Carrie Underwood has a long history of melding music with her strong television presence. She has racked up six Grammys, five Country Music Assocication Awards and hosted the CMAs five times -- a sixth to come on November 6th in Nashville. And aside from seeing her belting out the Sunday Night Football Theme song, you will now see her in another light: a television broadcast of The Sound of Music.
The Associated Press reports that Underwood has landed the role of Maria opposite Stephen Moyer (True Blood) playing Captain von Tropp. The show will be air on NBC December 5th. Last night at a function for the TJ Martell Foundation she told the AP that The Sound of Music will be a challenge not only for her, but for the whole cast, as no one has done something quite like it before. The rest of the cast does have strong experience on Broadway with Tony awards to prove it. Laura Benanti of Royal Pains won a Tony in 2008 for Gypsy, and will play Elsa (von Tropp's girlfriend). Audra McDonald (Private Practice) was the youngest actress ever to win three Tony awards, according to IMDB. She will take the Mother Abbess role. And lastly, Christian Borle (Smash) will play Max, von Tropp's friend and music producer.
Underwood did not give many details on the show other than prepping incredibly early for the leading role. "I wanted to be here and have all my lines memorized and everything and be ready for it," Underwood told the AP. She raved about the cast as well. "Audra and Laura are incredible. Stephen's great. It's nice to be surrounded by that much talent."
Recording the Sunday Night Football song didn't take as much careful prep. "It's a lot of fun. I grew up watching football. I'm from Oklahoma, it's what we do," Underwood said. She has no predictions for the upcoming CMAs, but we can expect she will add more awards to the long list of accolades since first appearing on American Idol in Season 4. We have less of a clue what to expect from The Sound of Music, but with the strong cast behind her, it should be a television event worth tuning into.
Will you be watching? Who else could you see in The Sound of Music roles?
