Contrary to the words of “My Favorite Things,” no one eats schnitzel with noodles in Austria.
Additional fact: In the stage version of The Sound of Music, “My Favorite Things” was performed as a duet between the Mother Superior and Maria, not as a tune sung by Maria to comfort the frightened von Trapp kids during a storm.
Writers originally ended the musical with the family being held in a detention center on Ellis Island.
In an early draft, a fictional concert manager for the von Trapps convinces the immigration authorities to release Maria after they hear how wonderfully she can sing.
The Sound of Music initially had the lackluster title of … Love Song.
It was changed to The Sound of Music when the lawyer for composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein found dozens of copyrighted shows called Love Song and begged them to use something less susceptible to a lawsuit.
The Sound of Music was originally considered as a movie vehicle for Audrey Hepburn.
Two German films—Die Trapp Familie and its sequel Die Trapp Familie in Amerika—were made in the 1950s based on Maria’s 1948 memoir. Since neither was released in America, Paramount at first wondered if an English-language remake might star Audrey Hepburn.
The stars of the movie version of The Sound of Music could have been Doris Day and Sean Connery.
Doris Day, then at the height of her box-office power, was being pitched heavily. Other potential Marias were Leslie Caron, Anne Bancroft, and Shirley Jones. To play Captain von Trapp, FOX executives were keen on Bing Crosby. Other male actors considered were Rex Harrison, Sean Connery, Peter Finch, Louis Jourdan, and Maximillian Schell. Yul Brynner lobbied extensively for the part.
And the role of Liesl, the eldest daughter, might have been played by Mia Farrow.
The director auditioned Mia Farrow, Victoria Tennant, Lesley Ann Warren, and Teri Garr, but eventually decided on Charmian Farnon.
The Real Maria Was Not Actually A Governess
Maria was actually hired initially as a tutor for Georg von Trapp’s second oldest daughter, who was also called Maria. The daughter had contracted Scarlet Fever, which had killed her mother (Georg’s first wife) four years earlier.
Complications from the disease meant the younger Maria couldn’t walk to school and created the need for a tutor.
Maria the main character was 21-years-old and was supposed to work in the von Trapp household for 10 months before fully joining the convent.
The Family Opened A Lodge In Vermont
After coming to America, the von Trapps settled in the somewhat familiar alpine village of Stowe, Vermont. The family opened a lodge, which is still in operation and called the Trapp Family Lodge.
