The History of the Sound of Music

The Sound of Music has a long history - starting with the original von Trapp family, on whom the story is based. Their journey was first recorded in a memoir by Maria von Trapp, titled The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. After being adapted to a musical on Broadway by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II in 1959, it has seen numerous productions and revivals since then. Probably the most well-known adaptation of the musical is the movie version, starring Julie Andrews.

Here are a few (of the many) interesting facts about The Sound of Music:

*The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers & Hammerstein (Hammerstein died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere)

*The original Broadway production ran for 1,443 performances, and tied with Fiorello! for the Tony Award for Best Musical

*Mary Martin was Maria - who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical

*The original Broadway cast album sold three million copies

*After the Broadway production, there were SEVERAL versions staged in London (1961), Australian (1961), London revival (1981), Takarazuka, Japan (1988), New York City Opera (1990), Stockholm (1993), Broadway revival (1998), Australian revival (1999), Vienna (2005), London revival (2006), Stockholm revival (2007), Salzburg Marionette Theatre (2007-2008), International productions (2008), Brazil (2009), Mexico (2009), United Kingdom Tour (2009)

*In the movie, the von Trapp family hikes over the Alps to Switzerland, but in reality, they walked to a train station where they traveled to Italy, then onto London, and from there they went to the United States

*Our production of The Sound of Music in 2003 featured the great-grandchildren of Captain Georg von Trapp - Amanda von Trapp (Marta), Justin von Trapp (Kurt), Melanie von Trapp (Brigitta) and Sofia von Trapp (Louisa)

Our latest production of The Sound of Music opens on Saturday, July 25th and runs through Sunday, August 2nd - if you haven't purchased tickets yet, there are still seats available! Visit www.nctheatre.com and click on 'buy tickets' link or call Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000! We have a Family Four (or more) Pack available with 20% off ticket prices when you buy 4+ tickets to the show!