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Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse
Suggested by Maria Augusta Trapp's "The Trapp Family Singers".
It is 1938. In Nonnberg Abbey in Austria, the busy nuns are going about their
daily tasks, but towards evening it becomes apparent that the postulant, Maria
Rainer, is not among them. Maria is out on the mountain, singing of the joy she
finds in nature, and she returns to the Abbey late, as usual. The Mother Abbess
and her assistants are forced to conclude that Maria is not yet ready for the
religious life. Although the Mother Abbess shares many enthusiasms with Maria,
she decides to send her out of the Abbey to become temporary governess to the
children of Captain von Trapp, a retired naval officer.
Since the death of his wife, the Captain has taken to running his home like a
battleship, and treating his children like naval recruits. When Maria and the
children have a few days alone together, however, she teaches them how to play,
to sing, to enjoy life. Liesl, the oldest child, is in the throes of first love
with Rolf Gruber, a village boy, and she steals from the house to meet him.
Maria wins over Liesl, indeed all the children, when she comforts them with her
singing during a thunderstorm.
The Captain returns from Vienna with his fiancée, Elsa Schräder, and a
family friend, Max Detweiler. At first astonished and angry at Maria's
dismantling of the martial law he had imposed on his children, the Captain's
cold reserve melts away when he hears the sound of music in his home for the
first time in many years. Maria has made him realize how important it is to know
and love his children.
At a party given to introduce Elsa to the Captain's neighbors, the children
charm the guests with their goodnight song. Against this innocence, however, the
ominous rumblings of the imminent German Anschluss can be heard. Some of the
guests almost come to blows over the possibility of Hitler's take-over of
Austria, and one of them threatens the Captain, who is firmly opposed to the
Nazi regime. In an effort to reduce the tension Maria induces the Captain to
join her in demonstrating an charming Austrian folk dance, the ländler. During
the dance, Maria is confronted with a sudden realization: she has fallen in love
with the Captain. In dismay, she flees to the Abbey, where the Mother Abbess
advises her that the love of a man and a woman is holy, and that the Abbey is
not a place to hide from one's problems but a place in which to confront them.
She urges Maria to reach out to meet life.
Returning to the Trapp villa, Maria finds a bitter quarrel going on among the
Captain, Elsa and Max, over the Nazi invasion of Austria. While the Captain is
prepared to stand up to the Nazis and defy them if necessary, Elsa is unwilling
to take such risks or in any way endanger her own comfortable position. She and
the Captain decide to dissolve their engagement, and she leaves. At the same
time, Maria and the Captain acknowledge their love for each other and two weeks
later they are married at the Abbey. When they return from their honeymoon, they
find that the Anschluss has become fact, and that Rolf, Liesl's love, has
emerged as a Nazi supporter. Max, meanwhile, is determined (against the
Captain's wishes) that the children will sing at a music festival in Salzburg as
planned. Unexpectedly, the Nazis press the Captain into military service to the
Third Reich; Maria gains time for him by convincing the new authorities that, in
fact the entire von Trapp family is scheduled to sing at the festival.
The Nazi officials allow the von Trapps to perform, while announcing that a
military escort will be standing by to take the Captain to his new post in
Berlin. On this, his last night in his beloved Austria, Captain von Trapp leads
his wife, lady and fellow countrymen in singing a cherished folk song. Swiftly,
Maria leads the family, including the Captain, into their exit song and one by
one, they disappear as Max stalls the escort. Fleeing to the Abbey, they seek
refuge in the garden as soldiers, hot on their trail, search for them
unsuccessfully. Finally, as the nuns wish them Godspeed, the von Trapps leave
Austria for a new life and new hope, as they climb to freedom over Maria's
beloved mountain.
- Preludium (Dixit Dominus)
- Morning Hymn and Alleluia
- The Sound of Music
- Maria
- I Have Confidence
- Do-Re-Mi
- Sixteen Going On Seventeen
- My Favorite Things
- How Can Love Survive
- So Long, Farewell
- Climb Ev'ry Mountain
- No Way To Stop It
- Something Good
- The Lonely Goatherd
- Edelweiss
- Finale Ultimo
| Description |
Photo |
Contributed By
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| Group Shot (click
on image for full size picture) |
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Karen DiFatta
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| Bill
and Micah perform at the Schultz Park bandshell during Cabaret 1994 |
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Karen DiFatta
|
| |
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Karen DiFatta |
| |
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Karen DiFatta |
| |
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Karen DiFatta |
| Kathy and Greg |
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Karen DiFatta |
| Chris and
Kristina getting ready for the show |
 |
Karen DiFatta |
| Mrs. Murphy helps
Dena with her hair while Adam practices his shadow puppetry |
 |
Karen DiFatta |
| Anyone up for a
game of Frisbee football? |
 |
Karen DiFatta |
| Tweety and
friends hangin' out at F.A.O. Schwartz |
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Karen DiFatta |
| Tom Hanks and
Robert Logia made it look so easy in "Big" |
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Karen DiFatta |
| This is what they
mean by "warm and fuzzy" |
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Karen DiFatta |
| "What's
up, Doc?" |
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Karen DiFatta |
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