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The Sound of Music

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For the film of the same name, see The Sound of Music (film)
For the St. Paul, Minnesota store of the same name, see Sound of Music stores

The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical based on the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It contains many hit songs, including "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" and "Maria", as well as the title song.

The music was written by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The book was written by the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It was the final musical written by the successful team of Rodgers and Hammerstein, as the latter would die of cancer just nine months after the opening.

After screening a German film about the von Trapp family, stage director Vincent J. Donehue began shopping the project around before it was picked up by Broadway producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday, husband of star Mary Martin. It was originally envisioned to be a non-musical play to be written by Lindsay and Crouse with authentic Austrian music. Then it was decided to add an original song or two, perhaps by Rodgers and Hammerstein. However, it was soon agreed that the project should feature all new songs and be a musical rather than a play.

Contents

[edit] Plot outline

Image:Sound of Music DVD Cover.jpg
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Part I: In Salzburg, Austria, Maria, a woman studying to become a nun, is sent from her convent to be the governess to seven children of Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp, a widower and a decorated commander in the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. The children, initially hostile and mischievous, come to like her, and she finds herself falling in love with the captain. He was soon to be married to Baroness Elsa Schräder but marries Maria instead. Maria teaches the children to sing. The youngest child, Gretl, has been played onstage by young New Zealander of the Year, Polly Smith.

[edit] Versions

[edit] Media:Early films

Two German/Austrian films, Die Trapp-Familie (The Trapp Family, 1956) and a sequel, Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika (1958), were written by Herbert Reinecker and directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner. Ruth Leuwerik played Maria, Hans Holt was von Trapp.

[edit] 1959 Broadway musical

The Sound of Music, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, and starred Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as Captain Georg von Trapp. The original Broadway production cast album was recorded on the Columbia (now Sony) label (3 million copies), and ran for 1,443 performances.

Original opening night cast:

The production shared the Tony Award for Best Musical, with Fiorello!. It also won for Best Actress in a Musical (Mary Martin), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patricia Neway), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Oliver Smith) and Best Musical Direction. It was also nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (both Theodore Bikel and Kurt Kasznar), Best Director of a Musical (Vincent J. Donehue) and oddly enough, the entire children's cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a single nominee despite the fact that two of them were boys.

The choreographer was Joe Layton.

Martha Wright, Jeannie Carson and Nancy Dussault starred as Maria, as the show went on to have 1,443 performances. Florence Henderson headlined the national tour.

Jon Voight was a replacement for the part of Rolfe, and he eventually married costar Lauri Peters.

[edit] 1961 London production

The London production opened at the Palace Theatre on May 18, 1961 and ran for 2,385 performances. It was directed by Jerome Whyte. With the original New York choreography supervised by Joe Layton and the original New York sets designed by Oliver Smith.

Cast:

[edit] 1981 London revival

In 1981, at producer Ross Taylor's urging, Petula Clark signed to star in a revival of the show at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London's West End. Despite her misgivings that at age 51 she was too old to play the role convincingly, Clark opened to unanimous rave reviews (and the largest advance sale in the history of British theatre at that time). Maria von Trapp herself, present at the opening night performance, described her as "the best" Maria ever. Due to an unprecedented demand for tickets, Clark extended her initial six-month contract to thirteen months. Playing to 101% of seating capacity, the show set the highest attendance figure for a single week (October 26–31, 1981) of any British musical production in history, as chronicled by The Guinness Book of Theatre. This was the first stage production to incorporate the two additional songs that Richard Rodgers had composed for the film version. The cast recording of this production was the first to be recorded digitally, but the recording has never been released on compact disc.

[edit] The 1987 Telarc studio cast recording

The Telarc label made a studio cast recording of The Sound of Music with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel, casting opera stars in the lead roles. Frederica von Stade sang the role of Maria opposite Hakan Hagegard's Captain von Trapp and Eileen Farrell as the Mother Abbess. Kunzel cast children from the Cincinnati School for the Creative and Performing Arts to sing the children's parts. This all-digital recording combined the songs of both the stage and screen versions, and included sections of music that had been recorded for the first time.......

[edit] The 1988 Takarazuka version

In 1988, the Snow Troupe of Takarazuka Revue performed the musical at the Bow Hall, starring Harukaze Hitomi and Gou Mayuka.

[edit] 1990 New York City Opera production

In 1990, the New York City Opera production was directed by Oscar Hammerstein II's son, James. It featured Debby Boone as Maria; Laurence Guittard as Captain von Trapp; Werner Klemperer as Max Detweiler; and Claudia Cummings as Mother Abbess.


