The Sound of Music with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II with additional lyrics by Richard Rodgers and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by “The Trapp Family Singers” by Maria Augusta Trapp, opened on Broadway on March 12, 1998 and closed on June 20, 1999 at the Martin Beck Theatre

Produced by Hallmark Entertainment, Thomas Viertel, Steven Baruch, Richard Frankel and Jujamcyn Theaters (James H. Binger: Chairman; Rocco Landesman: President; Paul Libin: Producing Director; Jack Viertel: Creative Director); Produced in association with The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, Charles Kelman Productions, Inc., Simone Genatt Haft, Marc Routh, Jay Binder and Robert Halmi, Jr.; Associate Producer: James D. Stern and PACE Theatrical Group, Inc.

Directed by Susan H. Schulman; Assistant Director: Terry Berliner; Choreographed by Michael Lichtefeld; Musical Director: Michael Rafter; Scenic Design by Heidi Ettinger; Costume Design by Catherine Zuber; Lighting Design by Paul Gallo;  Sound Design by Tony Meola; Hair and Wig Design by Paul Huntley; Music orchestrated by Bruce Coughlin; Dance arrangements snd Incidental music arranged by Jeanine Tesori; Original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Original Dance & Choral arrangements by Trude Rittman.

Starring Jeanne Lehman (Sister Margaretta), Gina Ferrall (Sister Berthe), Patti Cohenour (The Mother Abbess), Ann Brown (Sister Sophia), Rebecca Luker (Maria Rainer), Michael Siberry (Captain Georg von Trapp), John Curless (Franz), Patricia Conolly (Frau Schmidt), Sara Zelle (Liesl von Trapp), Ryan Hopkins (Friedrich von Trapp), Natalie Hall (Louisa von Trapp), Matthew Ballinger (Kurt von Trapp), Tracy Alison Walsh (Brigitta von Trapp), Andrea Bowen (Marta von Trapp), Ashley Rose Orr (Gretl von Trapp), Dashiell Eaves (Rolf Gruber), Lynn C. Pinto (Ursula), Jan Maxwell (Elsa Schraeder), Fred Applegate (Max Detweiler), Timothy Landfield (Herr Zeller), Gannon McHale (Baron Elberfeld), Martha Hawley (Baroness Elberfeld), Laura Benanti (A New Postulant), Reno Roop (Admiral Van Schreiber); Neighbors and Servants of Captain von Trapp, Novices, Postulants, Priests, Clerics, Nazis, and Contestants in the Festival Concert: Anne Allgood, Joan Barber, Laura Benanti, Ann Brown, Patricia Conolly, Gina Ferrall, Natalie Hall, Martha Hawley, Kelly Cae Hogan, Siri Howard, Matt Loney, Patricia Phillips, Lynn C. Pinto, Reno Roop, Kristie Dale Sanders, Ben Sheaffer and Sara Zelle

Major replacements included Laura Benanti (Maria Rainer), Richard Chamberlain (Captain Georg von Trapp)

Swings: Tad Ingram, Betsi Morrison and Margaret Shafer

Standby: Timothy Landfield (Captain Georg von Trapp)

Understudies included: Anne Allgood (Sister Margaretta), Joan Barber (Sister Berthe), Laura Benanti (Maria Rainer), Nora Blackall (Brigitta von Trapp, Louisa von Trapp), Marissa Gould (Gretl von Trapp, Marta von Trapp), Martha Hawley (Frau Schmidt), Kelly Cae Hogan (Elsa Schraeder), Siri Howard (Liesl von Trapp), Tad Ingram (Max Detweiler, Franz, Herr Zeller, Baron Elberfeld, Admiral von Schreiber), Jeanne Lehman (The Mother Abbess), Matt Loney (Captain Georg von Trapp, Herr Zeller), Gannon McHale (Max Detweiler), Betsi Morrison (Maria Rainer, Sister Sophia, Ursula, Baroness Elberfeld, A Postulant), Lynn C. Pinto (Sister Sophia), Lou Taylor Pucci (Friedrich von Trapp, Kurt von Trapp), Reno Roop (Franz), Kristie Dale Sanders (Elsa Schraeder), Margaret Shafer (Sister Margaretta, A Postulant, Baroness Elberfeld, Ursula) and Ben Sheaffer (Rolf Gruber)

Associate Choreographer: Joe Bowerman; Associate Scenic Design: Richard Jaris and Wade Laboissonniere; Assistant Scenic Design: Judy Gailen and Fabio Toblini; Associate Lighting Design: Philip Rosenberg and David Weiner; Associate Auto. Light Programmer: Paul J. Sonnleitner; Assistant Lighting Design: Paul D. Miller; Assistant Sound Design: Kai Harada and Assistant. to the Choreographer: Melissa Rae Mahon

