Breaking News: NBC & Craig Zadan/Neil Meron to Present Live Broadcast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC!- Page 4

[bobs3]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 1:24am

Anne Hathaway seem to be a more likely choice for Maria than some of the actors mentioned on this board. There is no way NBC is going to spend several million dollars on a live broadcast without a NAME in the lead.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 2:33am

bob3 for this, it could be a bit different. They need someone who is going to nail every scene in one take, because that is all they get, one take. That suggests a lot more Broadway talent like the live musicals of decades past. Hathaway is good, she can really sing, but we have only seen her do a number at a time. This is live, from beginning to end, we need someone who is used to doing that and able to deliver. NBC doesn't want to waste a million bucks or more on a crap shoot. They need to know that the production will turn out as close to flawless as possible. You will only get that from folks who are used to doing eight shows a week in a live setting.

[bobs3]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 2:41am

jimmycurry01, imagine yourself as a sales executive at NBC and TRY SELLING THAT COMMENT TO POTENTIAL ADVERTISERS!

NBC is 99% more likely to cast Adele as Maria than they are Laura Osnes.

This isn't HBO or PBS, it is commercial television. It doesn't matter what NBC wants, it is about what the advertisers are willing to pay top dollar for (and if you think otherwise you are very naive about the relationship between commercial television and the advertising business).















Updated On: 6/30/12 at 02:41 AM

[loliveve]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 2:55am

I agree, Daniel Craig would be pretty amazing as the Captain!!

[bobs3]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 2:57am

By the way, Michael Fassbender would make a great Captain Von Trapp and I like the idea of Gwyneth Paltrow as the Baroness.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 3:07am

I'd so be in if this featured Anne Hathaway as Maria, Michael Fassbender as the Captain and Paltrow as the Baroness, that'd make this quite an event! What a cast.
Anne Hathaway did CARNIVAL at Encores! and got raves (including a love letter from the Times), not to mention her other musical theatre roles at places like Papermill. She definitely has the theatre background, she has the Julie Andrews connection with PRINCESS' DIARIES, she'd bring in audiences, and she'd be a knockout in the part.
How about Sarah Hyland as Liesl?

[degrassifan]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 4:05am

My earlier cast was when I thought this would be a filmed stage production, but now that I sort of understand what's going on here, then I realize that they indeed need bigger names. I would now say:

Maria: Anne Hathaway, Mandy Moore, Amy Adams (although she's pushing 40)
Captain: Hugh Jackman, James Marsden
Elsa: Gywneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields
Max: Victor Garber? David Hyde Pierce?
Mother Abbess: I honestly have no idea.

[peachesr82]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 4:28am

Can we keep Paltrow as far away from any of this as possible? I don't get why people would want her even for a small role, she's hideous.
I could see Anne Hathaway, I still say Jackman or Patrick Wilson for the Captain.

[jo]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 5:22am

Before Connie Fisher was given the role, via a TV talent casting contest, Andrew Lloyd Webber was supposed to have offered the role of Maria for its revival in London to Scarlett Johansson! Presumably she can sing and has that spunky freshness of the character.

Maria - Scarlett Johansson
Capt. Von Trapp - Hugh Jackman

[beagle]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 5:44am

This is network TV. I don't think big movie star names are very likely--at least not a cast full of them. I think the "names" in this production will most likely be TV stars, and very possibly from NBC shows. I also don't think you can count out Laura Osnes. She started out on an NBC talent show, and if there are enough recognizable people around her, I think it's possible. Otherwise they could go with Katharine McPhee (although I would prefer Osnes).

[Will42]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 9:38am

To be perfectly honest, I can't answer that.
We all know that in her days she has brilliantly performed even more challenging numbers in Mame, Dear World and Sweeney Todd, but lately I only heard her singing Liaisons, Beauty and the Beast, and Not While I'm Around, which are not as challenging vocally.
Still, to my mind she'll be great in the role. We haven't seen her on TV in ages and that could be the perfect opportunity.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 9:42am

If they can't get a name like Paltrow for Elsa, I'd love to see Rachel York in that role. Maybe David Hyde Pierce as Max?

