Really Useful Group Announces THE SOUND OF MUSIC's von Trapp Children for Sydney Production

Producers Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian, John Frost and the Really Useful Group today announced the 18 children who have been cast in the world's favourite musical, The Sound of Music. There will be three different casts alternating in the roles of the six youngest von Trapp children during the Sydney season.

Playing Friedrich will be Jack Ingram (14 years old, from Manly), Levi MacKee (14, Elanora Heights) and Jude Paddon-Row (13, Middle Cove). Playing Louisa will be Jessica Balmer (13, Coogee), Savannah Clarke (12, Coogee) and Natalie Theodore (12, Warriewood). Playing Kurt will be Louis Fontaine (9, North Bondi), Samson Hyland (11, Balgowlah Heights) and Luc Siboulet (13, Little Bay). Playing Brigitta will be Tahlie Gavin (11, Miranda), Madison Russo (11, Killara) and Isabella Taylor (13, Thornleigh). Playing Marta will be Erica Giles (11, Menai), Takali Hoogendyk (10, Moorebank) and Isabel Young (8, Clontarf), and playing Gretl will be Georgia Campbell (9, Bangor), Nakita Clarke (8, Coogee) and Harriet Turnbull (7, Surry Hills).

"We have assembled an extraordinary cast of young stars to play the von Trapp children," said the producers. "We had over 1000 children audition earlier this month and we were absolutely blown away by the talent. It's exciting that Australian audiences will see a production of this quality."

The lavish London Palladium production of The Sound of Music will commence in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre on 13 December this year, followed by seasons in Brisbane and Melbourne. The Australian production will be led by Amy Lehpamer (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Once, The Rocky Horror Show) as Maria Rainer and Cameron Daddo (Legally Blonde, Big River) as Captain Georg von Trapp, starring alongside Marina Prior (Mary Poppins, The Secret Garden) as Baroness Schraeder, Jacqueline Dark (Opera Australia's Aida, Don Giovanni) as Mother Abbess, Lorraine Bayly (Calendar Girls, The Sullivans) as Frau Schmidt and David James (Playschool, Avenue Q) as Max Detweiler.

This acclaimed production of the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein musical premiered in 2006 at the home of West End musical theatre, the London Palladium, where it celebrated a record-breaking 954 performances seen by well over 2 million people, before going on to enjoy sell-out seasons internationally.

Inspired by the lives of the actual von Trapp family, The Sound of Music tells the uplifting story of Maria, a fun-loving governess who changes the lives of the widowed Captain von Trapp and his seven children by re-introducing them to music, culminating in the family's escape from the Nazis across the mountains from Austria. It features an unforgettable score that includes some of the most famous songs ever performed on stage, including My Favorite Things, Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, The Lonely Goatherd, Climb Ev'ry Mountain and the title song, The Sound of Music.

The musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1959 to record-breaking advance ticket sales, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show opened in London in 1961 and became the longest-running American musical of its generation. The 1965 Hollywood film, which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and quickly became the highest grossing film in history. Even today The Sound of Music remains the most successful movie musical of all time.

The original Australian production of The Sound of Music opened at Melbourne's Princess Theatre in 1961 and ran for three years with a cast headed by the talented Australian soprano June Bronhill. Later Australian productions starred Julie Anthony and Lisa McCune as Maria.

www.soundofmusictour.com.au

@SoundofMusicAU

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