Production Manager: Peter Fulbright; Production Supervisor: Beverley Randolph; Stage Manager: Ira Mont; Assistant Stage Manager: Thom Widmann and Joe Bowerman; Technical Supervisor: Tech Production Services, Inc., Elliot Bertoni, Robert Shuck and Peter Ruen; Dance Captain: Joe Bowerman; General Manager: Richard Frankel Productions and Laura Green; Company Manager: Kathy Lowe; Casting: Jay Binder; Press Representative: Cromarty and Company; Advertising: Serino Coyne, Inc.; Marketing: TMG Marketing & Publicity; Online Marketing by Toby Simkin / BuyBroadway; Dialect Coach: Deborah Hecht; Promotions: Scott Walton Communications, Scott Walton, Kathi Iannacone and Leanne Schanzer Promotions;

Musical Coordinator: John Miller; Conducted by Michael Rafter; Associate Conductor: Steven Tyler; Assistant Conductor: James Baker; Violin: Elizabeth Lim-Dutton, Karl Kawahara, Krystof Witek and Karen Milne; Viola: Maxine Roach; Cello: Adam Grabois and Sarah Seiver; Bass: Bill Ellison; Woodwind: Helen Campo, Rick Heckman, Jon Manasse, Robert Ingliss and Don McGeen; Trumpet: Carl Albach and John Dent; Trombone: Dick Clark; Bass Trombone / Tuba: Matthew Ingman; Guitar / Mandolin / Zither / Autoharp: Scott Kuney; French Horn: Javier Gandara and Leise Anschuetz Paer; Keyboard / Accordian: Steven Tyler; Percussion: James Baker

In addition to the online marketing for both the Broadway and national tour (starring Richard Chamberlain), I also worked with Bill Rosenfield of RCA Victor on a special exclusive behind the scenes of the making of the cast recording.

The original production starred Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel. The film starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Broadway last heard “Do Re Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and “So Long, Farewell” in 1991 when Debby Boone, Laurence Guittard and Werner Klemperer starred in a revival at City Opera’s New York State Theatre.

Sound of Music Awards

Tony Awards, 1959-1960

• Best Musical
• Best Performance in Musical (female)
• Best Supporting Performance in Musical (female)
• Best Music Direction
• Best Book
• Best Score

Academy Awards, 1965

• Best Film of the Year
• Best Director
• Best Film Editing
• Best Sound Recording
• Best Scoring of Music (adaptation)

Billboard’s Longest Running Best-Seller

• The Sound of Music Movie (300 weeks Top 40)

Synopsis of The Sound of Music

It is 1938. In Nonnberg Abbey in Austria, as the nuns gather for evening prayers it becomes apparent that the postulant, Maria Rainer, is not among them. Maria is out on the mountain, singing of the joy she finds in nature, and she returns to the Abbey late, as usual. The Mother Abbess and her assistants are forced to conclude that Maria is not yet ready for the religious life.

Although the Mother Abbess shares many enthusiasms with Maria, she decides to send her out of the Abbey to become temporary governess to the children of Captain Georg von Trapp, a retired officer of the Austrian Navy. Since the death of his wife, the Captain has taken to running his home like a battleship, and his children like military recruits. When Maria and the children have a few days alone together, however, she teaches them how to play, to sing, and to enjoy life. Liesl, the oldest child, is in the throes of first love with Rolf Gruber, a village boy, and she steals from the house to meet him. Maria wins over Liesl, indeed all of the children, when she comforts them with her singing during a thunderstorm.

The Captain returns from Vienna with his fiancée, Elsa Schraeder, and a family friend, Max Detweiler. At first astonished and angry at Maria’s dismantling of the martial law he had imposed on his children, the Captain’s cold reserve melts away when he hears the sound of music in his home for the first time in many years. Maria has made him realize how important it is to know and love his children.

At a party given to introduce Elsa Schraeder to the Captain’s neighbors, the ominous rumblings of the imminent German Anschluss begin to be heard. Some of the guests almost come to blows over the possibility of Hitler’s take-over of Austria, and one of them threatens the Captain, who is firmly opposed to the Nazi regime. When Maria tries to teach one of the Von Trapp boys the charming Austrian folk dance, the Laendler, the Captain takes over, dancing for the first time with Maria. During the dance Maria is confronted with a sudden realization: she has fallen in love with the Captain. In dismay, she flees to the Abbey, where the Mother Abbess advises her that the love of a man and a woman is holy, and that the Abbey is not a place to hide from one’s problems but a place in which to confront them. She urges Maria to reach out to meet life and insists that Maria return to the Von Trapp household.

