The Shows Must Go On: how to watch The Sound of Music Live! for free on YouTube

21 May 2020, 16:41 | Updated: 22 May 2020, 14:47

The Sound of Music - The Shows Must Go On

A few of our favourite things: a free stream of ‘The Sound of Music’ on YouTube this Friday for 48 hours, starring Carrie Underwood as Maria...

Based on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s legendary 1959 stage production of the same name, TV adaptation The Sound of Music Live! was first broadcast on NBC in 2013. And now, you can livestream it on YouTube for free during theatre closures.

Set in Austria, the beloved musical tells the story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to the von Trapp family while she decides whether to become a nun. She soon falls in love with the children and their widowed father, Captain von Trapp, and we’re plunged into their world of music, mountains, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens.

News of the livestream follows Andrew Lloyd Webber’s announcement earlier this week that he would be quitting the YouTube series, The Shows Must Go On – which has seen thousands of people gather online every Friday to watch Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and more.

Thankfully, fans of Broadway and the West End will continue to be treated to some of the industry’s most successful musicals via the channel, and The Sound of Music Live! is first on the line-up.

Read more: Andrew Lloyd Webber musical: why is there no free stream this week? >

How can I watch The Sound of Music Live! for free?

The livestream for The Sound of Music Live! will be available on Friday 22 May from 7pm BST.

You can watch the production via YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On, but you’ll only have 48 hours to view the show.

While the stream is free, audiences are encouraged to donate money if they can to The Actors Fund, which supports performers who may be struggling during the coronavirus pandemic with emergency financial assistance, affordable housing, healthcare, and more.

More than half a million dollars have been raised for the fund since the YouTube channel started.

The curtain has fallen on Andrew's The Shows Must Go On series

The Sound of Music Live! – who is in the cast?

Tomorrow’s livestream stars country singer and American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, in the lead role of Maria Rainer.

She is joined in the cast by Stephen Moyer, who plays the children’s father and her love interest, Captain Georg von Trapp.

Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the TV special – which was performed and broadcast live from Grumman Studios in New York – also stars Audra McDonald as The Mother Abbess, Laura Benanti as Elsa Schraeder, Joe West as Kurt, Michael Nigro as Friedrich and Christian Borle as Max Detweiler, among others.

Read more: West Side Story remake by Steven Spielberg – cast and soundtrack >

The Sound of Music Live! – what are the songs?

The musical features many of the hit songs from the original stage production, featuring songs by Richard Rodgers and lyrics from Oscar Hammerstein II.

Popular melodies include ‘Maria’, ‘Sixteen Going On Seventeen’, ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘The Sound of Music’ and the perennially beautiful ‘Edelweiss’.

Watch The Sound of Music Live! on Friday 22 May, from 7pm BST, on YouTube.