Carnegie Hall to Present THE SOUND OF MUSIC One Night Only, 4/24

Carnegie Hall will present The Sound of Music on Tuesday, April 24 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. A gala benefit for Carnegie Hall, this one-night-only concert performance of the beloved musical with a timeless score by Rodgers & Hammerstein will provide support for the music education programs of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Gary Griffin (Encores! Lost in the Stars and Broadway's The Color Purple) directs the production with Rob Fisher (Broadway's Chicago) serving as musical director, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's. The cast will be announced at a later date.

The Sound of Music gala event is sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP. Gala guests will enjoy a festive, pre-concert dinner as well as premier concert seating. Gala benefit tickets will go on sale this fall. To receive an invitation, please e-mail specialevents@carnegiehall.org. In addition, a limited number of concert-only tickets will be available to Carnegie Hall subscribers and donors, beginning Friday, December 9, and to the general public, beginning December 16.

Presented with full orchestra, cast, and chorus, this performance of The Sound of Music will bring the world's most popular musical to the stage of Carnegie Hall. With music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, a libretto by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, adapted by David Ives, and based on Maria Augusta Trapp's autobiography, The Sound of Music tells the timeless story of Maria, Captain von Trapp, and their singing family. Set in Salzburg, Austria, on the eve of World War II, the score includes "My Favorite Things," "Do Re Mi," "Edelweiss," the title song, and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." The Sound of Music premiered on Broadway in 1959 where it ran for more than 1,400 performances. Presented subsequently at New York City Center, New York City Opera, and in a Broadway revival in 1998-99, The Sound of Music marks its first return to New York since then with this Carnegie Hall concert version.

Carnegie Hall has worked closely with the Rodgers & Hammerstein office on concert stagings of favorite musicals in recent years, including Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel with Hugh Jackman and Audra McDonald (2002), and South Pacific with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (2005) as well as Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat with Nathan Gunn, Carolee Carmello, Marilyn Horne, and Alvy Powell (2008).

A limited number of concert-only tickets will be available to Carnegie Hall subscribers and donors beginning on December 9 and to the general public beginning on December 16. Carnegie Hall tickets can be purchased at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.