Meanwhile the Captain is engaged in a quarrel with Elsa and Max over the Nazi invasion of Austria. While the Captain is prepared to stand up to the Nazis and defy them if necessary, Elsa is unwilling to take such risks or in any way endanger her own comfortable position. She and the Captain decide to dissolve their engagement, and she leaves. With Elsa gone, Maria and the Captain suddenly are faced with their unacknowledged love for each other, and two weeks later they are married at the Abbey.

When they return from their honeymoon, they find that the Anschluss has become fact, and that Rolf, Liesl’s love, has emerged as a Nazi supporter. Max, meanwhile, is determined that the children will sing at a music festival in Salzburg as planned; though he goes against the Captain’s wishes. The Nazis are about to press the Captain into military service to the Third Reich; Maria gains time for him by convincing the new authorities that, in fact, the entire von Trapp family is scheduled to sing at the Salzburg festival.

The Nazi officials allow the von Trapps to perform, while announcing that a military escort will be standing by to take the Captain to his new post in Bremerhaven. Swiftly, Maria leads the family, including the Captain, into their exit song and one by one, they disappear as Max stalls the escort. Fleeing to the Abbey, they seek refuge in the garden as soldiers search for them unsuccessfully. Finally, as the nuns wish them Godspeed, the von Trapps leave Austria for a new life and new hope, as they climb to freedom over Maria’s beloved mountain.

The Sound of Music History

“Let’s start at the very beginning…”
A Look at the World’s Most Beloved Musical

By Bert Fink, Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization

In 1958 Mary Martin, the eternally youthful star of South Pacific and Peter Pan, was involved in an exciting new project: she and husband-producer Richard Halliday had teamed up with the distinguished playwriting team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse to create a stage play based on a German film, “Die Trapp Familie,” that told the true-life story of the von Trapps, an Austrian family that had fled their homeland following the Nazi Anschluss of World War II and found haven in America.

Of course, even in a play Mary Martin would want to sing; so Lindsay & Crouse planned their script to include a sampling of the religious and folk songs the von Trapps had actually sung. Along the way, Martin asked her good friends Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II whether they might be willing to write a song especially for her to sing in this new play, just as they had written a ditty, “I Haven’t Got a Worry in the World,” for Helen Hayes to sing in Anita Loos’ 1946 play Happy Birthday.

Rodgers & Hammerstein loved working with Mary Martin. After all, they had produced her sensationally successful National Tour of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, and followed it up by writing what would become her legendary performance in their own South Pacific. But mixing a new song alongside traditional favorites? No thank you. Rodgers & Hammerstein had a better idea: why not let them write an entirely new score for this story – as a musical? That is, if the team already in place would be willing to wait a year since Rodgers & Hammerstein were already working on Flower Drum Song. The flattering – and wise – decision from Messrs. Martin, Halliday, Lindsay, Crouse and co-producer Leland Hayward: “We’ll wait.”

The result was THE SOUND OF MUSIC and it represented a challenge of sorts for both sets of writers: for Rodgers & Hammerstein, it would mark the only work in their partnership in which Hammerstein’s skills were confined to the lyrics only, while Lindsay & Crouse shifted gears from playwrights to musical librettists.

However, this quartet enjoyed a warm and fruitful collaboration that was not only pleasant, but speedy: working from Lindsay & Crouse’s outline, Rodgers & Hammerstein started writing the score in March 1959. Rehearsals began in August, New Haven hosted the world premiere in October, and Broadway had a new musical hit by November.

Directed by Vincent J. Donehue, with musical numbers staged by Joe Layton, THE SOUND OF MUSIC co-starred Theodore Bikel as Captain von Trapp, Patricia Neway as the Mother Abbess, and Kurt Kazner as Max. (A year into the run, a newcomer named Jon Voight stepped into the role of Rolf.) With a $5 top ticket price, THE SOUND OF MUSIC boasted an advance sale of over $2 million ($30 million by today’s standards). Audiences adored Martin and took the musical to their hearts. It ran for 1,443 performances and earned seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The original cast album earned a Gold Record and the Grammy Award.

In 1961, with the musical still going strong on Broadway, a U.S. National Tour was launched starring Florence Henderson, and a London production opened at the Palace Theatre, with Jean Bayless and Roger Dann in the lead roles. (Ensconced in the Palace Theatre for more than six years, it holds the record as the longest running American musical in London’s West End.)

