Kara Tointon joins Julian Ovenden in live ITV broadcast of The Sound Of Music

The Stage has announced further casting for ITV's upcoming live broadcast of The Sound of Music.

Joining the previously announced Julian Ovenden as Captain Von Trapp is Kara Tointon as Maria. 

Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical will be broadcast over Christmas. The cast also includes Katherine Kelly as Baroness Elsa Schraeder and Alexander Armstrong as Max Detweiler.

The creative team includes Coky Giedroyc (creative director), Martin Koch (musical supervisor) and Richard Valentine (television director).

Elaine Bedell (ITV director of comedy and entertainment) said: “This is the first time in the UK that this type of project has been attempted, a musical drama both performed and broadcast live. We’ve assembled some of the very best talent both in front of and behind the camera, and I can’t wait to see it all come together."

ITV's live broadcast of The Sound of Musical follows NBC's The Sound of Music Live in 2013 which starred Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, Stephen Moyer as Captain Georg von Trapp and Audra McDonald as Mother Abbess, attracting 18.62 million live viewers.

Tointon's West End theatre credits include: Pygmalion, Absent Friends and Relatively Speaking. The Sound of Music will mark her musical theatre debut. In addition to winning Strictly Come Dancing, Tointon's screen credits include playing Rosalie Selfridge in Mr Selfridge, Maria in Suntrap, Erica Stoke in Lewis and Dawn Swann in EastEnders.