THE SOUND OF MUSIC a musical in two acts. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, suggested by Maria Augusta Trapp's 'The Trapp Family Singers'. Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York - 16 November, 1959; Transferred to Mark Hellinger Theatre 6 November, 1962 (1443 perfs) Palace Theatre, London 18 May, 1961 (2386 perfs) Opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway on 16 November 1959 with Mary Martin (Maria), Theodore Bikel (Captain von Trapp) and Patricia Neway (Mother Abbess). Produced at the Palace Theatre, London, 18 May 1961 with Jean Bayless, Rodger Dann and Constance Shacklock and remains the longest running American musical in West End history. A film version was produced by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1965 with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and Peggy Wood received the Academy award for Best Picture of the Year and ranks as the most popular film musical ever made. STORY Act I It is 1938. In Nonnberg Abbey in Austria, the busy nuns are going about their daily tasks, but towards evening 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 (The Sound of Music), 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 (Maria) Although the Mother Abbess shares many enthusiasms with Maria (My Favourite Things), she decides to send her out of the Abbey to become temporary governess to the children of Captain Georg von Trapp, a retired naval officer. Since the death of his wife, the Captain has taken to running his home like a battleship, and treating his children like naval recruits. When Maria and the children have a few days alone together, however, she teaches them how to play, to sing (Do-Re-Mi), 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 (Sixteen Going On Seventeen). Maria wins over Liesl, indeed all the children, when she comforts them with her singing during a thunderstorm (The Lonely Goatherd). The Captain returns from Vienna with his fiancée, Elsa Schräder, 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 realise how important it is to know and love his children. At a party given to introduce Elsa to the Captain's neighbours, the children charm the guests with their goodnight song (So Long, Farewell). Against this innocence, however, the ominous rumblings of the imminent German Anschluss can 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. In an effort to reduce the tension Maria induces the Captain to join her in demonstrating an charming Austrian folk dance, the ländler. During the dance, Maria is confronted with a sudden realisation: 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 (Climb Ev'ry Mountain). Act II Returning to the Trapp villa, Maria finds a bitter quarrel going on among the Captain, 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. At the same time, Maria and the Captain
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