Since the beginning, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has proven to be the most universal of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musicals, and it has played on countless stages all over the world. Between 1996 and 1998 alone, major international productions. Have been presented in Britain, South Africa, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Peru, Israel and Greece. With its irresistible score, large female chorus and great roles for children, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has been a consistent favorite in the community and high school theatre circuits as well; in the U.S. and Canada, over 500 productions are given every year.

And then there is … The Movie.

In 1965 the motion picture version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC was released and made Hollywood history. Directed by Robert Wise, with a score revised by Rodgers (Hammerstein had died in 1960 and so Rodgers composed both music and lyrics for two songs added to the film – “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good”), and a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, THE SOUND OF MUSIC boasted a dream cast: Julie Andrews as Maria, Christopher Plummer as the Captain, Eleanor Parker as Elsa, Peggy Wood as the Mother Abbess and Charmian Carr as Liesl. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has become the most popular movie musical ever made.

From 1965 to 1972 it was All Time Box Office Champ, according to Variety. To date it is the highest-ranking musical on the list of top grossing films; a survey by New York Magazine (7/22/96), which adjusted box office grosses and attendance to contemporary prices and current U.S. population placed THE SOUND OF MUSIC directly behind “Gone with the Wind” as the two biggest films of all time, giving THE SOUND OF MUSIC an adjusted accumulated U.S. gross of $944,000,000. Following the original release of four years, the film had major U.S. re-releases in 1972 and 1990; it remains popular on the college and revival circuit as well. In August of ’96 it was the season finale of the third annual outdoor film festival in New York City’s Bryant Park, sponsored by HBO, where it attracted a record crowd of 12,000.

From large screen to small, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has also triumphed on television and home video. First broadcast on ABC-TV in 1976, it is currently aired annually and exclusively on NBC. (Its 1995 airing commemorated the film’s 30th anniversary with a special, four-hour Easter broadcast hosted by Julie Andrews.)

As one of the first movies issued on home video, THE SOUND OF MUSIC hit the Billboard Top 40 video sales chart shortly after its release in November of 1979 and has never been less than #3 in Fox Video’s internal sales charts, with numerous reissues over the years. Its final reissue this century was launched in August ’96, quickly hitting #1 on Video Scan’s sales charts after only a few weeks. During this final sale period, the video clocked its 300th week on Billboard’s Top 40 chart, solidifying its status as the longest-running best seller on the list.

Four major recordings of THE SOUND OF MUSIC are currently on the market; by far the most successful is the original motion picture soundtrack starring Julie Andrews, which has sold 11 million units worldwide to date. The soundtrack is currently on reissue (RCA Victor) in a newly mastered recording with new packaging and liner notes.

Also available are the original Broadway cast recording starring Mary Martin (Sony) and a 1988 studio recording starring Frederica von Stade (Tel-Arc.) In both its film soundtrack and cast album formats, the score has been recorded in dozens of languages. Its score – perhaps the most cherished in American musical theater – is visited constantly by vocalists and instrumentalists; “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss” and the title song have been recorded by many artists over the years.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC has inspired a long line of merchandise over the years, and enthusiasm from licensees has never flagged. Recently, in addition to the various recordings, videos and laser discs, fans could acquire: various editions of the vocal selections and songbooks (Williamson Music), a line of commemorative plates (The Bradford Exchange) and Music Boxes (Ardleigh-Elliot), a “Barbie as Maria” doll (Mattel), THE SOUND OF MUSIC doll collection (Mme. Alexander), My Favorite Things, an illustrated children’s book (Simone & Schuster), and THE SOUND OF MUSIC: The Making of America’s Favorite Movie, a soft-cover photo history of the movie (Contemporary Books).

More then a hit show or Cultural phenomenon, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a rarity that has touched the hearts of it’s audiences since the very beginning. Evidently, it meant a great deal to the four men who wrote it, too; Rodgers seems to speak for them all when, in a letter to Lindsay’s wife Dorothy years later, he called THE SOUND OF MUSIC “one of the happiest experiences of his theatrical life.”

