The Hills Are Alive... With A New TV Live Version Of 'Sound Of Music'

Inspired idea or blasphemy? The timeless Sound of Music, which has forever been one of my favorite things, is going to be aired live on NBC, in an attempt to bring the 1965 Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer film to a new generation.

The net has enlisted Smash producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (who turned Broadway hits Chicago and Hairspray into film musicals) to create a "television event," with a new cast of actors singing live—no pre-recorded music or lip-syncing.

"It isn’t our intention to produce a remake of the movie version of The Sound of Music," says Zadan. "What we want to do, instead, is to give audiences a completely fresh experience of this great Tony Award-winning stage musical in the form of a classic television event, combined with the spontaneity of a live performance."

The new live adaptation will be based on the 1959 Broadway show—not the film. No air date is set, although casting has begun. *