The Sound of Music
The nuns of Nonnberg Abbey pray while young postulant Maria Rainer enjoys a day off in the hills. When she returns, Maria apologizes to Mother Abbess for her transgressions. Unconvinced that Maria is ready for the abbey, Mother Abbess assigns Maria to serve as governess to the seven children of a widowed naval captain.
Upon arrival, Maria observes that Captain von Trapp runs his home and family strictly. She breaks the regime by teaching the children to sing. When the eldest child, Liesl, sneaks back into the house through Maria’s window after secretly meeting her boyfriend, Rolf, Maria agrees not to betray her.
The Captain returns home with his girlfriend Elsa and her friend Max, a concert organizer. The Captain is horrified to see his children playing and dismisses Maria, but changes his mind when the children greet Elsa with a song.
At a party, the Captain and Maria dance together, and their chemistry flusters Maria. When the children perform for the guests before heading to bed, Max thinks their act would be great for an upcoming music festival. Meanwhile, Maria flees to the abbey. She confesses her love for the Captain to Mother Abbess, who reminds her that love is a calling from God.
Maria returns to the von Trapp home. The Captain argues with Max and Elsa, who do not share his alarm regarding the imminent Nazi invasion. This political rift ends the Captain’s relationship with Elsa. The Captain and Maria reveal their love for each other and marry.
Max enters the family in a music festival against the Captain’s wishes. When Nazi soldiers arrive to force the Captain into military service, Maria uses the festival as an excuse to delay his departure. Max announces that armed forces will escort the Captain to a naval base immediately following the concert.
As the concert concludes, the family manages to escape the theater and hide at the abbey. Rolf, now a Nazi soldier, finds the von Trapps in hiding, but covers for them. Their only way out of Austria is on foot. The Mother Abbess blesses their journey, and the family begins its trek over the Alps to neutral Switzerland.
—Courtesy of The Glimmerglass Festival