The Sound of Music Live: A Travesty or A Stroke of Brilliance?

I wasn't thrilled when I heard the headliners for NBC's big production of The Sound of Music were Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer. I let the disappointment in casting keep me from really considering the potential that a live Broadway-style performance on national television could offer.

This is not a review post, because I was only able to watch about twenty minutes of the show. We only get two TV channels at our house - and NBC is not one of them. So we caught a little bit at my parents' house before we had to take the kids home for bed.

My first impression was to be unimpressed. It was pretty, it was entertaining. I had no issue with the supporting cast. I just wasn't thrilled. There was no "wow" factor.

But the more I consider it, I've changed my mind. There is a wow - this full-scale production was put on for a live television audience of millions. Broadway productions just aren't shared like this. There are two occasions each year when I specifically plan to watch network TV for a glimpse of Broadway - the Tony Awards show and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. But the number of people who, because of this broadcast, were exposed to a live production - many of them probably for the first time - is astounding!

I can't comment on the full production since I was not able to view it all. But I hope to (soon) have the chance to sit down and watch it in its entirety. Perhaps the lead characters did not live up to the expectations of all. But you know what? I'm sure it took a lot of courage to perform in front of an audience of millions. A Broadway leading lady may not have been able to draw that kind of audience, so I think overall it was a smart casting decision. If nothing else, the door has certainly been opened for more productions of this kind. I'm personally hoping Sutton Foster stars in the next big live broadcast.

And if our experience is any indication, there might be a whole lot of little girls out there dreaming about singing and dancing and acting their little hearts out. And whether or not they ever set foot on a Broadway stage, I think that certainly means that this production was a worthwhile endeavor.

Did you watch the live show? What did you think?

new york city...part 4 (finally)

Last day of adventure in the city! We started out bright and (somewhat) early on Monday morning.



Edison Hotel Lobby.

We traveled south on the subway to take a peek at the Flatiron Building.

It was neat! Wish it were open for tours or something.

Look what they have in the city - Home Depot! Craziness.

The Arch in Washington Square Park.

Loving all the architecture we saw!

Jefferson Market Branch of the NY Public Library. The building used to be a courthouse in the late 1800's/early 1900's. It was really neat.

But it's still just a normal library, with self-service holds pickup and even an upside-down S on their sign. :)

I love vacation. There's time to smell the flowers. :)

Riding the Miss Liberty ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty!

Lower Manhattan skyline.

Loving every minute!

Lady Liberty. I took about 60 photos of her...giving you just one.

After an arduous climb, we reached the top of the crown! It was a neat experience.

The view looking down the inside of the statue, from the crown.

We walked around the pedestal. It was really windy.

Souvenir coin! I love collecting pressed coins.

Eating hot dogs on the ferry ride back.

Scary storm that attacked us on the way back!

Classic plane ride home photo...after a stressful time of getting back to the hotel (had to run through Times Square), catching our shuttle, and waiting for several hours at the airport.

Goodbye, pretty city. I'm sure we'll meet again someday.

And this, friends, is why I fly Midwest Airlines. Chocolate chip cookies...baked in-flight. Excellent.

Whew. That's it! It was a fantastic trip. After looking at all these photos again, I'm wishing I had time to make this scrapbook! I'm afraid it may be awhile before that happens, though...

Thanks for traveling along with me! New adventures are hopefully coming soon. :)

new york city...part 3

The morning dawned bright and happy. Times Square had returned to normal. We headed off for our adventures on our third day in the city.


Part of 6th Avenue (maybe all of it?) was closed down for some sort of biking event.

Standing in front of American Girl Place, one of my favorite stores on earth. We had to take this photo 12 times because I couldn't figure out what settings to use to have my face be lit!!

How cute is it to shop in a place like this?

Me with my namesake display. Yes, obviously she is named after me.

And while this one may not be my namesake...she's kind of my trademark. I'm really afraid Molly is going to be retired at the end of this year, so I wanted a pic with her whole display before it's too late. :\

Andrew even let me purchase a couple of outfits that I didn't gain during my childhood, so that my Molly collection can be complete! YAY!

The bakery at AG Place sells "sets" of snacks - one for girl and one for doll. DELIGHTFUL.

This is the Doll Hair Salon. AG Place is coming to Kansas City in the fall - I'm thinking about leaving behind my other career and just playing with dolls all day. I mean, really, what better way to spend my time? :)

My other favorite NYC shopping location - H&M! This is the 3-story shop on 5th Avenue. I never got to Herald Square to visit the other ones...oh well. Hopefully all the cute stuff was here!

The interior of the store. Amazing. The first time I was here was in Summer 2007, when vacationing with Rachel and Laura. Fun, fun, fun!

Apparently stone-wash is back in style. No...I did not add this to my personal wardrobe.

The Lindt Chocolate Shop. Yummy.

FAO Schwartz. I can't wait to take my kids to this store someday. It's amazing.

LOLA! Charlie & Lola is the best kids TV series of the last 10 years.

MAPLE TOWN!!! Okay....so it's really called Country Critters now, but I was obsessed with Maple Town when I was little. Seriously, I have dozens of these creatures and they're amazing.

The Storytime room at FAO.

We find it amusing that NBC gets a huge store at Rockefeller, and CBS is a few blocks away and is basically a closet. But we found a few interesting things....

Next was a visit to Crumbs Bakery, next to the Broadway Theatre where we saw Promises Promises on Friday. Let me tell you...these were some pretty phenomenal cupcakes. I'm now obsessed with cupcakes!

The delightful specimen we shared. It was too rich to eat the whole thing alone!

Waiting by the stage door after The Addams Family at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Meeting Kevin Chamberlin, who played Horton in Seussical! Gertrude and Horton finally meet...aww.

After the show, my feet had reached the point of extreme pain and I finally caved and wore tennis shoes for an evening. It was almost as painful to wear the ugly shoes as it would have been to deal with the pain from cute shoes. I'm only 23 and don't feel that I should really be required to give up CUTE yet. Right? :\

Shopping at Toys R Us.

As we are trying to be health-conscious and we had already had cupcakes this day, we did not buy the Wonka chocolate. But it looked Scrumdiddliumptious!

Rockefeller Center.

We headed to Grand Central just so I could take some photos. I've been here multiple times, but have never paused to capture the essence of this place. Pretty happy with this shot.

Cedric was irritated that we'd forgotten him for another day, so here's his photo in Grand Central.

Spiderman: Turn off the Dark was the original reason we planned this trip, and wouldn't you know? It hasn't even opened yet. And no one knows when it will open. Oh well.

Hanging out at Planet Hollywood. Definitely dancing.

Possible reason for dancing? Look at this beautiful salad.

Decor at Planet Hollywood. Couldn't resist a photo. ;)

We had ice cream goodness from Coldstone, and then went to the movies. This was taken at the movie theatre on 42nd Street, after seeing Date Night. It was funny! The theatre was practically empty.

And that, friends, is the end of Day 3! Only one day left....coming soon!