‘The Sound of Music’ reaches milestones
FLATWOODS – Flatwoods Productions will present the musical “The Sound of Music” for three performances on Nov. 11-13. Curtain time will be 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11-12, with a matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The shows will be presented in the Curfew Grange, Flatwoods, located at the corner of Route 201 south and Buena Vista Road (across from the cemetery).
Tickets are available at the door. Dinner will be available before the Saturday performance for an additional charge. Reservations are required for dinner. For more information or reserved seats, call 724-785-6896.
When the Von Trapp family fled Nazi Germany, it was beyond their wildest imagination that their difficult journey would one day capture the hearts of millions around the world.
This year marks several important milestones for “The Sound of Music,” including the 45th anniversary of the musical’s first season on Broadway and the 40th anniversary of the film’s release.
It was Maria herself that first published the family’s story. Her book, “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,” was published in 1949.
In America, Paramount Picture’s newly hired Broadway and television director, Vincent Donahue, thought he story would be a wonderful vehicle for a Broadway start for Mary Martin, but Maria Von Trapp had little interest in seeing the family’s story on the Broadway stage.
It was only after seeing a performance of Mary Martin in “Annie Get Your Gun” that she threw her support behind the project.
The popular team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were asked to write the music and lyrics and act as co-producers.
The show opened on Nov. 16, 1959, and went on to become one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s greatest successes, running for 1,443 performances, winning six Tony Awards and selling more than three million albums.
Just 10 months after the musical’s Broadway premiere, work began on a Hollywood movie.
With Julie Andrews in the role of Maria and Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp, the film won five Academy Awards, including best picture and enjoyed a record-breaking four-year run in its first release.
Today, the Von Trapp family’s story of love and courage continues to be performed on stages around the world.
It has been broadcast every holiday season on American television since 1976 and has even recently inspired wacky screenings of “Sing-A-long Sound of Music.”
Despite its worldwide popularity, “The Sound of Music” is largely unknown to the citizens of Austria and Germany.
But in 2005 as the world marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Von Trapp, the Viennese Volksoper will premiere a German translation of the popular Broadway musical. After a harrowing escape in 1938, the Von Trapp family will finally be home again.
For more information or reservations for the show or dinner theater, call 724-785-6896.