Carrie Underwood. Associated Press file
Checotah native and country music star
Carrie Underwood announced that she will star as
Maria von Trapp in NBC's live broadcast of "
The Sound of Music."
The announcement was made by
Robert Greenblatt, chairman, NBC Entertainment.
“Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn't be happier to have the gifted Carrie Underwood take up the mantle of the great Maria von Trapp,” Greenblatt said in a press statement. “She was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist.”
A live telecast of "The Sound of Music" will air over three hours near the holidays in 2013. No specific date has been given.
The network is working with "Smash" producers
Craig Zadan and
Neil Meron (film versions of the Oscar-winning "Chicago" and "Hairspray") for this endeavor, confirmed Underwood's publicist.
The duo also will produce the 85th Annual Academy Awards.
"We're thrilled to be presenting the Broadway version of ‘The Sound of Music’ live,” said Zadan and Meron in a joint press statement, “and having Carrie Underwood as the star brings it to a new generation who will fall in love with it for the first time as many millions of people already have.
"It's a particular joy to us as producers to see this amazing artist stretch into new territory with this classic musical."
The musical is based on the romantic true story of Maria von Trapp, and set in pre-WWII Austria. She becomes a nanny for widower Captain von Trapp's seven children and falls in love.
The show made its box-office record breaking Broadway premiere in 1959 with music by
Richard Rodgers and lyrics by
Oscar Hammerstein II. It was adapted into a film in 1965. The Broadway won a Best Musical Tony Award and the movie won the Best Picture Oscar Award.
