Chicago

The Lyric Opera's production of The Sound of Music just finished its run. It was beautifully staged and wonderfully sung. Particularly strong were Jenn Gambatese as Maria and Christine Brewer as the Mother Abbess. Also very fine were Billy Zane as the Captain and Elizabeth Futral as Elsa Schraeder. One unfortunate omission from the production was the lovely number An Ordinary Couple. As is now common, I Must Have Done Something Good from the film was substituted for it. Nonetheless, let's hope the production is revived soon or better yet released on CD or DVD. Here's a brief excerpt from the production:

I also found this discussion of the Broadway production with Renee Fleming interesting:

There is a strong connection between the Trapps and Chicago that predates The Sound of Music. The  family regularly performed in Chicago during its touring years.

For more on the Chicago-von Trapp connection, see this fascinating blog post on their history in Symphony Hall. The program for a December 1945 concert by the Trapp Family Singers illustrates their pioneering role as performers of Baroque and early music:

In her book A Family on Wheels, published in 1959, Maria von Trapp related the following story about a Chicago performance:

All our memories of Chicago would need an evening for themselves. Chicago - where our driver, Rudi, became annoyed to see a fur-coated lady leaving at the intermission of our concert. Firmly, he blocked her way in the lobby, turned her around by the shoulders, and said simply, "You are not going to leave yet! You'll miss the best part!" Not until we learned the next day from her own good-humored comments in print, did we realize that Rudi had sent back into the hall none other than Claudia Cassidy, the well-known Chicago critic, whose enthusiastic or devastating write-ups could shape a reputation. . . .