Jill-Christine Wiley in the role of Maria and Trevor Martin in the role of Captain Von Trapp during a scene from the musical

In a first, the city will see the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway troupe perform the iconic musical live at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. “We can’t wait for our people to experience this iconic Broadway musical in their own country and make memories with their family and friends,” says Nita Mukesh Ambani, Founder and Chairperson. 

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The seven-time Tony Award winner will open to audiences on May 3 and will run till June 4. The Broadway troupe—the cast includes Jill-Christine Wiley as Maria, Trevor Martin as Captain Von Trapp, Lauren O’Brien, Daniel J Fullerton and Joshua La Force—has performed in over 100 countries so far. 

Jack O’Brien, director 

Director Jack O’Brien, who’s a three-time Tony Award winner, says that although the story has been loved for generations, the challenge was in rendering it in a way that still captivates the imagination of people. “Few people realise that the film version of The Sound of Music, so beloved, for so many years, is not the original version. [The film is an adaptation of the 1959 stage musical]. As a matter of interest, Richard Rodgers was not a fan of the movie and we realised early on that a script that had been authored by two incredibly talented playwrights, never got its due. People are astonished to reacquaint themselves with something they thought they knew.” 

The Broadway musical, O’Brien says, is an attempt “to be faithful to the original authors’ intentions, and not be seduced by its traditional interpretation as [it] occurs in the film”. 

He says that the song, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, was his favourite part of the musical. The song comes at a critical juncture when Maria expresses her hesitation to become a nun to the Mother Abbess at the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. “I loved the discovery that the song was not simply a standard response by the Mother Abbess, but an improvised answer to a serious question. Once we went in that direction, the scales virtually fell from our eyes. The Mother Abbess was drawing on her own younger experiences, and thus, reawakening her own calling.” Tour director Matt Lenz agrees. “There is something deeply moving, profound and universal when the Mother Abbess asks Maria, ‘How do you want to spend your love?’ just before she sings Climb Ev’ry Mountain. The urgency and depth of that moment never fail to affect me.” 

The “universality” of the story is what O’Brien aims to portray with each onstage rendition. He muses about how classic stories have their own appeal. “It’s a great experience of pride and delight for us to be able to carry this message outside of its original expectation.”

WHEN: May 3 to June 4, 2.30 PM and 7.30 PM 
WHERE: The Grand Theatre, NMACC 
PRICE: Rs 1,000 onwards 
TO BOOK: nmacc.com