| The Sound Of Music |
Article Index for The Sound |
Articles about The Sound Of Music |
Website Links For Sound |
Information AboutThe Sound Of Music |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE SOUND OF MUSIC | |
| broadway musicals | |
| salzburg | |
| trapp | |
| rodgers and hammerstein musicals | |
| vermont culture | |
| london west end musicals | |
| 1959 musicals | |
|
''The Sound of Music'' is a Broadway Musical and Film based on the book '' The Von 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 " The Lonely Goatherd ", as well as the title song. The Film Version was one of the biggest box office hits in cinema history. PLOT OUTLINE 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 a widowed Naval commander, Captain Georg Ritter Von Trapp . The children, initially hostile and mischievous, come to like her, and the woman finds herself falling in love with the captain. He was soon to be married to a Baroness but marries Maria instead. Maria teaches the children Singing . Part II: The Nazis take power in Austria as part of the Anschluss , and attempt to force Captain von Trapp back in service. However, during a singing Performance in a guarded Theater , the whole family flees and walks over the Mountain s to Switzerland . It should be noted that details of the von Trapp story were altered for the play and the film. The Captain's eldest child was a boy, not a girl, and the names of the children were changed (at least partly to avoid confusion, as the Captain's second-eldest daughter was also called Maria). The repertoire of the Trapp Family Singers was entirely classical, with a special focus on early motets. The von Trapps spent some years in Austria after Maria and the Captain had married (in 1927 ) – they did not have to flee right away – and when they did it was to Italy , not Switzerland , via Train , not foot. VERSIONS Early films Two German / Austria n 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. 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. This introduction helped the movie to win oscar awards in 1959, and yielded a best-selling cast album on the Columbia label (3 million copies). The original Broadway production ran for 1,443 performances. 1961 London production The London production opened at the Palace Theatre on May 18 , 1961 and ran for 2,385 performances. Jean Bayless played Maria, Roger Dann played Captain Von Trapp and Constance Shacklock was the Mother Abbess. 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 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. 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. The 1998 revival In 1998 director Susan Schulman staged the first Broadway revival of The Sound of Music, with Rebecca Luker as Maria and Michael Siberry as Captain von Trapp. This production later starred Richard Chamberlain as the Captain. 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. The Australian production n production]] 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 Von Trapp Children were played by 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 . 2005 Vienna production In February 2005 , the musical premiered at the ''Volksoper'' in Vienna . This was the first ever production in Austria. This production starred Austro-Australian actress Sandra Pires as Maria and opera singer Michael Kraus as Captain von Trapp. 2006 London Revival Plans are progressing well on Andrew Lloyd Webber 's plans to reopen the musical in London's West End from late 2006. The London Palladium has now been confirmed as the potential venue and Live Nation's David Ian will co-produce with Jeremy Sans at the helm. Already names potentially linked with the new show include Lesley Garratt and Robert Lindsay , whilst the role of Maria will be found on a search across the talent of the UK in a new reality TV show, produced by and starring Lloyd Webber as well as comedian Graham Norton to find the new star. TRIVIA
REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|