[edit] The 1998 revival

In 1998, director Susan H. Schulman staged the first Broadway revival of The Sound of Music, with Rebecca Luker as Maria and Michael Siberry as Captain von Trapp. It also featured Patti Cohenour as Mother Abbess, Jan Maxwell as Elsa Schraeder, Fred Applegate as Max Detweiler, and Laura Benanti in her Broadway debut. Later, Luker and Siberry were replaced by Richard Chamberlain as the Captain and Benanti as Maria. Lou Taylor Pucci made his Broadway debut as the understudy for Kurt von Trapp. This revival opened on March 12, 1998 at the Martin Beck Theatre where it ran for 15 months, then went on to tour in North America. This production was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

[edit] The Japanese Production

The Japanese production of The Sound of Music imparts a distinctly Asian style to the European musical. Captain von Trapp was played by Mr. Yamahha Ong and Maria by the beautiful Japanese singer, Miss Chee (Louise) Wusson. The Japanese production played in Tokyo and Hiroshima in September of 1999.

The story line however was changed to take place during the Vietnam War.

the cast are as follows:

  • Madeline (Maria's counterpart): Miss Chee Wusson
  • Captain Lee (Captain von Trapp's counterpart): Mr Yamahha Ong
  • The baroness, Miss Fling Wan
  • Rolf: Adam Able
  • Leisel: Miss Bling Chee-Han
  • Max: Victor Li

The Japanese production traveled no futher than Hiroshima as the director believed that European audiences would not be able to handle the actors' heavy accents. The director also believed that some of the comments made by Max could offend Jewish and Lebonese groups.

[edit] The Australian production

Image:Sound-of-Music-Australian-production.jpg

The Australian production of The Sound of Music opened in the Lyric Theatre, in Sydney, New South Wales, with the star of the popular Australian drama Blue Heelers, Lisa McCune, playing the role of Maria von Trapp, TV personality Bert Newton as Max and John Waters as Captain von Trapp. The children's cast included Pia Morley, Christopher Nolan, Stephanie Martonhelyi, Mathew Gammel, Nikki Webster, Rachel Marley and Lauren Vartanian. This production was based on the 1998 Broadway revival staging, directed by Susan Schulman. The show was produced by the Gordon Frost Organisation and Sports and Entertainment Limited.

Other cities the production toured were Melbourne, Victoria, and Brisbane, Queensland.

The show also was also performed in Perth, Western Australia, with Rachael Beck replacing Lisa McCune as Maria, and Rob Guest assuming the role of Captain von Trapp.

[edit] 2006 London revival

An Andrew Lloyd Webber production opened in London's West End on 15 November 2006. It is being performed at the London Palladium with Live Nation's David Ian co-producing it with Jeremy Sams.

Following failed negotiations with Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, the role of Maria was cast through a search across the talent of the UK in a reality TV show called How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?. The show was produced by and starred Lloyd Webber as well as comedian Graham Norton. The show also featured a judging panel featuring David Ian, Zoe Tyler and John Barrowman. Connie Fisher was voted by the public as the winner of the show after a close final between her, Helena Blackman and Siobhan Dillon and is therefore performing the lead role of Maria.

[edit] 2006 Revival Cast

Simon Shepherd was originally confirmed for the role of Captain von Trapp with Lesley Garrett as Mother Abbess. However after two preview performances, Simon Shepherd was withdrawn from the production with immediate effect as his performance was "not working". Understudy Christopher Dickens was immediately drafted in to take the role of Captain von Trapp until replacement Alexander Hanson (who has had plenty of West End experience including "We Will Rock You") took over the reins in time for the official opening date of 15th November 2006. It opened on schedule, despite the various upheavals behind-the-scenes.

According to Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Company website, Ian Gelder will play Max, Lauren Ward will play the Baroness, Liesl will be played by Sophie Bould and Rolf by Neil McDermott. As can be seen from the photograph on the Really Useful Group's web site, this is the same Neil McDermott who played Ben in EastEnders during March 2003. Margaret Preece will understudy Lesley Garrett in certain performances, but it is not known who will understudy Fisher as Maria after Emma Williams pulled out.

This Show has now opened to huge critical acclaim and a phenonemal box office take.

