'Sound of Music' heads to Salzburg for first time

SALZBURG, Austria, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The Salzburg-set musical "The Sound of Music" is to be staged in the Austrian city for the first time, its producers said Thursday.

The show about a music-loving family living on the brink of World War II is to open at the Salzburger Landestheater Oct. 23. It is scheduled to run through June.

The production at the Salzburger Landestheater will star German musical actor Uwe Kroger as Baron von Trapp and the Dutch singer Wietske van Tongeren as Maria.

The musical will be performed in German with English subtitles and includes an English-language sing-along at the end.

"'The Sound of Music' has always been a musical ambassador for the town of Salzburg. For at least 40 percent of all visitors, it is even a major reason for visiting the city," the Salzburg tourism board said in a news release.

Starting Nov. 4, the Salzburg Museum will present an exhibition devoted to the von Trapps, the family at the center of "The Sound of Music."

The musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II was based on Maria von Trapp's memoir "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers."

The original Broadway production opened in 1959. It was adapted as an Oscar-winning film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in 1965.

Members of the von Trapp family still tour and perform.