ratings show that viewers loved NBC’s live adaptation. According to CNN, 18.4 million people tuned into the show last night and it earned a 4.6 average rating in the adult demographic, making it the highest rating NBC production since the cancellation of ER back in 2009.

Meanwhile, the reviews are split on the actual quality of The Sound of Music Live. According to Broadway World’s Pat Cerasaro, the adaptation “far exceeded expectations and made a vintage musical feel real, relatable, viable and alive again for a 2013 audience - virtually everything worked.” But there were those, who were less impressed – both with Underwood’s acting skills and with the performance overall.

Read more review highlights on the next page.

Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times deemed that Underwood seemed to be “sleepwalking” through her part, meaning that all of the weight of the performance had to fall on Laura Benanti, who played Elsa Schrader.

Underwood tweeted a message of gratitude after the performance:

People’s Tom Gliatto aimed more at the production design than any of the performances specifically, saying: “Neither performer was helped by the fact that the production stuck to the original Broadway show, which premiered more than half a century ago. It was full of business that might be delightful or even exciting on a stage - nuns gliding about while singing their alleluias, characters racing up and down grand, sweeping staircases - but on a wide-screen television it tended to look like just that, lots and lots of stage business.”

In the end, there was clearly room for improvement in NBC’s The Sound of Music. However, if the goal was a nice, uplifting holiday watch, the adaptation clearly served that purpose for lots of Americans.