The good people of the Shows Must Go On organisation have made such a great job of steaming Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to raise money for Covid related charities that there going to carry on, branching out into shows by other composers.
Each one will be announced on Monday and released via YouTube the following weekend.
This weekend it’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s much loved classic about a chaotic young nun who takes a job as a governess and eventually tames the unruly children and marries their widowed father. And just in time to escape the Nazis! The cherished film version starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
This isn’t that one. In fact it’s a very odd beast indeed. It was presented on American TV and the only noteworthy thing about it was that it was transmitted live as the actors performed in. That must have been a nail biting adrenalin rush for all involved but it’s not, alas, for us.
What we get is a perfectly pleasant, quite unremarkable retelling of the well known musical all be it with everyone, quite understandably, a little bit on edge. But that needn’t spoil your enjoyment of the cheery Cinderella story of how a petty, spirited young woman wins the heart of her rather pompous prince.
It’s also one of those shows where every single song is a treat and has become a classic. People have been known to burst into tears on just hearing a few bars of the score so deeply has it ingrained itself in our consciousness as the soundtrack to innocence and childhood.
In a statement the company behind it all has said: "Universal has confirmed that, following the success of the Andrew Lloyd Webber shows, beloved musical productions will continue to be released weekly for free and made available for 48 hours on The Shows Must Go On YouTube Channel. Over the last 6 weeks, millions of musical theatre fans around the globe have tuned in and donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to charity, whilst watching and singing-a-long at home."
Watch THE SOUND OF MUSIC here:
There will be no UK Theatre before July 4th. We can assume.