Sound of Music brings a warm glow to China

One of the most popular musicals in the world, The Sound of Music, came to Beijing on Dec 10. [Photo/Agencies]

One of the most popular musicals in the world, The Sound of Music, came to Beijing on Dec 10, stirring up warm feedback from the nostalgic audiences.

Adapted from the original musical composed by Richard Rodgers, this version was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and opened in November 2006 at the London Palladium.

It was adapted from the book The Trapp Family Singers, which was written by Maria von Trapp about her real-life experiences and published in 1949. The musical was a big success, running for more than 1,000 performances and winning six Tony Awards.

The London production of Sound of Music has toured around the world since 2006 and came to China for the first time by performing 60 shows at five cities, including Qingdao, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou, according to the musical's director, Anton Luitingh.

Luitingh noted that this version of Sound of Music kept the main story and songs while adding some changes to cater to the modern audiences, such as the stage set and multimedia technology.

The Sound of Music film was screened in China in the 1970s and was widely popular with Chinese audiences, who especially liked the songs, such as Do-Re-Mi and Edelweiss.

"We have brought the musical to different continents, which proved its lasting popularity," said the director. "Since everyone has a family, the emotion is shared. The single-father situation is also widely seen around the world. It's no surprise that the musical is still warmly received."

Luitingh said six of the child actors were chosen from students at international schools in Beijing. During the China tour, three groups of children were in the cast, playing in the musical alternatively.

"The children are good at dancing, singing and acting individually. The most challenging part was to bring those children together in a show," the director said.

On opening night of the Beijing stop, he was glad to see the audiences were quiet, thought half of the ticket holders were children.

"It means that they focused on listening to the music and following the story," he said. "The more we can do that, the more musicals we want to bring to China."

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