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sai-national.org • Fall 2025 21 Music Histy passing year, culminating in the Anschluss, the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. By this point, the Von Trapps had made a name for themselves as The Von Trapp Family Singers. They were touring Europe, performing music for audiences that included such figures as Britain's Queen Mary and Pope Pius XII. However, the fascist threat was quite literally at their door. They were requested to perform at a birthday party for German dictator Adolf Hitler, and Georg himself was asked to captain a submarine for the Nazis. These events led the Von Trapp family to make the unanimous decision to leave Austria. Shortly after the Nazis took power, they left for Italy, relying on their booking agent to book stops for a tour in the United States. They eventually settled in the US and opened a lodge in Stowe, Vermont, which is still open to this day. The Von Trapp Family Singers would continue to perform until 1955. In 1949, Maria published The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, a memoir chronicling her and her family's life in Salzburg, their escape from the Nazis, and their subsequent life in the United States. It would serve as inspiration for two of the most prolific musical icons of the twentieth century. Musical theatre aficionados will certainly recognize the names Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, but these two have had such a profound impact on popular culture that even those who don't know their names know their work. Oklahoma! was the first show to create a Broadway cast recording, and its songs have been referenced in a variety of properties, from Watchmen to Friends, Sesame Street to South Park. An animated adaptation of The King and I was released in 1999 through Warner Home Video and had moderate success in the home video market. Disney's 1997 TV movie Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Brandy as the titular princess and Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother, was the first time a Black woman portrayed the character on screen. Brandy would later reprise her role in 2024's Descendants: The Rise of Red. Needless to say, the contributions of Rodgers and Hammerstein to music and pop culture are undeniable. The story of how Rodgers and Hammerstein came to tell the Von Trapps' story is an essay all its own, but their creative efforts brought them abundance in spades. The Sound of Music premiered on Broadway in 1959 and was a huge hit. The soundtrack for the musical stayed on the charts for 233 weeks—almost two years—and ran for 1,443 performances. In 1960, The Sound of Music took home the Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as five other honors. That same year, Twentieth Century Fox would purchase the film rights to the show for an astonishing $1.2 million dollars (over thirteen million dollars today). This would sadly be Rodgers and Hammerstein's last show together, as Oscar Hammerstein II passed on a summer morning in 1960. "Edelweiss" was the last song he wrote. Ernest Lehmann began writing the screenplay in 1962, and Robert Wise was brought on as director after his predecessor backed out. This was not the first time Lehmann and Wise had worked together; their previous collaboration was West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer. The Sound of Music went on to win ten Oscars, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. This combination of writer and director would foreshadow the eventual success of this film. Filming would begin in 1964 on location in Salzburg, Austria. Julie Andrews, a Broadway darling who originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, was cast as Maria. Christopher Plummer, an actor known for his role in Shakespeare productions and other serious dramatic fare, portrayed Captain Von Trapp. Due to weather conditions in Austria, what was anticipated to be a six-week endeavor ended up lasting eleven weeks. Some scenes, such as the iconic gazebo sequence in "Sixteen Going On Seventeen," were filmed on a sound stage. Charmian Carr, who portrayed the eldest Von Trapp daughter, recounted an incident where she tripped on the gazebo seats and fell through the glass. Carr sprained her ankle and had to wear a bandage on her leg. The bandage was covered by makeup, but still remained visible in early releases of the film. There were several changes from the stage show. Three songs were cut—"An Ordinary Couple," "How Can Love Survive?", and "No Way to Stop It." In the play, Baroness Elsa Schraeder (the Captain's love interest in the first act) is illustrated as being willing to work with the Nazis; this plot point is the reason the Captain calls off the engagement. This aspect of Elsa's character was not included in the film. "I Have Confidence," sung during Maria's journey to the Von Trapp estate, and Maria and Captain Von Trapp's love song "Something Good" were new additions to the film's score. Despite these changes, The Sound of Music faced equal, if not greater, success than its stage counterpart. The film was nominated for a whopping ten Oscars and took home five, including yet another win by Robert Wise for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Music, Scoring for Adaptation or Treatment. Grossing over $159 million worldwide (approximately $1.6 billion today), it would reign for the next five years as the most successful film of all time. In the decades since, The Sound of Music has ingrained itself in public consciousness. "My Favorite Things"—indeed, the movie as a whole—has become a favorite at Christmas, SOUND OF MUSIC continued on page 23

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