Apparently Carrie Underwood was NOT the first choice to play Maria

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:23pm

NBC originally wanted Taylor Swift but couldn't come up with a satisfactory script where Maria dumps the Captain for Max, then dates Rolf, then Kurt (who catches her cheating with Friedrich), then a brief dalliance with Elsa and heartbreak at the hands of Franz the butler all before the end of Act I, which would have ended with Maria singing a song about how mistreated she was by everyone to Mother Superior.

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:25pm

Thy also apparently considered Patti LuPone for Maria but the Nazis were all terrified of her.

Updated On: 12/9/13 at 12:25 PM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:32pm

Oh my gosh, thank goodness that I read through the whole paragraph. I had a stroke at the first sentence. And LOL at the second message

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:34pm

Apparently Carrie's salary demands were so high that they didn't have enough money in the budget to finish Rolf's pants.

Or maybe the costume designer already knew that "Promises, Promises" was going to be the next musical and wanted to recycle those as 1960s hot pants.

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:36pm

Fantasia was very interested but she was sick the day they auditioned.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:37pm

Or maybe the costume designer already knew that "Promises, Promises" was going to be the next musical...

I wish that were really true but PROMISES, PROMISES is definitely not "family friendly". Can you imagine the twitter feed blowing up with angry parents over the "Where Can You Take A Girl?" number.

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:42pm

Lea Michelle was interested but only if they changed the name to "The Sound of Maria."

Eventually she decided the part was too small for her.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:45pm

They're using the Promises Promises High School Version. The lyric is updated to Where Can You SkateWith A Girl. It's hard getting two syllables on one note, so I hope they cast good singers.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:48pm

Joe you are on a roll. Very funny!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:51pm

I heard that Hunter Foster turned down the role of Cap'n von Trapp because there was no way he was going to stand next to someone who had been tainted by tv.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 12:59pm

Miley was all in but demanded some lyric changes. The Hammerstein Estate drew the line at "a lark that is learning to twerk."

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:07pm

Susan Boyle turned down the role of the Mother Abbess because she was concerned that over-exposure might harm her chances of being nominated for an Oscar for The Christmas Candle.

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:12pm

NBC had hired Tom Hooper to direct but he couldn't figure out how to shoot intense closeups of all 7 kids at once.

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:12pm

I'm disappointed that the line referring to Rolf, "Why didn't I ever buy them those damn long pants?" was dropped.

I'm also disappointed that, when the family was in the Abbey hiding from the Nazis, no one said, "We're Von Trapped!"

Updated On: 12/9/13 at 01:12 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:16pm

I'm disappointed that they took the movie song "Something Good" but didn't take the bit where the Sisters confess to the Rev. Mother that they have sinned and then pull out car parts from the Nazi cars. It is by far the best part of that movie.

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:18pm

Orfeh was interested in playing Gretl.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:21pm

"Orfeh was interested in playing Gretl."

So was Barbra Streisand. I don't know what problems the producers had with a Baby Snooks Gretl.

[suestorm]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:22pm

Dean Pelton was originally going to be Maria when BRAVO was set to broadcast it

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:30pm

I still don't know why they put Rolf in those short pants. He looked like a steroidal Pinocchio.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:40pm

"I still don't know why they put Rolf in those short pants. He looked like a steroidal Pinocchio."

Unfortunately the actor already looked a bit too old for Rolf.

I can understand the pants during the early scenes, but when Rolf becomes a Nazi, they just looked ridiculous.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 1:48pm

Why was the song performed by the Scissor Sisters cut?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 2:05pm

I didnt mind Rolf's pants at all....I forgot to listen to the singing for a minute.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 2:22pm

I understand Elaine Stritch wanted to play the Mother Abbess

"I'd like to propose a toast. Here's to the girls who love God. Aren't they a smash. Prostrate in their habits and garb, humbler than the trash."

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 2:35pm

I understand Elaine Stritch wanted to play the Mother Abbess

Or, "Climb every mountain, RISE! RISE!"

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/9/13 at 2:42pm

Unfortunately, all Elaine got out of it was a public service announcement.

How do you solve a problem like di'betes?
How do you avoid that deadly sugar high?
How do you solve a problem like di'betes?
A sip of Coke, and a bellboy named Poke was how it saved my life.