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“THE SOUND OF MUSIC”(Sonrisas y Lágrimas)by R. Munro
)
Winner of Five Oscars including BEST PICTURE (1965)
Starring the great Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer
A musical based on the real life adventures of Maria and the Von Trapp Family Singers. 1959 Broadway hit show by Rogers and Hammerstein. The children and their grandchildren are still alive and live in Vermont, USA.
TIME: 1938 just before and during the Anschluss (forced Nazi union with Hitler’s Germany: the Third Reich)

PLACE: Salzburg, The Republic of Austria ( made famous for its schools, architecture, churches, art and great musical traditions by the great Maria Theresa of Austria (watch for her portraits and busts as during the song EDELWEISS) The capital of Austria is Vienna and it is officially a neutral country. Austria is of course the Spanish Habsburg name for the country which is called “Österreich“ or Eastern (Germanic/Celtic ) Kingdom; the Romans, who founded Vienna called their province“ Noricum“ based on a Celtic word Norig meaning Eastern Kingdom.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

“The Good Guys” (the protagonists):
The Von Trapp Family Singers and their friends: CAPTAN VON TRAPP
Maria: JULIE ANDREWS
Captain Von Trapp: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER. He really was a U-Boat captain from WWI, operating chiefly in the Adriatic and Mediterranean.
The Baroness: a famous Hollywood star of the 50’s in her last great screen role ELEANOR PARKER
The Von Trapp Family Children (7): LIESEL, LOUISA, FRIEDRICH,KURT,BRIGITTA, MARTA, GRETL (In real life there were ten children in all!))
THE MUSIC EMPRESARIO: Max Deitweiler (RICHARD HAYDEN) NB Instead of the fictional Max Detweiler, pushy music promoter, the von Trapps' priest, the Reverend Franz Wasner, acted as their musical director for over 20 years. The musical play slightly secularized the story.
THE ABBEY: The Mother Abbess; the Nuns Sister Brigitta and Sister Berthe
THE BAD GUYS: THE ANTAGONISTS: The Nazis (German and Austrians)
Herr Zeller: Austria Nazi collaborator (“Gauleiter” local Nazi boss)”



QUESTIONS?

1) What is the Anschluss? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Why doesn’t Captain Trapp have a wife to take care of his seven children?
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3) Why doesn’t Maria stay at the Abbey to become a nun?

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4) Captain Von Trapp’s education ideas clash with Maria’s. The Captain believes ‘The first rule of this household is discipline. “ His housekeeper notes “The Von Trapp children don't play. They march. Is this the path of the Van Trapp family to be Nazi storm troopers? How to educate children? The Baroness says “send them away to boarding school.”
Maria’s answer is__________________________________________________________________
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5) The children, mischievous and initially hostile to Fraulein (Miss) Maria, eventually come to love her when she introduces them to the pleasures of _____________________________________________________________________
6) After the Captain announces his engagement to marry the forty-something Baroness (Elsa Schraeder) what does Maria do?
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7) The Music empresario, Max Dettweiler, tries to convince the Captain to let the children do what?______________________________________________________
8) The Nazis takes power in Austria as part of the Anschluss and tries to force Captain von Trapp back into Naval service with the 3rd Reich. How does he react?__________
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9) In a subplot, Liesl, falls for a messenger named Rolfe. What causes them to break up?

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10) FAMOUS LAST LINES:

Sister Margaretta: Reverend Mother, I have sinned.
Sister Berthe: I, too, Reverend Mother.
Mother Abbess: What is this sin, my children?
What die the nuns do? Note the technical word are “the distributor and coil”.


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