The Sound of Music was MORE sound and LESS music.
The trending blog topic today is likely to be the same topic that was trending on Twitter last night. And NO, I’m not talking about the sad passing of Nelson Mandela, although we will hit on that a bit today as well. I’m talking about the live performance of The Sound of Music on NBC. People had a lot to say about it, however, and I don’t want to be a repetitive, echoing pin-drop in a cacophony of screaming bloggers. So I’m going to do a Q&A which I hope you enjoy!
Q: Why was everything out of order?
And some scenes were skipped altogether. That’s bullshit! WTF?
A: If you’re comparing the live production with the much-acclaimed movie starring Julie Andrews, you’re out of luck, because the movie itself was a bastardization of the ACTUAL original Broadway show. A really, really good bastardization, but still.
I’m told by snooty drama experts that the TV event harkened back to its roots. Which might have been a bad idea, since most people today, if they are aware of the story at all, only know the movie, leaving it open for much criticism. And golly! There was so much OTHER stuff to criticize, this one could have been left off the list.
Q: Why is everyone hating on this show?
I love Carrie Underwood and think she did a perfectly perfect job that was perfect in its perfection.
A: Wow. With a glowing review like that, it’s clear you’re a very objective individual. {*Rolls eyes*}
You must be one of those people who will never see anything bad in something you love. Which is my polite way of saying you are an idiot.
Everyone poops, you guys. Even Carrie Underwood. Her singing? Not my taste, but damn that girl can carry a tune. I don’t dispute that she is a very talented singer. But if you can’t admit, out of misplaced, unnecessary, and bafflingly stubborn adoration, that your girl is a terrible actor, that means you think she’s perfect and has no room to grow. I’m fairly certain there is no human on the planet that has no room to grow.
Which means, if we are to be logical in all of this, that Carrie has room to grow, and thus is possessed of flaws. One of those flaws is her theater presence. IT NEEDS WORK. You don’t have to go into spasms and tell me how wrong I am. I watch a lot of movies, and I know good acting when I see it. It’s particularly glaring when it’s missing.
Q: You’re just jealous.
A: Okay, that’s actually an attack, not a question, but I’ll address it nonetheless.
The truth is, I am jealous of people. I’ve talked about this before. I’m jealous of people who have money and use it unwisely. I’m jealous of idiots who have money and then try to complain to me about how broke they are.
So yes, I am capable of jealousy.
But you know who I’m NOT jealous of? Singers. You know why? Because I can actually carry a tune quite well, and I’ve somewhat gotten over my fear of crowds, and I think I’d do just fine at karaoke in a crunch. And with a voice coach? I’m too old for American Idol, but I think with professional training, if I wanted to, I could do wonderful things.
- But singing isn’t my passion, so I don’t pursue it. I don’t talk to people in the business, I don’t chat with or follow any celebrities or stars. I don’t try to network and put myself out there.You know what my passion is? Writing. Writing is my passion. And I pursue it relentlessly. I talk with other writers, I follow published and renowned authors on various media platforms, I network, and I put myself out there. When you are passionate about something, and when you follow your passion, you don’t look at those have succeeded before you with jealousy. You view them as mentors and teachers. If I’m not jealous of the very people I would like to BE, you can sure as shit count on the fact that I’m not jealous of Carrie motherfucking Underwood.
- I like and dislike a lot of singers. No one calls me “jealous” for hating on the musical band Rush, whom I despise. And likewise, I don’t call Nickelback haters “jealous”. People who accuse others of being jealous are merely lacking in a better defense of their stance. Which is my polite way of saying you are an idiot.
Q: Why was this trending higher than the death of Nelson Mandela?
A: Mandela, rest his gorgeous, shiny soul, only died once. It was sad, and we are mourning him. However, after you tweet about his passing, you don’t go on and continue tweeting about it. Once is enough. More than twice would just be weird.
Conversely, The Sound of Music was a finite event that occurred for three straight hours, during which time different things happened worthy of discussion and comparison and contrast and argument. I don’t think Mandela’s sad, sad death inspires disagreement. We pretty much all agree it sucks that Mandela is gone.
