This week a newly produced tour of the beloved Rogers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music opens at the Eccles and I am on the hunt for a nun’s habit or some lederhosen. And although, I doubt the sold out houses of staid Utah families will use the opportunity to play dress up we really should. Also yes, I know lederhosen are German and The Sound of Music is set in Austria but there are still Nazis.
The musical, perhaps better known for its film version, starring Julie Andrews as the unconventional nun sent by her exasperated Mother Superior into the lives of the Von Trapp family is one of my favorites. I love The Sound of Music, it was definitely the first musical of any kind I saw, most likely at my super-Mormon neighbors’ house, where television time was limited ’70s Disney movies (Pollyanna, That Darn Cat etc…), The Brady Bunch, The Ten Commandments and musicals like Oliver and The Sound of Music. Sugared cereal was also not allowed.
The Sound of Music made an impression on me and has followed me around my life. In high school, I performed in a skit to the song “Do Re Me” in lederhosen. When I lived in London in ’90s, the Prince Charles Cinema would regularly present sing-a-long screenings of the film and I may have had access to a nun’s habit for the occasions. OK I did.
Tickets are predictably scarce for the short run from Feb. 27 to March 4. They’re not Hamilton scarce but we do love us a perky musical. If you’ve only seen the film version, the musical is slightly different, mainly in that the famous scene where Andrews twirls in the mountains, is not a part of the play. Here’s a list of all the minutia, so you can study up.
OK OK, I probably won’t play dress up on opening night but I may inadvertently sing a long to a few of the songs. I’ll try to to keep it down.
The Sound of Music opens on Feb. 27 and runs through March 4, 2018, at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater. Tickets and showtimes here.