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 11:42am

I hope this will be casted like Zadan and Merons past Television musicals (with the exception that it's live) which had a fabulous variety Broadway/Film/Television stars mostly Broadway talent. And with this being Live I think they'll get as much Broadway talent as they can get. If it's anything like they did Annie then it will be one stellar production.

[random person 112]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 7:26pm

bobs the sound of music is possibly the best known and most loved musical of all time. Whenever a network shows it around the holidays good ratings are practically guaranteed. So i would say it probably wouldn't make much difference in ratings if they cast Ann Hathaway, Megan Hilty, Laura Benanti, or Amy Adams. People love this show it's a guaranteed sell no matter who plays Maria. Does that mean we'll have an all no name cast. Of course not, but to think Maria has to a star is just wrong.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 12:29am

Well bobs3, we can take a look at some of their most recent work. Smash has Angelica Houston who is a star but hasn't done much in years and Debra Messing. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Broadway performers. The Music Man remake was pretty much all Broadway performers. Annie, aside from Kathy Bates was pretty much all Broadway performers. They were able to sell all of those with casts that were very Broadway, and they were able to do multiple takes and didn't have to sing live.

I would imagine it is EXACTLY that comment that is being sold to potential advertisers. Real talent,one take, all live, and with a title that will sell itself.

[hmpeterson]

Posted: 7/2/12 at 6:29pm

You know how they sell this to advertisers...you are doing a live broadcast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!!! It's one of the most, if not THE most, recognized musicals of all time.

You don't need a name for Maria, you need a talent. I completely agree with casting a "name" Captain von Trapp and some of the other parts as "names" and doing "Introducing as Maria....Laura Osnes." How can anyone think it wouldn't work. It's The Sound of Music!

I'm also for Osnes as Maria and Victoria Clark as the Mother Abbess. Thinking of her singing Climb Evr'y Mountain is already bringing goose bumps to my arms!

[Broadwayhunk]

Posted: 7/2/12 at 6:45pm

sorry, but it will be TV stars. Think Glee set in the Austrian Alps.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/2/12 at 8:03pm

sorry, but it will be TV stars. Think Glee set in the Austrian Alps

That made me think of the awful thought of Lea Michele as Maria, what a disaster that would be.
I really hope Katharine MacPhee is not picked to play Maria, I wouldn't mind seeing other TV stars like Megan Mullally or Lisa Kudrow as the Baroness, David Hyde Pierce or Joel McHale as the uncle, Christopher Meloni as the Captain and Osnes as Maria

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 2:27am

I am so intrigued by the idea of Lisa Kudrow as Elsa right now.

[random person 112]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 10:42am

I also think it's safe to say McPhee won't be playing Maria. All the critics pointed out she was one of smashs biggest problems, and many of the shows fans don't even like her. I would say if we were to get a smash cast member as Maria it would be Hilty.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 10:46am

Emmy Rossum?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 10:47am

"I am so intrigued by the idea of Lisa Kudrow as Elsa right now."

I think she would need a bit of work. Her voice isn't quite cultivated enough to play Elsa. She lacks gravitas for the role, even though I think she is a brilliant actress.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 10:49am

At the risk of agreeing with Goth, his assessment of Kudrow as Elsa does not seem to be completely incorrect.

[random person 112]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 10:55am

Both of you must have missed Kudrows latest show Web Therapy.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/3/12 at 11:04am

Elsa needs a bit of icy-ness. She is one of the antagonists in the show, but must never come across as an antagonist. The role needs to put across a lot and doesn't have much to work with.

I think Kudrow is a brilliant actress, but there are actresses closer in type to what's needed and I imagine the ramp up time for this show will be very tight.