The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical and movie based on the book The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It contains many hit songs, including "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Every Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", and "The Lonely Goatherd", as well as the title song.

Versions

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.

Related Topics:
German - Austria - 1956 - Sequel - 1958 - Herbert Reinecker - Wolfgang Liebeneiner - Ruth Leuwerik - Hans Holt

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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 von Trapp.

Related Topics:
Richard Rodgers - Oscar Hammerstein II - Howard Lindsay - Russel Crouse - November 16 - 1959 - Mary Martin - Theodore Bikel

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1965 film

The film, which was released in 1965, was named Best Picture of the Year. Robert Wise won an Academy Award for Directing for the film, which stars Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp. Hammerstein died before the film was made, and two of the numbers added to the score were written solely by Rodgers: "I Have Confidence" and "Something Good".

Related Topics:
1965 - Robert Wise - Academy Award for Directing - Julie Andrews - Christopher Plummer

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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.

Related Topics:
1981 - Petula Clark - London - West End - Maria von Trapp

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The Australian Production

The Australian production of The Sound of Music opened in the Lyric Theatre, in Sydney, Australia, 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.

Related Topics:
Australian - The Sound of Music - Sydney - Australia - Blue Heelers - Lisa McCune - Maria von Trapp - John Waters

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2005 Vienna production

In February 2005, the musical premiered at the Volksoper in Vienna. This was the first ever production in Austria.

Related Topics:
February 2005 - Vienna

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