The Sound Of Music: 63 recommendations

The Sound of Music is of course one of the world’s most well known and best loved musicals, thanks in no small part to the iconic 1965 movie, in which the character of cheerful novice Maria Rainer was immortalized by Julie Andrews.

Originally conceived as a play featuring music performed by the Trapp Family Singers, the idea of a full-blown musical was hit upon after Rodgers and Hammerstein were approached to write some incidental music.

The Sound of Music is of course based on true events, albeit very loosely; the real Maria Von Trapp is said to have remarked, “It’s a nice story, but it’s not my story.” However bold any changes may have been, they have certainly made for a touching and enduring story.

The show was first staged on Broadway in 1959 as a vehicle for stage legend Mary Martin, and although it transferred to London in 1961, it was the 1981 revival at the Apollo Victoria that got the show recognized in Britain. With Petula Clark in the lead role, The Sound Of Music broke all London theatre box office records, playing to an average of 101% of the theatre’s capacity in its first week.

The casting of the current production at the London Palladium has been brought bang up to date, beginning with the BBC’s How Do Solve A Problem Like Maria? in 2006.Of course, there have been numerous television talent searches but this was the first to be conducted with a particular role in mind, and Andrew Lloyd Webber was personally involved in the selection of eventual winner Connie Fisher.

More recently, The Sound of Music has been involved in a bizarre life-imitating-art situation with Summer Strallen, in her role as Summer Shaw in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, winning the role of Maria. Lloyd Webber put in a cameo appearance in all audition scenes, and Summer’s final episode was filmed in London, based around her first night at the Palladium.