The musical "The Sound of Music": content, video, interesting facts, history

The musical "The Sound of Music"

The history of an Austrian family, closely related to music, went from book to film, after which it developed a script for the play, which returned to the television screens in the form of the famous and popular musical “The Sound of Music”, which conquered everyone without exception.

Summary

Pupil Nonnberg Abbey Maria sent to the family of captain von Trapp. A young girl was supposed to help him cope with his seven children. The decision was taken by the abbess of the monastery, who wanted to help Mary find out what her vocation is in life. In the new family, at first, no one accepted the new governess, the children were very incredulous and sometimes even arranged various mischiefs for her, albeit innocent ones. However, Maria, thanks to her kindness and sincere love for the children, was able to win over everyone and melt the hearts of her pupils.

With the advent of cheerful Maria in the house a lot has changed. Children began to dress in bright clothes, leaving a boring uniform, moreover, they all now began to sing and were even going to participate in a local festival. But all this was not approved by Captain von Trapp, who returned after a long absence. Of course, the new governess was immediately dismissed, and the children were strictly forbidden to participate in the festival.

In addition, his father hurried to tell his children another news that concerned his personal life. It turns out that he became engaged to a certain Baroness, and he hurried to inform them about them. Mary, who, as it turned out unrequitedly fell in love with the captain, went back to the monastery, deciding that worldly life was not for her. But the wise prioress, having listened carefully to the whole story, advised the girl to return to try to regain her love and find happiness. Gradually, Mary manages to win the favor of the officer, and he immediately breaks up with the bride, falling in love with the governess.

Due to the political situation in Austria, the captain is returned to the service again, but he does not want to serve the Reich, therefore he tries to delay his departure as long as possible. Trapp declares that he cannot leave the family ensemble on the eve of a very important performance, and promises to go only after the concert. That's only after their fabulous performance at the festival, as a result of which they occupy the first place, the whole family safely escapes from the country, moving to America.

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Interesting Facts

• The success of the performance was tremendous, since the premiere it was played 1,443 times, after which he received 8 Tony awards. In particular, he was awarded the main award for "Best Musical", and Mary Martin was named the best actress. Audio recordings of the original composition of the musical immediately went to the first lines of the music charts and went to three million copies, receiving a well-deserved Grammy Award.
• The soundtrack of the musical has sold over 11 million.
• Until now, the majority of tourists who visit Salzburg, go there just to go where some scenes were filmed.
• The film "The Sounds of Music" was immediately nominated for the prestigious Academy Award in ten nominations, of which he received five awards.
• Until now, the film version of the musical "The Sound of Music" remains one of the most successful projects in financial terms.
• In one of the scenes of the film of the same name, filmed in Salzburg, Maria von Trapp herself starred.
• There are many differences between the original source - the book by Maria von Trapp and the musical. It turns out that the girl herself was not a novice of the abbey, but only taught there. Captain von Trapp was significantly older than her and did not have such a harsh character. Having received in 1936 the first place at the Salzburg Festival, the family successfully toured in their country and abroad. But they went to Italy (not to Switzerland at all) by train, and from there the family got to the USA.
• The most recognizable and popular recordings are: the soundtrack from the film of the same name, the studio recording of the original composition of the musical and the recording made in 1998.

• In 2006, a unique show organized by Andrew Lloyd Webber was released in England. His main goal was to choose a new singer for the next production of the musical. Prize-winning place was taken by the talented Connie Fisher, and the premiere with her participation in the title role was held on February 21, 2009 on the London stage.
• "The Sound of Music" was the last joint work of Rogers and Hammerstein.

History of creation

The work on the future musical in the German film "The Family of Singers Von Trapp" (1956) was launched by famous screenwriter Howard Lindsay, as well as his partner Russell Cruise. In addition, the producer was Richard Holliday, whose wife Mary Martin, the then famous singer, was supposed to play the role of Mary.

The film told about a certain family from Austria, which had to leave their native places and go to America. It is curious that this story was based on the real events described in the book “The History of the Von Trapp Family Singing” (1949) by Maria herself.

Initially, the authors intended to use musical material that was part of the family’s repertoire. However, Mary Martin wanted to play her music composed for her. It was decided to seek help from Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, who were famous for their joint work on the musical "South of the Pacific Ocean".

Rogers and Hammerstein, who had previously worked quite successfully with the singer, did not approve of her idea. They immediately suggested their own idea - to write other numbers and turn this theatrical piece into a bright musical. A year later, as soon as Rogers and Hammerstein finished their main work, they immediately joined the team of writers, starting to work on a musical performance. Thus, all the major work on the musical began in the spring of 1959 and in August of the same year the first rehearsals took place.

Productions

The long-awaited production of the play took place on November 16, 1959. The success was enormous, thanks to the excellent work of director David Jay Donahue, choreographer Joe Layton and, of course, Mary Martin, who was a real favorite of the public. Not surprisingly, the audience dreamed of getting into the production, and the tickets were sold out at lightning speed.

In 1961, the tour began performance. At first, the musical was staged only in America, but after a few months the first London premiere took place.

In 1981, the productions were resumed at the West End, and in 1900 the musical was presented to the New York public at the New York City Opera, after which the triumphal march of the performance began on various theater stages. Thus, in just a short period from 1996 to 1998, the musical was shown in Greece, China, Peru, Great Britain, Israel, the Netherlands and other countries.

In 1998, the performance returned to the Broadway stage, but in the updated production of Szen Schulman. Surprisingly, in the historical homeland of the main characters - in Austria, the production was carried out only in 2005. The Russian public appreciated the musical performance in 2011.

The screen version of the musical

It is curious that filmmakers have shown their interest in this story even before the appearance of the musical performance. So, in 1956, Paramaunt Film Studio bought the rights to the film, planning to play the main role in the film to offer Audrey Hepburn.

7 months after the debut production of the play “The Sound of Music”, the 20th Century Fox film studio became interested in this plot and bought out the rights to the film version. The deal amounted to 1.25 million dollars. That's just under the terms of the contract, the studio could not release a film until the closing of the performance or until 1964. For this reason, such a successful project was suspended. Only in 1962, representatives of the company began to search for a suitable screenwriter and director.

As a result, screenwriter Ernst Lehman, who had previously worked on such performances as King and I and West Side Story and director William Wyler, was invited. In September 1963, Lehman presented his script, only Wyler imagined a different picture. As a result, William Wyler turned his attention to another project, and Ernst Lehman decided to invite Robert Wise to work.

The author of the musical Richard Rogers, who made some significant adjustments, took an active part in the development of the film version. Separate numbers were cut out and I Have Confidence and Something Good compositions were added. Rogers composed the text for them himself. March 2, 1965, viewers have been able to evaluate the film adaptation of the famous musical.

"The Sound of Music" is still one of the most famous and favorite musicals, which has long been a real classic. He once again proves the unshakable rules that music and real, sincere feelings are capable of performing miracles.