Do-re-mi! ‘The Sound of Music’ is at The Smith Center from Aug. 2-14
The hills are alive with the sound of music! THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, which won five Tony Awards in 1960 and three Academy Awards in its original 1965 production, arrives today at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts for a two-week engagement. It kicks off the 2016-2017 Broadway theater series at Reynolds Hall.
The story of the Von Trapp family is well known to theatergoers worldwide, but did you know that the real Captain Von Trapp was offered command of a submarine in the Navy of the Third Reich, which he refused. The Von Trapps were invited to sing for Hitler’s 50th birthday party, which they also declined.
The eldest son, Rupert, was offered a medical post in a good Viennese hospital, but he realized that it was because many Jewish doctors had been fired. With tensions rising, the family immigrated to Italy four months after the Anschluss in 1938.
In THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Maria Von Trapp was a novice at Nonnberg Abbey. Avendrid, niece of St. Rupert who is considered the patron saint of Salzburg, founded the historic Nonnberg Abbey in the 8th century. The city also has a cathedral monastery and often is called “The Rome of the North.”
At the 1960 Tony Awards, Mary Rodgers found her musical, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, competing against THE SOUND OF MUSIC by her father for the category of Best Musical!
In 1967, THE SOUND OF MUSIC finished its run at the Palace Theater in London after six years and 2,385 performances, at the time the longest-running American musical in British theatrical history.
Cast member Teri Hansen (Elsa Schraeder) guided a behind the-scenes look at the unloading of the touring trucks, stage rigging and unveiling of costumes. The show runs at The Smith Center today through Aug. 14.
In advance of Teri’s backstage tour, she answered five questions:
Teri, how long have you been performing with THE SOUND OF MUSIC?
For more than 300 shows, and I have yet to miss one, knock on wood and spit!
What are the cast and you looking forward to most about performing in Las Vegas at The Smith Center?
The Bellagio for its spectacular water show, of course! The Smith Center is a stunning venue, and, as always, we’ll be looking forward to getting to know the Las Vegas audiences. I’m sure that they will be fabulous.
What has your experience been like with touring a big, hit Broadway production on the road and seeing how it sets up in each city?
It’s thrilling as ever. Six buses, 16 traveling crew (who are the best out there!), and when your list of creatives is a virtual laundry list of Tony Award winners from Jack O’Brien to Jane Greenwood, you know that it’s going to be stellar.
How has performing as a “family” translated offstage with the cast?
We’ve been together on planes, buses, in hotels … celebrated holidays, birthdays and grieved with one another when a grandparent was lost along the way. We also have celebrated pregnancies among the Abbey residents! Nothing brings people together like touring and this show, which epitomizes love, faith and family.
How does this specific production vary from others over the years, and what can Las Vegas audiences expect?
Jack O’Brien has turned this “reality” musical into an edgy, lavish and exciting story not only of love and romance, but also of political danger. It is JASON BOURNE meets Rodgers & Hammerstein with a bit of THE NOTEBOOK thrown in for good measure.
In other words, children, traditionalists and people who have never seen THE SOUND OF MUSIC will leave the theater filled with wonder, awe and joy.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC is at Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center for the Performing Arts today through Aug. 14. Our esteemed Editor Don Chareunsy will have a review of tonight’s premiere posted Wednesday.