The Von Trapp Family Timeline

1880 Birth of Baron Georg von Trapp

1905 A native of Zillertal, Tirol, Austria, Maria Augusta Kutschera born in Vienna on Jan. 25th

1924 Maria becomes a candidate for the novitiate at Nonnberg Benedictine Convent

1926 Maria sent by the Mother Abbess to be governess to the children
of Baron Georg von Trapp

1927 Georg and Maria wed on November 26th; Maria becomes stepmother of Rupert, Werner, Johanna, Agathe, Maria, Martina and Hedwig

1929 Rosmarie von Trapp, Maria and the Baron’s first child, is born

1931 Daughter Eleonore born.

1936 Maria and Monsignor Franz Wasner begin the Trapp Family Singers (originally the Trapp Family Chorus)

1938 Family flees Nazi-occupied Austria; concert tours throughout Europe followed by a three month tour in America.

1939 Family emigrates to U.S. and settles in Merion, PA; Maria’s only son, Johannes von Trapp, is born

1942 The von Trapp family purchases a hill farm in Stowe, Vermont, and name it Cor Unum (One Heart), later to become the Trapp Family Lodge

1945 Trapp Music Camp opens

1947 Baron Georg von Trapp dies

1948 First addition made to the lodge to accommodate guests; Pope Pius XI honors Maria with Bene Merenti Medal for Trapp Family Austrian Relief, Inc. which aided thousands of Austrians during World War II

1950 Stone chapel built by Werner von Trapp in fulfillment of vow during combat in Italy.Maria wins St. Francis de Sales Golden Book Award from the Catholic Writers Guild for best book of non fiction, The Trapp Family Singers.

1956 Final Trapp Family Singers concert in the United States

1959 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music opens on Broadway; Mary Martin plays Maria;
The von Trapp family concentrates on lodge business

1965 The Sound of Music movie premieres, starring Julie Andrews

1967 Maria awarded the Honorary Cross First Class for Science and Art by the Austrian government for cultural endeavors

1968 Johannes von Trapp oversees the opening of the Cross Country Ski Center, the first of its kind in the U.S.; considered the foremost cross-country ski touring center in America today

1980 Old Lodge burns to the ground in tragic fire on December 20th. Cause of the fire remains unknown.

1981 Construction of chalet guest houses and new lodge begins

1983 Concert in the Meadows series begins

1983 December 16th, first guest registers at the new Trapp Family Lodge

1984 Maria dedicates new lodge; Fitness Center opens

1987 Maria dies after a short illness

1993 Year of Celebrations! 10th Anniversary of new Trapp Family Lodge and 25th Anniversary of the Cross Country Ski Center

1996 Snow Country Magazine names Trapp Family Lodge “Finest Cross-Country Ski Resort in the United States”

1997 Class of Austrian Military Academy cadets visits from Austria to honor Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp. Lodge completes million-dollar refurbishment program.

1998 The Sound of Music reopens on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre. Von Trapp family members attend the gala opening.

Musical Numbers

Act One:

“Preludium”: “Dixit Dominus,” “Morning Hymn,” and “Alleluia” (Patti Cohenour, Jeanne Lehman, Gina Ferrall, Ann Brown, Nuns, Novices, Postulants); “The Sound of Music” (Rebecca Luker); “Maria” (Patti Cohenour, Jeanne Lehman, Gina Ferrall, Ann Brown); “I Have Confidence” (lyric by Richard Rodgers) (Rebecca Luker); “Do-Re-Mi” (Rebecca Luker, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” (Dashiell Eaves, Sara Zelle); “My Favorite Things” (Rebecca Luker, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “How Can Love Survive?” (Fred Applegate, Jan Maxwell); “The Sound of Music” (reprise) (Michael Siberry, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr, Rebecca Luker); “Laendler” (dance) (Orchestra with Rebecca Luker, Matthew Ballinger, and Michael Siberry); “So Long, Farewell” (Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “Morning Hymn” (reprise) (Patti Cohenour, Nuns, Novices, Postulants); “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” (Patti Cohenour)

Act Two:

Opening Act II (Fred Applegate, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “No Way to Stop It” (Jan Maxwell, Fred Applegate, Michael Siberry); “Something Good” (lyric by Richard Rodgers) (Rebecca Luker, Michael Siberry); “Wedding Processional” and “Canticle” (Patti Cohenour, Nuns, Novices, Postulants); “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” (reprise) (Rebecca Luker, Sara Zelle); “The Lonely Goatherd” (Rebecca Luker, Michael Siberry, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “Edelweiss” (Michael Siberry, Rebecca Luker, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); “So Long, Farewell” (reprise) (Rebecca Luker, Michael Siberry, Sara Zelle, Ryan Hopkins, Natalie Hall, Matthew Ballinger, Tracy Alison Walsh, Andrea Bowen, Ashley Rose Orr); Finale Ultimo (Patti Cohenour, Nuns, Novices, Postulants)