McDonald, Benanti, Borle join NBC's 'Sound of Music'

McDonald, Benanti, Borle join NBC's 'Sound of Music'

McDonald, Benanti, Borle join NBC's 'Sound of Music', NBC's The Sound of Music has found its Mother Abbess -- and its Max Dettweiler and Elsa Schrader.

It was announced Monday that Tony Award winners and TV veterans Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti and Christian Borle will join Carrie Underwood, previously announced to star as Maria in a new presentation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, set to air live Dec. 5.

Fans of McDonald, who has reaped five Tonys for her stage work -- the first for another revival of an R&H classic, Carousel -- can look forward to hearing her sing Climb Every Mountain as Maria's protector (and gentle nudge) Mother Abbess.

Benanti, who got her big break on Broadway as Maria in another production of Music, will play the glamorous baroness Elsa, Maria's foil and rival for the affections of Captain von Trapp. And Borle, who appeared on TV previously in NBC's Smash, is cast as Max, the Captain and Elsa's impish companion.