Charlotte Maltby and Nicholas Rodriguez to Bring THE SOUND OF MUSIC to Kravis Center This Spring

Tickets are on sale now for the national touring production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien.

This lavish new production will make its West Palm Beach premiere May 9-14 at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts as part of a North American tour. For more information, visit www.TheSoundOfMusicOnTour.com.

Melody Betts will play The Mother Abbess, with Merwin Foard as Max Detweiler, Teri Hansen as Elsa Schraeder, Austin Colby as Rolf and Paige Silvester as Liesl. The von Trapp children are played by Elliot Weaver (Friedrich), STEPHANIE DI FIORE (Louisa), James Bernard (Kurt), Dakota Riley Quackenbush (Brigitta), Taylor Coleman (Marta) and Anika Lore Hatch (Gretl).

Nicholas Rodriguez (Broadway's Tarzan) joins the company in the role Captain Georg von Trapp, and introducing Charlotte Maltby as Maria Rainer in her national tour debut.

"Nicholas Rodriguez assumes the crucial role of Captain von Trapp, bringing me not only pride that one of my own friends has turned up in the perfect role, but with the assurance that our audiences are about to hear this great music sung as beautifully as can be imagined," said director Jack O'Brien. "Nicholas's voice is one of the major theatrical gifts I've known, and any production lucky enough to snag him will glow with melodic pride!"

O'Brien also had this to say about casting the iconic role of Maria: "I was privileged to actually see Mary Martin in the original production - as I was myself just a junior at the University of Michigan. She was a great star, and she was giving a 'great star's' performance. She was at the apex of her career, and she was both brilliant and 46 years old. But in reading it privately, something caught my eye: Maria is probably, as a postulant, no more than six or seven years older than Liesl! She may be many things - a country lass, a climber-of-trees, a young renegade, but she is clearly NOT an established star! How interesting! I've always believed Maria was a 'star-making' part, rather than the leading role we remember from the movies and our experience; so I went looking for someone with star-making magic."

"Kerstin Anderson, our original Maria in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, was just such an original - and as a truly youthful "discovery" in her theatrical debut. So when it came time for her departure, one wondered if lightning ever strikes twice....and then, Charlotte Maltby walked through the door. The daughter of celebrated writer and director, Richard Maltby, Jr, she was, of course, theatrical royalty personified; but was I prepared for her poise, her naturalness, her timing, her elegance? No, I was not. Was I prepared for that voice - one of the richest and most powerful I believe I have ever heard in a theatre before? No, I most assuredly was not. And yet, there she stood - and the tears in my eyes as I heard the first notes of THE SOUND OF MUSIC testified that we were in a small age of theatrical miracles: there was lightning once more, pure, and anything but simple."

Completing the cast is Christopher Carl, Donna Garner, Zoe Glick, Robert Mammana, Darren Matthias, Carey ReBecca Brown, Woody Buck, Cáitlín Burke, Maria Failla, Meghan Hales, Jillian Jameson, Mark Bradley Miller, Anna Mintzer, Julia Osborne, Zane Phillips, Rebecca Pitcher, Carter Sindelar, Michael Spaziani and Emily Trumble.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. This new production is directed by Jack O'Brien (Hairspray, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Coast of Utopia), choreographed by Danny Mefford (Fun Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and music supervision by Andy Einhorn (Bullets Over Broadway, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Brief Encounter, The Light in the Piazza). The design team is comprised of Douglas W. Schmidt, set design (Tony Award nominee: 42nd Street, Into the Woods); Jane Greenwood, costume design (2014 recipient of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Natasha Katz, lighting design (Six-time Tony Award winner: Long Day's Journey Into Night, An American in Paris, Once, Aida, The Coast of Utopia, The Glass Menagerie) and Ken Travis, sound design (Aladdin, Newsies, Memphis). Casting by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.

According to O'Brien, "THE SOUND OF MUSIC has been in our ears for decades, as it deserves to be. But it might be time to look once more, and more closely, at this remarkable work which, I feel, begins to reveal itself as deeper, richer, and more powerful than ever. It's no longer 'your mother's' familiar SOUND OF MUSIC. We are tearing off the varnish of the past from one of the great glories of our theatergoing experience and making it fresh! This is an opportunity we've all longed to create!"

Producer Beth Williams (Grove Entertainment) said, "It's a great privilege to bring this beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to theaters across North America. We hope that people of all ages will continue to fall in love with it for the first time, or all over again, and that it will truly become one of their 'favorite things.' From our distinguished team led by the creative master Jack O'Brien, audiences can expect a truly magnificent production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC."