Besides, just because we all tweeted other things doesn’t mean we’re sick; it just means that other shit went on today. Sorry that the other shit was popular-ish, too.
Q: I’m still stuck on the perfect perfectness of the perfect Carrie Underwood.
A: That’s great for you. Whatever. But guess what? I still hate country music. So I’m still not overly fond of Carrie Underwood.
And that is okay. We don’t have to agree on everything. You can like that shit all you want.
Q: Why was everyone hating so much on the production team?
A: Well, let me see.
First of all, the coloring was way off. I’m no expert, to be sure, but I have seen other plays, and I don’t recall anything this bad with regard to making the characters all look orange.
Secondly, the orchestra was so loud that I couldn’t hear what the characters were saying. And since I hadn’t actually seen the movie, I was really, really trying. I wanted to hear the dialogue. And I couldn’t. So that was bad. Not merely an opinion, either; audience ability to hear the characters is one of those important production things.
And speaking of sound, there was this buzzing white noise in the background the entire time, which really sucked.
Some people were hating on the sets, on the costumes, on the transitions from one location to the next, and on the wigs. None of that stuff bothered me overly much. But the color and the sound? BAD.
Q: Why can’t everyone just love this and shut up?
A: Because… it sucked. Why can’t everyone just admit this and shut up?
Following is a conversation that occurred between two friends of mine. I’ve edited for grammatical and spelling errors, but otherwise left it intact. And I’m still dumbfounded that this actually took place. The Arguer is clearly an idiot.
Girl: I feel so sorry for Carrie Underwood when she sees all the comments regarding her absolutely awful performance.
Arguer: She was not awful. You have to realize she ISN’T JULIE ANDREWS. You cannot expect her to be Julie Andrews. This was a remake and in remakes changes are made and new people are cast. It was Carrie Underwood singing song from this movie. She should not be trying to outdo Julie Andrews or trying to copy her. So, before judging her so harshly just take it as it is. A remake.
Girl: Look, I don’t dare compare her to the great Julie Andrews, because we’re just not going to go there.
Just looking at tonight’s performance as if I had never seen or known anything about The Sound of Music, I can confidently claim that Carrie Underwood did a terrible job. She sounded like she was reading and her face was like cardboard. I’m pretty certain I don’t stand alone in this.
As for the “it’s a remake” defense….golly, if you’re going to attempt to remake something as huge as this, you better go big or go home. The whole appeal was that it was something wildly (and endearingly) identifiable!! You can’t expect people to just forget that a better, WAY more successful version already exists. But if you do expect that then you better bring at least a little talent to the table.
Arguer: Well, if you like the original so much do not bother with the remake. You won’t like it. It’s that simple.
Girl: Actually, no. There have been remakes that I have totally loved after having loved the original versions.
Who would have ever dreamed of making The Music Man after Robert Preston performed the role so magnificently? Turned out the remake with Matthew Broderick was every bit as enjoyable… and it had changes and different casting.
I can enjoy a good remake if it’s done well. Good grief; you were there when we saw Les Miserables, which has been remade about a zillion times. You saw that I LOVED it.
You’re missing my problem here: I’m not dissing tonight’s Sound of Music because it’s a remake. I’m dissing it because it’s a TERRIBLE remake.
I was excited to see this show. I really was. I admittedly had my reservations, but was hopeful that it would at least not bomb as horribly as it did. I did not go into it thinking, “This movie better look exactly like the other one, or else I’m going to hate it.”
If you liked it and thought Carrie Underwood did a good job, then I’m afraid we’re at a point where we’ll just have to agree to disagree. But I promise you that I am allowed to think she stunk. It’s THAT simple.
Q: Does the Arguer in this conversation have a clear point beyond her obvious love of Carrie Underwood?
A: No. The Arguer is obviously up Carrie’s butt. She is so far up Carrie’s butt that she can’t see objectively what is sucking right before her very eyes.
She also fails when it comes to arguing, because that shit wasn’t logical at all.
Question:
Now you get to give me the answers.
- Did you see the live performance of The Sound of Music? What was your impression?
- Are you up Carrie Underwood’s butt? How does it feel up there? And are you still able to see that she is a terrible actor?
- What other “remakes” beyond those stated herein are worthy of mention?
