LAURA BENANTI in THE SOUND OF MUSIC-B'way '99

THE SOUND OF MUSIC-Broadway 3/99-Title Song
On opening night, the 1998 Broadway revival of "The Sound of Music" saw the teenage Laura Benanti make her Broadway debut in the role of "a postulant" while also understudying the production's leading lady, Rebecca Luker.
The following year, Benanti got her first Broadway lead when she replaced Luker as Maria, with Richard Chamberlain taking over as the Captain.

[@whatdoyousuppose]

Aw, Baby Benanti!! Such a mature voice for her age here, but still so youthful, it's adorable- lovely then and ever so lovely now!!

[@rachelhazard519]

Lara etacus

[@AlicePerezSoprano]

On a video Seth Rudetsky told that the first time Laura went on as Maria she was so nervous that before going on stage she puked and rushed onstage singing.

[@laurenconrad1799]

So Laura Benanti auditioned for Liesl, played nun, then played Maria, then played Elsa, and eventually played a spoofed version of Liesl in the special event, Miscast. Damn

[@williamfairchild7439]

Elsa in the 2013 NBC TV broadcast of The Sound of Music Live

[@user-ur7mc2oh6w]

Adore her then and now!

[@richardmayora6974]

It is so refreshing to see an age-appropriate actress play this role.

[@TMT-4869]

She was 19 here. Hardly appropriate for Maria, when Liesl is supposed to be 16 going on 17. That said, she looks and sounds very mature.

[@mikesteele05]

Richard Mayora The real Maria Trapp was 19 when she entered the convent, 21 when she was sent to tutor one of the Trapp children, 24 when she married, and 33 when she and the family fled Austria. The timeline in real life vs. the timeline in the musical are drastically different. I'd say anyone who can realistically play early 20s to mid 30s would be "age-appropriate." In that regard, I don't see how this is "refreshing" age-appropriate casting when most performers doing the role fall well within this range.

[@KHobbies_cina]

She looks no younger than 28, a blessing and a curse at the same time.

[@AericLee23]

Julie Andres was age-appropriate. In real life, Maria was 22 when she first arrived at the Trapp household.

[@shejean]

@@TMT-4869 The real Maria was 22 when she married Von Trapp; who was 47 at the time. So Laura at 19 certainly can pass for 22.

[@a-bittersweet-tragedy0203]

Baby Laura is so perfect 😭

[@emilygracey]

This sort of breaks my heart every time I think about it. We get Carrie Underwood as Maria and then we get Laura as Elsa. Life can sure be unfair sometimes.

[@derrickw.4002]

To be fair, after seeing all the other LIVE Productions, I think we were all initially too hard on Carrie Underwood. Carrie was chosen because of her ability to bring in an audience and it worked (nearly 50 million viewers). Carrie sounded great vocally, it was her acting that she was terribly uncomfortable.

[@RisaGreen]

Derrick W. Even though Carrie Underwood’s voice is Gorgeous its the voice that is meant for that genre of music

[@MikeA15206]

Capitalism always rules over talent!

[@cameronwhatidoinsparetime8300]

I found out that Carrie had wanting to play Maria for a very long time and she saw the advertisement for it and I think they were looking for a country singer to play Maria

[@finleyquinton1545]

you all prolly dont care but does someone know of a trick to get back into an instagram account? I stupidly forgot my password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me.

[@Vejur9000]

God I love this woman.

[@dianavictoriaaljadeff5302]

Laura Benanti idols were always Julie Andrews and Barbara Cook and she like to sing their roles.She was Maria a role both played ,Amalia in She loves me and wants to do My Fair Lady.Laura is a veyr talented artis tone of th e best now on Broadway

[@luukjoling1]

You never age do you Laura? Loved your Liesl at miscast as well ;)

[@ruby7226]

ONLY EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD!! ARE YOU KIDDING?

[@yongadog]

We found the American Julie Andrews.

[@user-jj9uj9mx8w]

Yeah, she look alike Julie Andrews and she can sing.

[@jerichogonzales1290]

They Should have cast her as Mary Poppins. Emily Blunt can sing very well but Laura has Julie's delicate timbre.

[@manuelorozco7760]

I cannot believe how young Laura was when she did this. And a newcomer to Broadway! Her voice is so stunning

[@davidd6218]

Gifted, beautiful.

[@AericLee23]

Brunette like the real Maria, sounds close to the real Maria, and even resembles her somewhat. I think I found the ideal Maria von Trapp in Laura Benanti.

[@buckspath]

Incredible! Thank you for posting!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

+buckspath You are very welcome---glad you liked it.

[@toricornish2023]

I can see Sierra Boggess playing Maria so easily... maybe a Phantom to be her Von Trapp? I don’t want to be cliche but Ramin Karimloo would make a handsome Captain... he looks amazing in a uniform (Glen in Anastasia).

[@dianavictoriaaljadeff5302]

Perfect casting because Maria was very young when she met t he Captain VonTrapp who was in his late thirties.So Laura Benanti and Richard Chamberlain were perfect inthe roleds.Although I loved Julie and Plummer inthe film he was very young for the role.Maybe Bing Crosby ,Yul Brynner or other older actor they wanted at the time wouold have been a better choice if you wanted the real age difference.But Julie amd Plummer were so marvelous thay we forget it;

[@mikesteele05]

The real Maria Trapp was 19 when she entered the convent, 21 when she was sent to tutor one of the Trapp children, 24 when she married, and 33 when she and the family fled Austria. Christopher Plummer (when he filmed the movie at age 36) was closer in age to the real Georg Trapp (age 47 at the time when he and Maria married) than Richard Chamberlain was when he played the role on Broadway (age 65 in 1999). Maria Trapp and Georg Trapp were 25 years apart in age, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are six years apart in age, and Laura Benanti and Richard Chamberlain are 46 years apart in age. So really, there's nothing more authentic age-wise about the pairing of Benanti and Chamberlain than there is to the pairing of Andrews and Plummer.

[@Gnostic72]

How uncannily she looks like Julie Andrews at certain angles.

[@marioviglianesi9553]

Do you have the full video show?

[@mylesgarcia4625]

She is far too polished and sophisticated to be that bumpkin Maria Rainier.