I Told You There was a Problem with Maria

I have never liked to say "I told you so" because it sounds so confrontational and borderline hostile.  I much prefer "See, I was right!" which may be self congratulatory but also demonstrates healthy self esteem (something with which I've struggled).  

Which brings to us the The Sound of Music - Live!  on NBC last Thursday.  A couple of weeks ago in my blog entitled  "A Problem with Maria" (http://ripachesallover.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-problem-with-maria.html) I shared some reservations about the casting of Carrie Underwood as Maria.  I said that while I thought she would certainly sing prettily enough for the role, that her lack of acting experience made her a risky choice for a lead role in a live televised performance.

Well, I was emphatically right about this.  Carrie sang the role just fine, but her performance was wooden - with blank expressions and a lifeless line delivery.  She had absolutely no chemistry with her leading man, Stephen Moyer as Captain Von Trapp.  To be fair to Carrie, it was evident that she gave this demanding assignment her very best effort - she worked very hard at what must have been a daunting task for a non-actress and was clearly the very best Maria that she - Carrie Underwood - could be. 

It wasn't her fault that she was reportedly, inexplicably, the first choice for the role - we would have to turn to the producers and directors for an explanation of their reasoning for that.  Did they even audition her for the part?  Or did they cast her only based on her popularity as a country singer and American Idol winner.

Honestly I wish the powers-that-be on projects like this would have a little more faith in their audience.  I understand that it's a business and you want to cast someone with a following, but the integrity and quality of the project should also matter.  I can't buy the theory that this project could not have been made without Carrie Underwood. They could have tried a little harder to find that superstar with a following who can sing and act.  A good first step might be to actually read the star you have in mind for the role.

 

As for Carrie, I can imagine that it was very flattering to be told she was the first choice for the role, and it probably seemed like a wonderful opportunity, but in the end I wonder if she did herself any favors by taking on something so completely beyond her.  Before this, she was a star beloved by many with few detractors. But now she is the brunt of much deserved criticism, and ridIcule.  She seems like a nice enough person, but her tweet of "Plain and simple: mean people need Jesus" in response to her critics is just naive (on so many levels).  When you perform you open yourself up to be critiqued, and as a former AI contestant she really should know that.

Now, let's get back to how I was right, shall we?  In a stroke of genius unbelievable in the same people who cast Carrie in the lead, the producers thought outside the box and cast the incomparable Audra McDonald in the role of Mother Abbess.  I was pretty excited about this, saying that I would literally cast Audra McDonald in any role she wanted, and that I was waiting in breathless anticipation to hear her performance of "Climb Every Mountain."

Well, Audra blew all my expectations out of the water.  She was the best Mother Abbess I have ever seen.  She turned in the most riveting, compelling, ferocious "Climb Every Mountain" you could ever hope to enjoy, and she actually made Carrie Underwood weep (the only real emotion she showed all night).  Audra acted while she was singing, if you can imagine, and created one of those one-of-a-kind iconic theatrical performances that will be remembered and revered forever.

So, maybe those were the easy calls, you say?  How else was I right, you ask?  Well, the luminous Laura Benanti was so enchanting as the Baroness that it was puzzling why the Captain would choose Maria over her, almost as puzzling as why the producers would choose Carrie over Laura to play...oh, never mind.  Laura was great as the Baroness, as I predicted.  And Pittsburgh native Christian Borle was even better in the role of Max than I said he'd be.

All in all, Sound of Music Live! was a thoroughly satisfying experience. Wondrous sets, some really fine performances by the supporting players (including the kids, the nuns, and the housekeeper and butler) yet still enough to poke fun at.  And the best part is that I was right about it all. 

Isn't it Ironic, Don't You Think?

Don’t get me started on the song “Ironic,” by Alanis Morissette.  This song contains several supposed examples of irony that are NOT ironic. 

For the record, irony is about the unexpected.  If you say, “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” when the weather is horrid outside, you are speaking in an ironic manner.  If something happens that is the opposite of what reasonable people might expect to happen, that is ironic.

Therefore, Alanis, “rain on your wedding day” isn’t ironic unless your wedding is taking place in the middle of the Sahara desert.   In some places (like Pittsburgh) you would be foolish NOT to expect rain on your wedding day because it could literally rain any day of the year here.  And, “good advice that you just didn’t take?”  Honey, people ignore good advice all the time – you can’t really tell people anything once they have their minds made up, so that’s definitely not ironic.

To me, the most ironic thing about this song is that it received a Grammy nomination for its author for writing a song about irony when she didn’t really understand the meaning of the word.  I wouldn’t have expected that.

The world and life is absolutely rife with irony.  Real irony is all around us.  I can think of several recent examples.

1)       American Idol comes to Pittsburgh for auditions, but then doesn’t feature any Pittsburghers on the broadcast, except for one girl from Sutersville (in Westmoreland County) whose sister had to “plank” (i.e. lie in front of her like a log) in order for her to perform her best.  This is especially ironic because I personally know EIGHT exceptionally talented young Pittsburghers, all of them young rock stars who can and do bring the house down with their vocals, who auditioned for the show who didn’t even have a chance to perform in front of the judges.  I guess you gotta have a gimmick if you want to get ahead on American Idol.

2)      The very best thing for your arthritic knees is to lose weight, and the very best way to lose weight is to exercise, and yet weight bearing exercise (like walking) puts too much pressure on those same knees that require weight loss for relief.

3)      Muscle weighs more than fat.  Therefore, despite the generally accepted idea that weight loss is THE definitive indicator of improved health, if you exercise in a way that builds your muscle to improve your health you will (at least at first) gain some weight.

4)    When Sperling’s Best Places decided to do a study to determine American’s Most Stressful Cities, one of the factors they used was the divorce rate in that city (along with things like violent crime, suicides, and unemployment rates) even though there’s nothing that will relieve your stress like getting out of a bad marriage. (http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-stressful-cities-2012.html). 

So now I have the refrain of this insipid song running through my head. Now THAT’S ironic, don’t you think?