'The Sound of Music' Live With Carrie Underwood on NBC Thursday

NBC's "The Sound of Music" live production on Thursday will feature country music star Carrie Underwood in the iconic role of Maria von Trapp, originally made famous by legendary screen and stage star Julie Andrews in the iconic 1965 film version.

The three-hour live television event will air 8 p.m. EST and reportedly return to its live stage roots, drawing heavily from the Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway production that preceded the film version that won five Academy Awards.

Here's a first look of @carrieunderwood as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Airing 12/5 on @NBC -TeamCU pic.twitter.com/pwL00C64kU

— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) September 16, 2013

Underwood, who rose to fame in 2005 after winning season four of "American Idol" and subsequently releasing her full-length debut "Some Hearts," has been criticized by some online critics who disagreed with her selection for the role, prompting the 30-year-old Oklahoma native to tell Entertainment Weekly "I know I'm not Julie."

Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll

"I get hate tweets and stuff like, 'You're not Julie Andrews!'" Underwood told Entertainment Weekly. "I know I'm not Julie. Nobody is and I would never pretend that I was … I know my place."

Though she is known for her music, Underwood does have acting experience having appeared on the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" in 2010 and in the 2011 film "Soul Surfer."

Despite the objections from some, such as Jezebel.com news editor Erin Gloria Ryan who tweeted "The Carrie Underwood remake of The Sound of Music is probably the worst thing to ever happen to the Von Trapp family," the country music star received support from where it mattered, specifically Andrews herself.

"I think she's great," Andrews told Larry King in a recent interview, US Weekly reported. "It's going to be the original show, I believe, and I think after 40 or 50 years, it's probably time somebody else had a crack at it."

"I wish it well, that's for sure," Andrews added.

Underwood also received some Twitter support from the likes of conservative journalist Mary Katharine Ham and actress Laura Benanti.

Live "Sound of Music" starring Carrie Underwood: I am going to watch the HELL out of that.

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) December 1, 2013

You guys. Carrie Underwood is going to be seriously amazing in the Sound of Music on Thursday. She is magical.

— Laura Benanti (@LauraBenanti) December 4, 2013

Editor's Note: ObamaCare Is Here. Are You Prepared?

In Thursday's "The Sound of Music" live production, Underwood will star alongside "True Blood" actor Stephen Moyer who will play Capt. Georg von Trapp, and Tony Award winners Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti, and Christian Borle.