The original Broadway production, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in November 1959, and the show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It has also been made into an Academy Award-winning 1965 film musical. The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Hammerstein died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.
In Austria, just before World War II, nuns from Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg, Austria are singing the Dixit Dominus. One of the postulants, Maria Rainer, is missing. On the mountainside near the abbey, Maria expresses her regret to leave the beautiful hills. She returns to the abbey after the gates are locked; the next day, the Mother Abbess and some of the other nuns consider what to do about her. Maria explains that she was raised on that mountain and apologizes for singing in the abbey garden without permission. The Mother Abbess joins her in song, but later tells Maria that she should spend some time outside the abbey to help her decide whether she is ready for the monastic life. The seven children of widower Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp need a governess, and Maria will act as their governess until September.
At his villa, von Trapp, a decorated Captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, informs Franz, the butler, and Frau Schmidt, the housekeeper, that a new governess is coming and that she will not be allowed to walk out as did her predecessor. He also instructs them to prepare for his return from Vienna with two guests. Maria arrives, and the Captain explains her duties. He then summons the children with a bosun's whistle, and they march in, clad in Navy-like uniforms. He introduces the children and teaches her their individual signals; but she openly disapproves of this militaristic approach. When alone with them, she breaks through their wariness, and after learning that they do not know how to sing, she teaches them the basics of music. This is a classic story that is a must see, Sound of Music Tickets have been in high demand form the outset of the performance.
