Premiering at
The Fabulous Fox Theatre April 26 – May 8, 2016
March 29,
2016 - Casting has been announced for the brand new production of THE
SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by three-time Tony Award® winner Jack O’Brien. This lavish new production premieres in St.
Louis at the Fabulous Fox Theatre April 26 – May 8.
Tickets for THE
SOUND OF MUSIC at the Fabulous Fox are on sale now
online at MetroTix.com, by calling 314-534-1111 or in person at the Fabulous Fox Box
Office. Ticket prices start at $30. Prices are subject to change; please refer
to FabulousFox.com for current pricing. THE SOUND OF MUSIC is
part of the U.S. Bank Broadway Series.
Performances
of THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the Fabulous Fox run
April 26 – May 8. Show times are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30
p.m., Saturday afternoons at2 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m. There
will also be a performance on Sunday, May 1, at 6:30 p.m. and Thursday,
May 5 at 1 p.m.
BEN DAVIS
(Broadway’s Violet, A Little Night Music, La Bohème) will
play Captain Georg von Trapp and MELODY BETTS will play The Mother Abbess with
MERWIN FOARD as Max Detweiler, TERI HANSEN as Elsa Schraeder, DAN TRACY as Rolf
and PAIGE SILVESTER as Liesl. The von Trapp children will be played by ERICH
SCHUETT (Friedrich), MARIA KNASEL (Louisa), QUINN ERICKSON (Kurt), SVEA JOHNSON
(Brigitta), MACKENZIE CURRIE (Marta) and AUDREY BENNETT (Gretl).
And
introducing Jack O’Brien’s brand new discovery, KERSTIN ANDERSON as Maria
Rainer. A current student at Pace University, Ms. Anderson won the
coveted role from hundreds who auditioned. This will be her first
national tour.
Director O’Brien had this to say about his leading lady, “in looking over a great
American classic, like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, sometimes you
stumble on something you wonder if anyone ever saw before. For instance,
I was privileged to actually see Mary Martin in the original production — as I
was myself just a junior at the University of Michigan. She was a great
star, and she was giving a ‘great star’s’ performance. She was at the
apex of her career, and she was both brilliant and 46 years old.
“But in
reading it privately, something caught my eye: Maria is probably, as a
postulant, no more than six or seven years older than Liesl! She may be
many things — a country lass, a climber-of-trees, a young renegade, but she is
clearly NOT an established star! How interesting!
“I’ve always
believed Maria was a “star-making” part, rather than the leading role we
remember from the movies; so I went looking for someone with star-making
magic,” says director O’Brien. “And in through the audition door one day
walked Kerstin Anderson, still studying at Pace University in New York.
She opened her mouth, she sang and the tears welled up in my eyes.
If ever there were an enchanting young woman standing on the brink of
discovery — this was it! And now, the discovery is about to be all of ours!”
The ensemble
includes Carey Rebecca Brown, Ron Brown, Caitlin Burke, Christopher Carl, Kyla
Carter, Austin Colby, Daniella Dalli, Elisabeth Evans, Donna Garner, Meghan
Hales, Jenavene Hester, Adam Hill, Jeremy Lanuti, Darren Matthias, Kelly
McCormick, Julia Osborne, Andrea Ross, Brent Schindele and Jim Schubin.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by
Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The
Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. This new production is
directed by Jack O’Brien (credits include: Hairspray, The Full Monty,
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Coast of Utopia), choreographed by Danny
Mefford (Fun Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Bloody
Bloody Andrew Jackson) and music supervision by Andy Einhorn (Bullets
Over Broadway, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Brief Encounter, The
Light in the Piazza). The design and production team is comprised of
Douglas Schmidt, set design (Tony Award® nominee: 42nd Street,
Into the Woods); Jane Greenwood, costume design (2014 recipient of
the Special Tony Award® for
Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Natasha Katz, lighting design (Five-time
Tony Award® winner: An American
in Paris, Once, Aida, The Coast of Utopia, The Glass Menagerie) and Ken Travis, sound design (Aladdin, Newsies,
Memphis). Casting by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.
According to
director Jack O’Brien, “THE SOUND OF MUSIC has been in our
ears for decades, as it deserves to be. But it might be time to look once more,
and more closely, at this remarkable work which, I feel, begins to reveal
itself as deeper, richer, and more powerful than ever. It’s no longer ‘your mother’s’ familiar SOUND OF MUSIC.
We are tearing off the varnish of the past from one of the great glories of our
theatergoing experience and making it fresh! This is an opportunity we’ve all
longed to create!”
Producer Beth
Williams (Grove Entertainment) said, “It’s a great privilege to bring this
beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to theaters across North America. We
hope that people of all ages will continue to fall in love with it for the
first time, or all over again, and that it will truly become one of their
‘favorite things.’ From our distinguished team led by the creative master Jack
O’Brien, audiences can expect a truly magnificent production of THE
SOUND OF MUSIC.”
In the words
of Ted Chapin, President of Rodgers & Hammerstein, “THE SOUND OF
MUSIC continues to be the world’s most beloved musical. When
a major national tour was suggested, I not only agreed, but was willing to roll
up my sleeves and do whatever I could to fashion a new stage production that
would re-engage today’s theatergoing public. The show was originally created
for Broadway, and seeing it on stage only reinforces the power of the story and
the score. And with Jack O’Brien at the directorial helm – well, we simply
couldn’t do better. Landing somewhere between The Coast of Utopia and Hairspray (shows for which Jack won the Tony®), his
production will be smart, focused, and surprising. I can’t wait.”
THE SOUND OF MUSIC enjoyed extraordinary success as the first
live television production of a musical in over 50 years when “The Sound of
Music Live!” aired on NBC in December, 2013; 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of
the film version, which continues to be the most successful movie musical in
history. The spirited, romantic and beloved musical story of Maria and the Von
Trapp Family will once again thrill audiences with such songs as “My Favorite
Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss” and the title song.
For more
information, please visit www.TheSoundOfMusicOnTour.com.
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