LAURA BENANTI in THE SOUND OF MUSIC: "Do Re Mi"

THE SOUND OF MUSIC-Broadway 3/99
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.

[@manuelorozco7760]

It’s so surreal that she has played Maria in one production and Elsa in another. So portraying two sides of the Captain love triangle. And Laura is still so beautiful!

[@jlrmalik]

19 yrs old people.....(slow clap)

[@janellamanguerra8094]

and she was just 19!!! Laura Benanti you are really something! 😍🙌

[@leif1075]

She was only 19 here?? She does look older..

[@graysonmaximilian8516]

instablaster

[@tomgallowitz]

Probably the only Maria closest to the real one’s age in a professional production

[@manuelorozco7760]

@@tomgallowitzNo!

[@abigailbrannon9890]

She is an AMAZING actress. I feel like a lot of Marias overdo the acing, and she actually has control over her singing voice. Nothing against vibrato, but her voice is smoother and she has control over it. It doesn't sound like she's plowing through all of it. And fresh out of high school, that is even more amazing!!

[@elizabethreaves4003]

Wow the fact she can play Maria and the baroness, two completely different roles, perfectly-mind blowing

[@projectfashionworks9716]

I happened to catch this live when my mom was in town then. We were so impressed that she was only 18, fresh out of high school, and in the playbill it said that her parents would not let her audition for any shows until she finished high school. She was amazing.

[@mariashouse5492]

Laura sings beautifully and has a great sense of humor!

[@ariannaengnell7218]

I have seen many different versions of this song in various different productions and I have to say that I have never loved the blocking as much as I do with this rendition. I honestly have to say that the blocking never stood out to me before, but I was struck by the creativity and the originality of this production! It was very well done!

[@mikesteele05]

+Arianna Engnell This was the best production I've ever seen of The Sound of Music (and I'm a superfan who's seen many). This is the definitive Do, Re, Mi in my opinion. There's a video floating around of Rebecca Luker where you can see more of the stage. So often, choreographers try to turn this into a "production number" where the kids have overly choreographed dance moves. This staging focuses on natural movements showcasing the kids having fun while learning. It's beautiful!

[@ariannaengnell7218]

+Mike Steele I completely agree! All of the versions that I have seen have the kids performing a lot of blocking and choreography. It rarely seems natural. (I think that the movie is not that far behind this production, however.) The blocking for this production is definitely beautifully natural.

[@mikesteele05]

Arianna Engnell oh, the movie is absolutely beautiful and the placement of the song is different in the story so it's hard to compare to the stage version. There's a full video floating around of Rebecca Luker in this production if you can get your hands on it. It's my absolute favorite stage production of this show.

[@AvalonMorley]

You being a real connoisseur of the show, I wish you could have seen the production that Lyric Stage (N. TX) did in 2013. It was a magnificent revelation, even apart from the almost 40-piece orchestra (playing the original orchestrations) and the perfect cast. They did the complete original script, and it became clear that that is the absolute best way to go, leaving out the many changes, "improvements," and such, that have crept in through the years. I've never been a fan of Mr. Rodgers' song "Something Good," because of the silly lyrics (the recent, mostly quite good tour of SOM did at least tweak and improve those lyrics somewhat), and in fact "An Ordinary Couple" works so much better for the moment, and to tell us something fundamental about the Capt. and Maria. Among the many other differences, giving "My Favorite Things" to Maria and Reverend Mother gives us a fuller, more satisfying impression of their relationship, and makes Reverend Mother's role more important, which really pays off at other points in the show. Even the inclusion of more of the nuns' music, so gloriously sung and accompanied, just raised everything so beautifully. There's also a lovely little scene where the sisters help Maria dress and prepare for the wedding, and where she sees herself in a full mirror and is genuinely surprised and humbly moved to realize that she looks beautiful. So many elements like these, and, of course, the climactic scene, well directed (which it somehow wasn't quite, in the recent tour), when Rolf finds enough humanity and kindness within himself to steer the Nazi soldiers away from the family, all added up to something far beyond any other production of SOM (and certainly far beyond the movie), and something so much richer and of real dramatic heft, without losing the balancing humor and lightness. What the writers and director of the movie did with that scene with Rolf in the abbey is one of the reasons I can never fully embrace that movie, lovely as much of it is. For me, that was a a kind of desecration, and an awful thing to do to the legacy of Oscar Hammerstein II, who knew so much better than many people seem to realize, what he was doing. ANYway, thank goodness he and Richard Rodgers got together, all those years ago, and created such masterpieces.

[@mikesteele05]

+AvalonMorley I saw the current tour when it hit Philly. I found it incredibly slow. From what a friend of mine described after seeing the production in L.A. where it opened, the production grew an extra 20 minutes by the time it got to Philly. I wasn't a fan of the new orchestrations, rewrites or a few of the leads. It did have some good moments, though, and actually seemed quite inspired by the 98 revival in many ways. I thought some of the choices in Do Re Mi were cute. I wasn't a fan of rewriting Something Good - always thought the song was out of place, but it was just tacky to rewrite it. I'm sure Mary Rodgers was against the rewrites and they had to wait until she passed to do it. I would looooove to see it with that sized orchestra that Lyric Stage had!

[@inesdeerausquin5658]

awesome! And the random high C at the end - Julie Andrews would be proud. :)

[@DFTBAiden]

If only they had cast her as Maria in the live version instead of Carrie Underwood. What a show that would have been!

[@shejean]

This is from 1999. Laura would have been too old for the TV Live version! Laura is on Broadway, again, as Eliza Doolittle in MFL! She’s absolutely a hoot as Melania Trump on Stephen Colbert’s late night talk show.

