Center Theatre Group Kicks Off the North American Tour of The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music starts its run at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre this evening.

Set in 1930s Austria, the show tells the story of Maria, a prospective nun who is sent to be a governess for the seven children of a nearby Navy captain. The mischievous von Trapp children have run off every governess that their often-absent father has hired. However, when Maria enters and shows them affection and understanding, they soon come around to the order she imposes, which is tempered by fun and kindness. Even the captain finds himself enthralled with her as she changes the gloom to which the family has become accustomed. The musical includes well-known songs such as "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Climb Ev’ry Mountain," "Edelweiss," and "The Sound of Music."

Featuring music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard and Lindsay and Russel Crouse, the show is directed by three-time Tony Award-winner Jack O’Brien. Kerstin Anderson leads the cast as Maria alongside Ben Davis as Captain Georg von Trapp, Ashley Brown as the Mother Abbess, Merwin Foard as Max Detweiler, Teri Hansen as Elsa Schraeder, Dan Tracy as Rolf, and Paige Silvester as Liesl. The rest of the von Trapp children will be played by Erich Schuett, Maria Knasel, Quinn Erickson, Svea Johnson, Mackenzie Currie, and Audrey Bennett.

"The Sound of Music has been in our ears for decades, as it deserves to be," says director Jack O’Brien. "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 theatregoing experience and making it fresh!"

The creative team includes Danny Mefford (choreography), Douglas Schmidt (set design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Natasha Katz (lighting design), and Ken Travis (sound design).

Performances will run through October 31.

For tickets and more information, click here.