Richard
Chamberlain & Laura Benanti Are New
Sound of Music Leads, Mar. 10
Playbill Online
09-MAR-1999
Broadway's The Sound of
Music will have its third Captain Von Trapp on Mar. 10, when Richard Chamberlain joins the
cast. Michael Siberry was the first, opening the revival March 12, 1998; he was replaced
by Dennis Parlato, Nov. 4, 1998. Chamberlain takes over for a 17-week NY stint followed by
a national tour, where he will be joined by Meg Tolin as Maria.
As for the New York cast,
Laura Benanti is the new Maria Rainer, replacing Rebecca Luker, who originated the revival
role. Another addition to the cast is Lenny Wolpe as Max Detweiler. Furthermore, Jeanne
Lehman assumed the part of the Mother Abbess Feb. 2.
Richard Chamberlain's last
Broadway role was in another golden-age musical, My Fair Lady, opposite Melissa Errico.
The "Shogun" star is also well-known in theatre circles for a show that never
made it to a Broadway opening night: Bob Merrill's Breakfast At Tiffany's, with Mary Tyler
Moore, Sally Kellerman and Larry Kert.
Benanti, age 19, has been
playing a nun in Music and has been the understudy Maria for several months. According to
a production spokesperson at the Peter Cromarty office, Benanti had been at New York
University exactly a week when she landed the nun gig at Music and chose Broadway over
academia. She had previously done roles at NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse.
The 1959 Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical tells the story of a singing would-be nun who transforms the lives of
an Austrian widower submarine captain and his seven children through the power of goodness
and song. She abandons the convent life to become the captain's wife -- just as the Nazi
anschluss makes him a prime target for drafting into the German navy. Songs include the
title tune, "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," "The Lonely
Goatherd" and "Something Good."
For tickets and information
on The Sound Of Music at the Martin Beck Theatre call (212) 239-6200.
-- By Sean McGrath and
Robert Simonson and David Lefkowitz
