The Hills Are Alive

Upon our return from Europe, we saw signs here in Mexico City advertising a stage production of "The Sound of Music".  In Spanish the musical is known as "La Novicia Rebelde" (The Rebel Novice).

(image taken from the internet)

The show will have a limited run at the "Centro Cultural Cuauhtémoc" located on the avenue of the same name and easily accessible by Metrobus.  Last Sunday we went to the theatre box office and bought tickets.

I found it odd that the production is in English with subtitles projected on a screen.  Then I found out that it is part of a North American tour that has been visiting numerous U.S. cities since September of last year.  I guess Mexico City is the tour's last stop.

I wonder if the production will adhere to the original Broadway show that premiered in 1959 and which has numerous differences from the 1965 film.  Even though the motion picture version is perhaps the best loved movie musical of all time, many critics accused it as being too saccharine. The Broadway version has a couple of songs that never made it to the film, including one very cynical song, called "No Way to Stop It", in which Captain Von Trapp argues with the Baroness and Max about the imminent Nazi takeover of Austria.  In the stage play, it is the Baroness's political indifference which leads the Captain to break off the engagement with her.

"The Sound of Music" was the very first stage play I ever saw.  Way back when I was in the seventh grade, I saw a performance at Musicarnival, a tent theater in the round in the suburbs of Cleveland.  The show made a big impression on me.  Decades later I saw another road show production at one of the theaters of Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland.

So, this will be my third time seeing a stage production of the Rogers and Hammerstein hit.