  • Friedrich- John McCrea/ Greg West/ Joe Cooper
  • Louisa- Christine Tucker/ Poppy Friar/ Georgia Russell
  • Kurt- Jack Montgomery/ Piers Stubbs/ Michael Parsons
  • Brigitta- Grace Vance/ Caroline Riley/ Olivia Gould
  • Marta- Yasmin Garrad/ Molly May Keston/ Emily Lane
  • Gretl- Dora Gee/ Lauren Downing/ Alicia Gould/ Adrianna Bertola

Ensemble Christopher Blades, Anthony Cable, Ian Caddick, Vivien Care, Tanya Caridia, Christopher Connah, Kate Coysten, Deborah Crowe, Christopher Dickens, Katie Fabel, Susie Fenwick, John Griffiths, Amanda Hall, Paul Kemble, Emma Lindars, Ian Male, Claire Massie, Nicholas Maude, Gavin Mitford, Jo Napthine, Verity Quade, Katie Ray, Simon Schofield, Nicola Sloane, Alan Vicary, Helen Walsh, Elen Mon Wayne, Jane Webster, Kerry Winter and Vanessa Woodfine.

[edit] List of songs in the stage musical

  • Praeludium; The Sound of Music (Maria)
  • Maria (The Nuns)
  • My Favorite Things (Maria and the Mother Abbess)
  • Do-Re-Mi (Maria and the Children)
  • Sixteen Going On Seventeen (Rolf and Liesl)
  • The Lonely Goatherd (Maria and the Children)
  • How Can Love Survive (Max and Elsa)
  • The Sound of Music (Maria, the Captain and the Children)
  • Laendler
  • So Long, Farewell (The Children)
  • Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Mother Abbess)
  • No Way To Stop It (Max, the Captain and Elsa)
  • An Ordinary Couple (Maria and the Captain)
  • Processional (The Nuns)
  • Sixteen Going On Seventeen Reprise (Maria and Liesl)
  • Edelweiss (Maria, the Captain and the Children)
  • Finale (The Nuns)

[edit] Trivia

  • Many people believe "Edelweiss" to be a traditional Austrian song, or even the national anthem. In fact the song was written for the musical and is little known in Austria. The edelweiss is the national flower of Switzerland and Austria and appears on the Austrian 2 cent Euro coin.
  • Pre-war Austria was far from idyllic, having suffered through a civil war and depression, only to fall under a right-wing oligarchy. Expressions of Austrian nationalism were by no means forbidden (as suggested in the musical) but in fact, made mandatory.
  • As titles of nobility had been cancelled, the von Trapp family should have been known simply as the Trapp family.
  • Maria von Trapp's book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, was made into two successful German films before it was adapted into The Sound of Music. Maria had sold the rights for less than $10,000, so the von Trapp family did not benefit greatly from its success.
  • The musical itself is virtually unknown in Austria, except in backpacker's hostels in Salzburg, where the film is screened daily on DVD.<ref name="unknown in Austria">"A piece of Austria's best (Made in USA)", Kunstverein Salzburg.</ref>
  • The Ländler dance that Maria and the Captain shared was not performed the traditional way it is done in Austria.
  • The order of several of the songs is markedly different between the stage play and the film, thanks to the screenwriting of Ernest Lehman. One example is that in the play, "My Favorite Things" is sung at the convent, whereas in the movie it is sung to the children. A couple of the songs were altered. "No Way to Stop it" was dropped from the film version. "How Can Love Survive?" (which did not fit the flow of the movie very well) was reduced to an instrumental, one of several waltz numbers played at the party occurring just before intermission. The title song's four-line prelude ("My day in the hills has come to an end, I know..."), sung by Mary Martin in the stage play, is reduced to an instrumental hint during the overture and dramatic zoom-in shot to Julie Andrews on the mountaintop at the start of the movie.
  • In the "Do-Re-Mi" song, one of the children sings the notes "So-Do-Mi" ("sodomy").
  • On an episode of Seinfeld, George and Jerry decide to use a song as a signal to let each other know when George's girlfriend is coming while they switch out an answering machine tape containing numerous insulting messages. George requests "Maria" and then proceeds to sing it much to Jerry's chagrin and disapproval.
  • The Guinness Book of World Records once had an entry for "worst film editing", noting that when a Hong Kong exhibitor felt that the movie was overly long, he remedied the situation by cutting out all the musical numbers.
  • In the event of a nuclear strike on the United Kingdom, the BBC planned to broadcast The Sound of Music on radio, though not television as the latter would be rendered inoperable by the Electromagnetic pulse, as part of an emergency timetable of programmes designed to reassure (though some would say misdirect) the public in the aftermath of an attack.

[edit] External links

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Musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Oklahoma! • State Fair • Carousel • Allegro • South Pacific • The King and I • Me and Juliet • Pipe Dream • Cinderella • Flower Drum Song • The Sound of Music
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