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Special Productions
1959 Broadway production
The Sound of Music opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, and ran for 1,443 performances. The director was Vincent J. Donehue and the choreographer Joe Layton. The original cast included Mary Martin as Maria, Theodore Bikel as Captain Georg von Trapp, Patricia Neway as Mother Abbess, Kurt Kasznar as Max Detweiler, Marion Marlowe as Elsa Schraeder, Brian Davies as Rolfe, and Lauri Peters as Liesl.
The production shared the Tony Award for Best Musical with Fiorello!. It also won for Best Actress in a Musical (Mary Martin), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patricia Neway), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Oliver Smith), and Best Musical Direction. And it was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (both Theodore Bikel and Kurt Kasznar) and Best Director of a Musical (Vincent J. Donehue). The entire children's cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a single nominee, even though two children were boys.
The original Broadway cast album sold three million copies.
1961 London production
The London production opened at the Palace Theatre on May 18, 1961, and ran for 2,385 performances. It was directed by Jerome Whyte and used the original New York choreography supervised by Joe Layton and the original New York sets designed by Oliver Smith. The cast included Jean Bayless as Maria, Roger Dann as Captain von Trapp, Constance Shacklock as Mother Abbess, Eunice Gayson as Elsa Schraeder, Harold Kasket as Max Detweiler, Barbara Brown as Liesl, and Nicholas Bennett as Rolfe.
1961 Australian production
The Australian Production opened at Melbourne's Princess Theatre in 1961 and ran for 3 years. It then toured Australia for many years, with Vanessa Lee (Peter Graves' wife) taking the role of Maria. The production was directed by Charles Hickman, with musical numbers staged by Ernest Parham. The cast included June Bronhill as Maria, Peter Graves as Captain von Trapp, Rosina Raisbeck as Mother Abbess, Lola Brooks as Elsa Schraeder, Eric Reiman as Max Detweiler, Julie Day as Liesl, and Tony Jenkins as Rolfe.A recording was made in 1961. It was the first time a major overseas production featuring Australian artists was transferred to disc.
1981 London revival
In 1981, at producer Ross Taylor's urging, Petula Clark signed to star in a revival of the show at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London's West End. Michael Jayston played Captain von Trapp and Honor Blackman was the Baroness. Despite Clark's misgivings that, at age 51, she was too old to play the role convincingly, Clark opened to unanimous rave reviews (and the largest advance sale in the history of British theatre at that time). Maria von Trapp herself, present at the opening night performance, described Clark as "the best" Maria ever.Playing to 101 percent of seating capacity, the show set the highest attendance figure for a single week (October 26–31, 1981) of any British musical production in history (as recorded in The Guinness Book of Theatre). This was the first stage production to incorporate the two additional songs that Richard Rodgers composed for the film version. The cast recording of this production was the first to be recorded digitally, but the recording has not been released on compact disc.
*Personal note: I was lucky enough to see this production live - Petula Clark was a wonderful Maria!*
2006 London revival
An Andrew Lloyd Webber production opened on November 15, 2006, at the London Palladium, co-producers: David Ian and Jeremy Sams.Following failed negotiations with Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, the role of Maria was cast through a UK talent search reality TV show called How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?.
Connie Fisher was selected by public voting as the winner of the show, alternate Maria is Aoife Mullholland, a fellow contestant in 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'. The cast also featured: Alexander Hanson as Captain von Trapp, Lesley Garrett as the Mother Abbess, Lauren Ward as the Baroness, Ian Gelber as Max, Sophie Bould as Liesl and Neil McDermott as Rolfe. After Garrett left, Margaret Preece played the role of Mother Abbess.
Since September 2007, the cast has included Simon Burke as the Captain, Fiona Sinnott as the Baroness, Amy Lennox as Liesl, Paul Grunert as Max and Luke Fredericks as Rolf. Fisher/Mullholland (Maria) and Preece (Mother Abbess) continue their roles. Fisher is scheduled to leave the cast on February 23, 2008. The production is scheduled to close in late April 2008.
The revival has received excellent reviews, especially for Fisher, Preece, Bould and Garrett. A soundtrack recording of the London Palladium cast was released.
*Personal note: From the first moment we saw Connie in the Maria TV show we were cheering for her and a dream came true when we saw Connie on stage in August 2007*
Source: Wikipedia