I've loved "The Sound of Music" since I saw the movie when I was nine. Since then, I've seen several stage productions (both good and bad) along with seeing the movie countless times. With NBC's Live version in 2013, I was excited to see the story brought to life again but was left ultimately disappointed and wanting to forget it.
Then, I discovered that ITV had produced their own version and after seeing some clips online, I wanted to see more. In short, this is a wonderful production. The sets are so detailed (especially Maria's mountain and the family's garden) and unlike the NBC version, I never felt like I was watching actors in a studio. Kara Tointon is wonderful as Maria and was just a joy to watch. All of the kids were great too.
Granted, it's not an entirely perfect production (they only had one time to perform this after all), I didn't really care for the "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" scene, the dancing was boring and I thought Rolf was just an okay singer. There are some awkward camera angles and a moment where the camera stays on a Nazi officer who demands that the family sing before abruptly cutting to the festival. But these are all just minor things and didn't take away from my enjoyment of a new production of a familiar story. I loved it so much that I bought the DVD!