In the words of Ted Chapin, President of Rodgers & Hammerstein, "THE SOUND OF MUSIC continues to be the world's most beloved musical. When a major national tour was suggested, I not only agreed, but was willing to roll up my sleeves and do whatever I could to fashion a new stage production that would re-engage today's theatergoing public. The show was originally created for Broadway, and seeing it on stage only reinforces the power of the story and the score. And with Jack O'Brien at the directorial helm - well, we simply couldn't do better. Landing somewhere between The Coast of Utopia and Hairspray (shows for which Jack won the Tony), his production is smart, focused, and surprising."

THE SOUND OF MUSIC enjoyed extraordinary success as the first live television production of a musical in over 50 years when "The Sound of Music Live!" aired on NBC in December, 2013 and was seen by over 44 million people. 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the film version, which continues to be the most successful movie musical in history. The spirited, romantic and beloved musical story of Maria and the von Trapp family will once again thrill audiences with its Tony, Grammy and Academy Award winning Best Score, including "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Edelweiss" and the title song.

For more information, visit www.TheSoundOfMusicOnTour.com, or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSoundOfMusic, Twitter: www.twitter.com/SoundOfMusic, and Instagram: www.instagram.com/SoundOfMusicOnTour.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC soars into the Kravis Center May 9 - 14. Show times are Tuesday, May 9 at 8 pm; Wednesday, May 10 at 2 pm and 8 pm; Thursday, May 11 at 8 pm; Friday, May 12 at 8 pm; Saturday, May 13 at 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sunday, May 14 at 2 pm. Tickets start at $29 and may be purchased at the Kravis Center Box Office located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, on-line at the Official Kravis Center website www.kravis.org, or by calling the Box Office at 561-832-7469. For Group Sales, please call 561-651-4438 or 561-651-4304.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Charlotte Maltby (Maria Rainer) is humbled to be bringing this amazing woman's story across the nation. Charlotte was recently seen playing opposite Shirley Jones in her autobiographical musical Have You Met Miss Jones? NYC: Starting Here, Starting Now (Woman One), Icon (Princess Constance). Regional: world premiere of Empire at La Mirada Theatre (Betty/Bill Johnson), The Secret Garden at Cincinnati Playhouse and Baltimore Centerstage (Martha), Hairspray (Penny Pingleton) and Les Misérables (Fantine) at The Muny. Film: Ithaca (dir. Meg Ryan), AWOL, People People, The Last Five Years (dir. Richard LaGravenese), Work It, Honey!. TV: Aquarius (dir. David Duchovny/NBC). University of Michigan grad (GO BLUE!) Grateful as ever to her ladies at Abrams, Telsey + CO, this incredible company, and of course - Jack O'Brien. Follow her shenanigans on insta/twitter @cmalts!

Nicholas Rodriguez (Captain Georg von Trapp). Broadway: Tarzan. Off-Broadway: Toxic Avenger, Almost Heaven, Death for Five Voices, Collette Collage, Bajour. Carnegie Hall: Guys and Dolls. Tours: Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Hair. Regional: Carousel (Helen Hayes nomination), Destiny of Desire, Mother Courage and Her Children, Oklahoma! (Helen Hayes Award), My Fair Lady (Helen Hayes nomination) and The Light in the Piazza at Arena Stage; The Ten Commandments at the Kodak Theatre; Beauty and the Beast, Wizard of Oz, Tarzan, The Buddy Holly Story at The MUNY; Mothers and Sons, Les Misérables, Master Class, Love!Valour!Compassion! at ZACH Theatre, South Pacific and The King and I at Casa Mañana. Film: Sex in the City II (also soundtrack). Television: Madam Secretary, Nick Chavez on ABC's One Life to Live (GLAAD Award). His debut CD The First Time... is available at www. psclassics.com and via iTunes. www.thenickrod.com

This season, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts celebrates a Quarter-Century on Stage. And while we celebrate our silver anniversary, we renew our commitment to the community to present the gold standard of excellence in the performing arts. Today, the Kravis Center is a thriving cultural complex, serving as the gateway to downtown West Palm Beach. Thanks to so many who have and continue to support the Center, it has become one of the premier performing arts centers with a renowned national and international reputation. The Kravis Center for is a not-for-profit performing arts center whose mission is to enhance the quality of life in Palm Beach County by presenting a diverse schedule of national and International Artists and companies of the highest quality; by offering comprehensive arts education programs; by providing a Palm Beach County home in which local and regional arts organizations can showcase their work; and by providing an economic catalyst and community leadership in West Palm Beach, supporting efforts to increase travel and tourism to Palm Beach County. The Kravis Center is located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, FL. For more information, call 561-832-7469 or visit the official website at www.kravis.org.

Pictured: Charlotte Maltby as 'Maria Rainer' and the von Trapp children in THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

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