Stellar Cast Headlines 5th Avenue's Holiday Production: The Sound of Music
Terrence Mann, Kim Huber in Lead Roles. Talented Seattle-Area Children, Seasoned Professionals Complete 37-Member Cast
The Sound of Music Show Dates: Nov. 29 – Dec 18, 2005
Opening/Press Night: December 1, 2005
SEATTLE – This holiday season Seattle’s hills are alive with THE SOUND OF MUSIC! Two of Broadway’s brightest stars, Terrence Mann (Broadway: Cats, Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast) and Kim Huber (Broadway: Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard) will lead the 37-member cast. Terrence Mann makes his Seattle stage debut as the strict Captain von Trapp and Kim Huber, who played Belle in The 5th Avenue’s Beauty and the Beast and Martha Jefferson in 1776, will play Maria. This stage production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC is produced by The 5th Avenue Theatre. It runs November 29 – December 18, 2005, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the beloved 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
Hundreds of Seattle-area students responded to the Theatre’s open casting call for the seven Trapp family children. These talented kids landed the roles: Cara Rudd, Charlie Meissner, Kirstin Maki (5th Avenue Theatre Award Nominee), Josh Froebe, Jenna Levin, Olivia Spokoiny, and Paige Befeler. The children range in age from 5 to 19 and hail from area schools such as Beaver Lake Middle School, Roosevelt High School and Nathan Hale High School. Cast as Liesl, Cara Rudd (The Secret Garden, A Little Night Music, The Wizard of Oz) has grown up on The 5th Avenue stage. And at age 5, Paige Befeler (daughter of Kim Huber) will make her 5th Avenue stage debut as little Gretl.
Jamie Rocco (Singin’ in the Rain) returns to The 5th Avenue Theatre to direct the enormous cast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC; a stage musical that truly has something for everyone. Seattle Opera fans will enjoy watching Susan Marie Pierson (Mourning Becomes Electra) as Mother Abbess. Cabaret and classic theatre aficionados will delight in seeing David Hunter Koch as Max and Kristin Flanders as Elsa; together they sing a duet not seen in the film version. And Sweeney Todd enthusiasts will experience something completely different when Carol Swarbrick and Leslie Law, joined by Elizabeth Arnold, play nuns who ask the question, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”
Brisk early ticket sales at The 5th Avenue Theatre box office confirm that this classic story appeals to all ages. Set in Austria, this is the story of an aspiring nun who is sent from the convent to work as a governess for seven unruly children. The high-spirited Maria arrives, guitar in hand, to fill Captain von Trapp’s home with warmth and music. Over time the Captain and Maria fall in love but are forced to leave their homeland forever to escape the Nazi regime. The soaring Rodgers and Hammerstein score includes “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and “Edelweiss.”
Terrence Mann (Captain Georg von Trapp). On Broadway he starred in: The Rocky Horror Show (Frank ‘N’ Furter), Barnum (Ringmaster), Cats (Rum Tum Tugger), Rags (Saul), Les Miserables (Javert; Tony nomination, Best Actor) Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (Narrator), A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Beauty and the Beast (Beast; Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations, Best Actor in a Musical), The Scarlet Pimpernel (Chauvelin), Getting Away With Murder (Greg). Off-Broadway and in regional productions, he appeared in: Assassins (Playwrights Horizons), 1776 (Dickinson), Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8:30 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). For Film and TV he was seen in: A Chorus Line, Big Top Pee-wee, Critters, One Life to Live, Another World (Emmy nomination), All My Children, True Women and Law & Order.
Kim Huber (Maria) was last seen at The 5th Avenue in 1776 (Martha), and prior to that in the National Tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Belle). Kim also starred as Belle on Broadway, performing the role more than 1,000 times! Other Broadway: Sunset Blvd and Marie Christine, both original Broadway casts. Her portrayal of Nellie in the Floyd Collins national tour earned her both Jefferson and Barrymore nominations. Now a resident of L.A., she has starred in the West Coast regional premieres of The Last Five Years, The Spitfire Grill, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. Favorite regional include: Chess (Florence), Phantom (Christine), Into the Woods (Cinderella) and Good News! (Connie and cast album). Kim can be heard as the singing voice of Sleeping Beauty this holiday season on the Disney Princess Christmas Album.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC is based on the true story of the Trapp family singers who fled their native Austria to escape the Nazi regime. The family’s story was first told in a 1949 novel by the Baroness von Trapp titled The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The idea for a stage version first came about after a 1956 German film about the Trapp family was released. That early film was a hit in Germany and was screened by Vincent Donehue, an American TV and Broadway producer/director. Donehue believed the story to be a perfect vehicle for a musical, especially if tailored to fit theater star Mary Martin. Martin and her husband, producer Richard Halliday, embraced the project and sought assistance from producer Leland Hayward. Hayward brought on Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse to write the book, and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to write the music and lyrics. Finally, in late 1959, THE SOUND OF MUSIC opened on Broadway to raves from both audiences and critics. In 1965, a film version of the musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was released and won five Academy Awards including Best Picture of the Year. The film had an extended engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre, during its movie palace days in the late 1960s.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC replaces DOCTOR DOLITTLE as The 5th Avenue Theatre’s holiday production. Tickets to THE SOUND OF MUSIC are on sale now and range in price from $19-$71. Tickets are available over the phone through Ticketmaster at (206) 292-ARTS (2787), online at ticketmaster.com or in person at any Ticketmaster Ticket Center as well as The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office, 1308 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle. There is no service charge when purchasing tickets in person at The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office.
The 5th Avenue Theatre is Seattle’s premier musical theater showplace. The 2005-2006 season marks the 25th anniversary of the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre which, in 1980, began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of 24,000 and an annual attendance of 200,000 – 300,000. It ranks among the nation’s largest and most respected musical theater companies. The theater is committed to encouraging the next generation of theatergoers through its Educational Outreach Program which includes: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, the Student Matinee Program and Spotlight Nights. Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, the exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. Today, under the leadership of Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon and Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong, The 5th Avenue Theatre continues to achieve the highest standards in all aspects of artistic endeavors and facility operations, while preserving its artistic, architectural and historic legacy. Visit www.5thavenuetheatre.org. Audi dealers of the Puget Sound region are the official automobile sponsor of The 5th Avenue Theatre’s 2005-2006 season. The 5th Avenue Theatre continues its season in 2006 with the world premiere musical THE WEDDING SINGER January 31 – February 19, 2006.
Please contact Jennifer Rice, Public Relations Manager, at 206-625-1418 with press questions or to schedule individual interviews. THE SOUND OF MUSIC photos will be available December 1, 2005.