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| The movie version starred Julie Andrews. |
Posted November 16, 2013
The hills are alive...
And Broadway was alive...
...with The Sound of Music.
On this date in 1959, this beloved musical premiered on Broadway. For the first time audiences were entranced by the exciting story of the von Trapp family: A nun working as a governess falls in love with the children's widowed father, and he with her; after they are married, the family of nine flees the Nazis.
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| The original Broadway show starred Mary Martin. |
For the first time, audiences were delighted by the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs “Edelweiss,” “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Every Mountain,” and “Do-Re-Mi.” Oh, and “The Sound of Music,” of course!
For the first time, audiences fell in love with this musical—but not for the last. Not by a long shot. The 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews won five Academy Awards—including Best Picture—and became the highest-grossing film of all time. (Its record has since been supplanted. With figures adjusted for inflation, it's now #5.)
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| These are the real von Trapp kids. Their life was a little different than it was portrayed in the show and movie, and their names were changed, too. Rupert was shown as Friedrich, Agathe became Liesl, Maria became Louisa, Werner was portrayed as Kurt, Hedwig was changed to Brigitta, Johanna became Marta, and Martina was changed to Gretl. |
Celebrate The Sound of Music!
Soon there will be yet another version of the musical, as NBC airs “Sound of Music Live!” on Thursday, December 5!
Check out “The Making of The Sound of Music” for interesting stories about the movie. To give you a tantalizing taste of what you can learn: the movie's co-star Christopher Plummer once called the movie “The Sound of Mucus”; some now-famous actors were considered for the roles of the von Trapp kids; and the movie-family cast still feels surprisingly close, 45 years later!
Hereis a “sing-along activity kit” for The Sound of Music.
Learn some of the songs from the show. Hereis “Do-Re-Mi.” And here is a bit of “My Favorite Things.”
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