Sound Of Music Musical History
Original Production: (BROADWAY)
What? ‘The Sound of Music’
When? November 16th 1959
Where? Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It moved to the Mark Hellinger Theatre on November 6th 1962
How long? 16th Nov 1959 - 15th June 1963
How many? 1,443 performances
Who? Director - Vincent J Donehue
Choreographer - Joe Layton
‘Maria’ - Mary Martin (1959-1961), Martha Wright *(oct 1961-july 1962),*Karen Gantz (july 1962- sept 1962),
Nancy Dussault (sept 1962-june 1963)
‘Captain Von Trapp’ - Theodore Bikel
‘Mother Abbess’ - Patricia Neway
‘Max Detweiler’ - Kurt Kasznar
‘Baroness Schraeder’ - Marion Marlowe
‘Rolf’ - Brian Davies, Jon Voight
‘Liesl’ - Lauri Peters
Awards - Tony Award - ‘Best Musical’ (tied with ‘Fiorello!')
‘Best Actress in a Musical’ - Mary Martin
‘Best Featured Actress’ - Patricia Neway
Best Set Design - Oliver Smith
Best Musical Direction - Frederick Dvonch
Original Production (LONDON)
When? May 18th 1961
Where? Palace Theatre
How many? 2,385 performances
Who? Director - Jerome Whyte
Choreographer - Joe Layton supervised the original broadway choreography
Set Design - Oliver Smith
‘Maria’ - Jean Bayliss, Sonia Rees
‘Captain Von Trapp’ - Roger Dann
‘Mother Abbess’ - Constance Shacklock
‘Baroness Schraeder’ - Enunice Gayson
‘Max Detweiler’ - Harols Kasket
‘Liesl’ - Barbara Brown
‘Rolf’ - Nicholas Bennett
‘Sister Margaretta’ - Olive Gilbert
Broadway Revival
When? - March 12th 1998
Where? - Martin Beck Theatre
How long? 15 months before touring in North America
Who? - Director - Susan H Schulman
‘Maria’ - Rebecca Luker, Laura Benanti
‘Captain Von Trapp’ - Michael Siberry, Richard Chamberlain
‘Mother Abbess’ - Patti Cohenour
‘Baroness Schaeder’ - Jan Maxwell
‘Max Detweiler’ - Fred Applegate
‘Rolf’ - Dashiell Eaves
‘Frau Schmidt’ - Patricia Conolly
London Revival (1981)
When? - 1981
Where? - Apollo Victoria Theatre - West End
Interesting Facts? The largest ticket advance sale in the history of British Theatre at that time. The highest attendance figure for a single week (Oct 16th-21st 1981) in the history of theatre! Maria Von Trapp herself was present on the opening night and described Clark as ‘The best Maria ever’.
Who - ‘Maria’ - Petula Clark
‘Captain Von Trapp’ - Michael Jayston
‘Baroness Schraeder’ - Honor Blackman
‘Mother Abbess’ - June Bronhill
London Revival (2006)
When? - November 15th 2006
Where? - London Palladium
Why? - Andrew Lloyd Webber held a TV talent competition to find ‘Maria’. Connie Fisher won and played Maria Von Trapp for a year!
How long? - November 15th 2006 - February 2009
Who? - ‘Maria’ -
Connie Fisher,
Aoife Mulholland,
Sophie Bould,
Summer Strallen,
Gemma Baird
‘Captain Von Trapp’ -
Alexander Hanson,
Simon Burke,
Simon MacCorkindale,
‘Mother Abbess’ -
Lesley Garrett,
Margaret Preece,
‘Baroness Schraeder’ -
Lauren Ward
‘Max Detweiler’ -
Ian Gelber
‘Liesl’ -
Sophie Bould,
Amy Lennox
‘Rolf’ -
Neil McDermott
Other Productions
Australia - Princess Theatre 1961-1964
- Regent Theatre 1982 - 1983
- Lyric Theatre 1999 - 2000
Japan - Bow Hall - 1988
New York City Opera - 1990
Stockholm - 1993 - 2007
Vienna - Volksoper Wien - 2005
Salzburg - Salzburg Marionette Theatre - 2007 -2008
Oslo - 2008
Toronto - Princess Wales Theatre - 2008 - 2010
Brazil - São Paulo - 2009 - present
Mexico - 1976 -1980 - 2009
UK - Touring 2009 - present
Austria - Graz Opera House - 2009 - 2010
Paris - Theatre Du Chatelet - 2009 - 2010
Lancaster PA - Fulton Theatre - 2010
Wilkes-Barre PA - 2010
Argentina - Opera Theatre - 2011