[@sergiozavaleta4521]

shejean Laure Benanti is only 3 years older than Underwood it wouldn’t have made a difference except we would’ve gotten a better actress

[@shejean]

Oh Hai Mark I never thought to compare their ages!!! In all fairness to Carrie, she never claimed to be an actress and I think she was brave to take on the role of Maria. But, yes, I do agree, Laura would have been a better Maria.

[@johne6081]

@@shejean ... but then they would have needed another Elsa.

[@linablanchard]

John E they should have had Carrie do it and Laura be Maria. But we all know that Carrie would have not been as good as Laura when singing “how can love survive” and “no way to stop it”

[@itsMattSteele]

This production was perfect.

[@jonathandee4833]

Sound Of Music was the best musical for Bentwood HS Laura Benanti I love Frauline Maria I happened this live she was 18 fresh out of high school very amazing

[@liesljones5987]

Wow! For a 19-year-old Laura Benanti already had her stage chopsin place!

[@MrsKiarara94]

The ending gets me every single time! SO GOOD! Is there something this woman can't do?

[@JCBug555]

I just found this because I was listening to the 2016 She Loves Me Broadway Cast Recording. Which is hilarious because I yesterday, I found the Julie Andrews version of Dear Friend.

[@rosav1000]

l love richard chamberlain..❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@ashlynnheller8400]

4:04 I say that when my little sister asks questions I can't answer.

[@lonellfletcher]

Sensational as always

[@halos.1]

She was 19 years old here?!?! Oh my god. I'm 19, but she already looks like she's in her late 20s here ;O

[@markymark400]

who ever posted this THANK you so much!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

+markymark400 You are welcome. Glad you liked it.

[@lumox7]

My music teacher wanted me to sing tenor. Tenor eleven miles away from him.

[@laurenconrad1799]

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

[@hefinrosser8685]

Oh WOW this is an incredible production xx wish I could have seen it xx

[@TamannaDas]

thanks for this😊

[@gregorykollarus8190]

Love her

[@ebc726]

Doesn't recording of the whole show with Laura exist somewhere? I'd love to see all of it!

[@jamieshari4566]

incredible

[@tomgallowitz]

Glad they kept the high ending since both Rebecca and Laura are sopranos like Julie

[@paulamourad4699]

She looks like Liesl ❤👍🏼😊

[@EigramGn]

She actually auditioned for Liesl, but the producers felt she looked too mature so she was cast to understudy for Maria instead! And she was only 19 here.

[@Wendy-je9zf]

I’m sorry, she was WHAT NOW?!?! I need to learn her secrets

[@lwouthgpeworhg]

Great!

[@sidneysworld193]

Please upload the full slime tutorial! 💖

[@cassieburt7025]

Anyone else notice the clear tape on the guitar? 😂

[@sergiozavaleta4521]

I still don’t get how she was casted in a different role for The Sound of Music Live.Her voice fits Maria way more than Carrie Underwood

[@lonelylittledot]

She was only 19 WHAT

[@julsschaffer6334]

... It's not Julie Andrews, but she's very good: wonderful voice, similar in appearance, very good !!!

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

Dear 'aurora'.....where are you finding these videos?? This was a day when it was still bulky video cameras that you can't exactly hide very well!! Hence these are 'hard to find'....AAHHH!!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

+Jennifer Hiemstra Most of these clips are taken from the pro-shot "raw" footage from which a show's press reel/B-roll is created. The press reel is distributed to outlets (TV, online streaming) which feature clips. A few of these clips are taken from television, while others are taken from events (concerts, etc.) that were taped for archival purposes.

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

Uhhh....so good! Clips we never thought we'd see!

[@projectfashionworks9716]

Not entirely. I had a camera at the time that was hand held, in one hand, about 6" long.

[@CalebI0308]

Do you happen to have the full show

[@eddieplummer1274]

Do you have the full show? :)

[@salomevankreuningen6878]

Who also knows her from supergirl? 😂

[@Porn05Mouth]

Omg, this is SO FAST!!! 🥴

[@patriciajune5]

Was this opening night

[@carlosmontenegro5378]

!!!!!

[@patriciajune5]

Why didn't they cast her as Maria in live production

[@haydenpolsky995]

they cast her as elsa

[@sidneysworld193]

Where did you find this?

[@ollakinanti9070]

liesl looks like cristine from simplynailogical

[@MTknitter22]

I like Laura but sorry Chamberlain just is no Christopher Plummer

[@lionsbru]

A fair comparison must include their singing voices. For most of the singing parts in the movie, they dubbed in Bill Lee for Christopher Plummer. So maybe you need to reassess a bit.

[@silentrunner7283]

the hand gestures was just annoying. who did that choreography? they should be dancing and moving, not flailing the arm around. The maria was a good singer until she started singing the higher notes like an opera singer. the song was nice and crisp and clear, until she dragged the notes on vibrating them. Other then that, the kids were really good. Then again no-one can ever sing this better then Julie Andrews.

[@MaximiliasAccount]

The hand gestures is actually signs for the notes they are singing, used by the Kodály-method. That would probably the method for singing that every teacher in Europe would have used during the period of the play, so I guess that's why they added it.

[@lionsbru]

@@MaximiliasAccount I assume you mean when the play was *written* - in the 1950s. Well, not exactly, but not far off -- Kodaly developed his whole teaching method (incorporating John Curwen's hand signals) in the 1940s in Hungary, but introduced it to the international community in 1958.

[@BobJoeman]

I understand legit singing not being everyone's bag, it's not mine either, but you're gonna shit on classical technique in The Sound of Music?