Laura Benanti & Richard
Chamberlain To Make Bway Sound of Music Mar. 10
Playbill Online
04-FEB-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 the current Von Trapp, Dennis Parlato, Nov. 4, 1998. Chamberlain will take over for a
17-week NY stint followed by a national tour.
Also joining the cast at
that time will be Laura Benanti as Maria Rainer. She will replace Rebecca Luker, who
originated the role of Maria in the current revival. Another addition to the cast is Lenny
Wolpe as Max Detweiler. Furthermore, Jeanne Lehman will assume the part of the Mother
Abbess on 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.
Parlato is a Broadway
veteran of She Loves Me, Chess, and A Chorus Line.
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
