NBC to air live broadcast of 'The Sound Of Music'

NBC announced Friday that it is planning to team up with "Smash" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for a live television broadcast of the "Sound of Music," the LA Times is reporting.

"There used to be a tradition of broadcasting musicals live back in the 1950s, and we're thrilled to do it once again with a musical that has been a family classic for five decades," NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt said according to Deadline Hollywood. "There is no more talented and creative producing team than Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to bring Rodgers and Hammerstein's final and most beloved collaboration to network television in this groundbreaking live telecast." The producers will not be remaking the 1965 Oscar-winning film which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, the LA Times reports. "That would be artistic blasphemy," Craig Zadan said. Instead, Zadan and Meron will recreate the 1959 stage musical to give viewers "a completely fresh experience," USA Today reports. Zadan noted that "all the actors will be singing live; there will be no lip-synching to recordings," the LA Times reports. According to Deadline Hollywood, the live broadcast will include classics from The Sound Of Music including "The Sound Of Music," Do-Re-Mi," and "My favorite Things" along with a "few wonderful songs from the Broadway show version that people are less familiar with," Neil Meron said. Casting is set to begin immediately, and an air date will be announced in the coming weeks, the LA Times reports. According to the Washington Post, Zadan and Meron have produced various classic musicals for TV including The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth. The remake received five Emmy nominations. The duo has also recreated Annie. Their version starred Kathy Bates, and won two Emmys and a Peabody Award. Their remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella starring Whitney Houston and Brandy received 7 Emmy nominations, and their first musical remake, Gypsy, starring Bette Midler, received 12 Emmy Nominations. The Sound Of Music won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1960, Playbill noted.