The Bushnell comes alive with The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music, one of the best-loved musicals of all time, is coming to The Bushnell's Mortensen Hall October 28-November 2, 2003 as part of the Phoenix Broadway Series. Tickets are available now by visiting The Bushnell Box Office, located at 166 Capitol Avenue in Hartford, or by calling (860) 987-5900. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.bushnell.org. Groups of 20 or more should call (860) 987-5959.
Audiences will be enchanted by Marla Schaffel as the lovable nun Maria in this all-new production of The Sound of Music. Marla starred in Jane Eyre on Broadway, a role that earned her a Tony nomination, the Drama Desk Award, a Drama League Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. She also appeared in Titanic and Les Miserables on Broadway. She is joined by a stellar cast, including Burke Moses as the stern, yet compassionate, Captain Georg Von Trapp. Burke created the role of Gaston in the Broadway production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and went on to perform the role in both the Los Angeles and London productions. He was featured in both revivals of Guys and Dolls and Kiss Me Kate on Broadway.
The Sound of Music also boasts the talents of Jeanne Lehman as the wise Mother Abbess. She was a smash success in the same role on Broadway and in the National Tour with Richard Chamberlain. Ed Dixon portrays the irrepressible Max Detweiler. He was most recently seen on Broadway in The Best Man and The Iceman Cometh, and as Eliza's father in last year's Theater of the Stars' production of My Fair Lady. Colleen Fitzpatrick is delightfully catty as the Baroness, Elsa Schraeder. Her Broadway credits include Into the Woods, Cats, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Passion and Company.
The Sound of Music is set in Austria in the late 1930's, immediately prior to the Nazi invasion. Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical tells the story of Maria, a high-spirited nun novitiate, whose enthusiasm for life is both admired and resented by the nuns at the Abbey. The Mother Abbess receives a request from widowed naval officer, Captain Von Trapp, to find a governess for his seven children. She decides this is an ideal opportunity for Maria to experience life in the outside world before taking her final vows.
Maria sets out with confidence to do an exemplary job and gain the approval of the Mother Abbess and the other nuns. She soon wins the hearts of the children, and eventually that of the Captain himself. She brings the household back to life with music, singing and laughter, and in the process finds she is falling in love. Confused and frightened by this new feeling, she questions all that she knows of life. But love conquers all, and she and the Captain marry and set out for a blissful honeymoon.
But the threat of Hitler is not far away, and soon the family must make a very difficult decision. Rather than live under the Nazi regime, the family escapes into the mountains to Switzerland and ultimately to freedom where they become internationally known as The Trapp Family Singers.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's glorious score is filled with lilting melodies and delightful lyrics that tug at your heartstrings. Memorable songs include: "My Favorite Things," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do-Re-Mi," "Edelweiss," "So Long, Farewell," and, of course, "The Sound of Music." The book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse is one of the best loved of all musicals.
The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score, and the 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews received five Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Ticket and Performance Information The Sound of Music will play The Bushnell October 28-November 2, 2003. Tickets are available at The Bushnell Box Office, located at 166 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. Tickets are also available by calling 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Curtain times are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. Tickets prices range from $16.00 to $61.00. Groups of 20 or more should call 860-987-5959.