Sound of Music Tickets

Sound Of Music
THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers. In November 1959, the original Broadway production opened. It has also been made into a popular 1965 movie musical. The Sound of Music was the final musical.

Background
After viewing Die Trapp-Familie, stage director Vincent J. Donehue thought that the project would be perfect for his friend Mary Martin; Broadway producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday agreed. The producers originally pictured a nonmusical play that would be written by Lindsay and Crouse and that would feature songs from the collection of the Trapp Family Singers. Then they decided to add an original song or two. But it was soon agreed that the project should feature all new songs and be a musical rather than a play.

Details of the history of the von Trapp family were altered for the musical. Georg Ritter von Trapp lived with his family in a villa in Aigen. The real Maria was sent to be a nurse to one of the children, not a governess to all of them. The Captain's oldest child was a boy, not a girl, and the names of the children were changed. The von Trapps spent some years in Austria after Maria and the Captain married and they fled to Italy, not Switzerland. Maria von Trapp is said to have enjoyed the stage show but to have hated the movie.

Synopsis
The action takes place in the town of Salzburg in Austria, just before World War II.Maria, a woman studying for the Roman Catholic sisterhood, is sent out to be a governess to the seven children of Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp, a widower and a decorated World War I captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The Captain is raising his children in a strict and militaristic manner that Maria immediately disagrees with. The children, initially hostile and mischievous, soon come to like the courageous Maria, as she works to loosen the Captain's strict policies and brings warmth back into the household. She finds herself falling in love with the stern Captain but tries to suppress her feelings, since he is engaged to be married to Baroness Elsa Schrader. He too finds himself warming to the unconventional governess. Meanwhile, the eldest girl, Liesl, and a messenger of the Nazi officials, Rolfe, are attracted to each other and meet secretly.

Stage productions
1959 Broadway production
On November 16, 1959, The Sound of Music opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, and ran for 1,443 performances. The director was Vincent J. Donehue. The original cast included Mary Martin as Maria, Theodore Bikel, Patricia Neway, Kurt Kasznar, Marion Marlowe, Brian Davies, and Lauri Peters.

The production shared the Tony Award for Best Musical with Fiorello!. It also won for Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, and Best Musical Direction. And it was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Best Director of a Musical. The entire children's cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a single nominee.

1998 Broadway revival
In 1998, director Susan H. Schulman staged the first Broadway revival of The Sound of Music. It also featured Patti Cohenour, Jan Maxwell, Fred Applegate, Dashiell Eaves, and Laura Benanti. This revival opened on March 12, 1998, at the Martin Beck Theatre, where it ran for 15 months. It then went on tour in North America. This production was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Cultural references
Songs from the musical adapted in popular music and pastiche in advertising.Many television shows have featured characters singing songs or pastiches of songs from the musical. The shows include Seinfeld, Will & Grace, The OC, The Simpsons, and Family Guy. In other television shows, the musical is merely mentioned.An anime version of the show was produced by Nippon Animation as part of its World Masterpiece Theater.