The Sound of Music at Outdoor Summer Musical Theatres

Abstract

Abstract This chapter visits three large, unique, outdoor venues for musical theatre in the summer: the Mountain Play in Mill Valley, California, the Zilker Summer Musical in Austin, Texas, and the Open Air Theatre at Washington Crossing, New Jersey, focusing on each theatre’s production of The Sound of Music. The Mountain Play has produced of one show each spring since 1913 in a 3,750-seat amphitheatre on the top of Mt. Tamalpais. The Zilker Summer Musical, established by the local recreation department in 1959, offers an annual free musical on a hillside that attracts thousands of spectators, many of whom would not otherwise see a play. The Open Air Theatre, which opened in 1964, presents thirteen shows each summer to more than eighteen thousand spectators. Each one of these venues, all located in old and well-established state parks, also boasts a complex history in relation to state and local government. Coincidentally, these three organizations produced The Sound of Music in successive years—the perfect show for an outdoor theatre. When Maria sings, “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” it was true: The hills are alive with the sound of music, though not actually the Austrian mountains where the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is set.