The Sound Of Music Tickets

The Sound of Music Las Vegas Show 

The world’s favorite musical is coming to The City of Lights and it’s something you don’t want to miss. Directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien and has been touring since September 2015, it is still the spirited, amiable and romantic musical that made it the phenomenal success of the 60’s and is held beloved in so many hearts worldwide. So take a break from the usual guilty pleasure that is thrust upon you in Las Vegas and go and see the most famous musical in history in all of its charm.

A word from the director

Jack O’Brien has been explicit in his support for The Sound of Music he rightly points out that the musical has been in our ears for decades, as it deserves to be. But he also argues that there is always room for another revision of the original play, as it is necessary to keep the world interested in the best that the creative arts has to offer us.

The popularity of The Sound of Music

2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the musical and the whole world has been celebrating in different ways. When “The Sound of Music Live” was aired in December 2013 on NBC it was viewed by over 44 million people. This only added to the plays success, and it is already the most successful movie musical in history; it is also the best known musical in the history of American theatre, if not the world. 

The musicals success

When musical debuted 1959 it quickly scooped up the Tony Award for Best Musical and went on to win Grammy’s and a couple of Academy Awards. When the musical was remade as a film it won 5 Oscars in 1966, and became the highest grossing film in history, knocking Gone with the Wind off the top spot. If you translate the figures into today’s money it would still be the fifth highest grossing film of all time – knocking The Avengers into sixth place. Even with all of these accolades, at the time of release, a lot of critics didn’t care for it: big names such as The New York Times were sceptical of the musical, often describing it as 'made for the audience’ – which in my view isn’t a bad thing. 

The History

The film depicts the Von Trapps as a wealthy family who in their spare time created and enjoyed as much beautiful and harmonic music as possible. The Von Trapps were a real family and in reality, they were made wealthy from their music, but they’d run out of luck by the uncertain times of the 1920’s they were almost broke in 1927. However, by the 30’s they’d managed to rekindle their success and formed a successful music group, yet they were forced to flee their hometown of Salzburg, Austria in 1935 due to Georg Von Trapp being enlisted in the Nazi navy after Germany annexed Austria, something he refused to do on moral grounds. 

How The Sound of Music became a musical

The story of the Von Trapp’s was written by the real Maria Von Trapp – upon whom the main character of the musical is styled - in The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which inspired director Vincent J. Donehue to think that the plot would be perfect for his friend Mary Martin to create a play; Broadway producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday agreed. Initially, it was conceived the play would stay true to the historical narrative outlined in Maria’s memoirs, however, the producers decided to take a gamble and change the plot to make it more dramatic; they also converted it into a full musical – thus the epic was born. Also, side-note, the real Maria Von Trapp had a cameo in the original film. 

The success of Jack O’Brien’s The Sound of Music

As we are graced with The Sound of Music in Vegas this particular incarnation of the musical is the most successful in a generation. Already it’s been tipped to win awards and it’s received phenomenal reviews from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, LA Daily News, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. It’s even been suggested that when the Pope visited the States last year he would have been blown away with the quality and character of the play, which is permeated by a fresh take on the material; whilst also paying a huge amount of respect to the muscial’s Catholic underpinnings and a general admiration of the faith. 

The plot

As has already been discussed, the musical is based on The Story of the Trapp Family, which was written by Maria Von Trapp, who is the main character in the play; but the story it’s self is thrilling. In 1930’s Austria the young Maria is a failed nun and gladly agrees to become the governess of the widower Georg Von Trapp’s 7 mischievous children. After initial hostility, Maria and the children fall in love. Maria brightens up the entire household and introduces them to the beauty of music, they are however caught up by international events’ the Nazis are in power annexe Austria forcing the family to flee the day after Maria and Georg are married. 

When the play debuted in 1959, the story was lapped up by the post-war generation, but the morals and the beauty of the story still resonated within all of us today. Do not miss out on seeing The Sound of Music in Vegas as this version of the play is winding down and soon you won’t be able to see it ever again!

Finally, a word on the music

The Sound of Music in Vegas keeps true to the most popular aspect of the musical – it’s world famous songs. The score includes all of the classic favourites including “My Favorite Things”, “Do Re Mi” and “Edelweiss”, plus much more! These songs have filled families with joy for generations and never sound out of place in any family household. Unquestionably the reason The Sound of Music has become such an unforgettable classic is because of the music. They have fun lyrics and make you feel just plain happy when you hear them. Especially the possibly most famous song, My Favorite Things that is sung in a storm where the general mood is melancholy and through the song the entire cast – and the audience – are uplifted into a feeling of pure jubilation.