Barry Monush - The Sound of Music FAQ: All Thats Left to Know about Maria, the Von Trapps, and Our Favorite Things

Copyright 2015 by Barry Monush

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2015 by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 West Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213

Trade Book Division Editorial Offices
33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042

All photos are from the authors collection unless otherwise noted.

The FAQ series was conceived by Robert Rodriguez and developed with Stuart Shea.

Printed in the United States of America

Book design adapted by John J. Flannery

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Monush, Barry.
The Sound of music FAQ : all thats left to know about Maria, the von Trapps, and our favorite things / Barry Monush.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4803-6043-3 (pbk.)
1.Sound of music (Motion picture) I. Title. II. Title: Sound of music frequently asked questions.
PN1997.S63373.M77 2015
791.4372--dc23
2014046379

www.applausebooks.com

In memory of Hilda Kelemen,
who first took me to Salzburg all those years ago,
with much gratitude

Contents

One of the unexpected pleasures of working on this book was the amount of help provided by librarians across the country and around the world. Better yet, these people not only were happy to do some research on my behalf, but occasionally shared some personal stories about having seen The Sound of Music .

A very special thanks to Christian Strasser (My Man in Salzburg), who was an absolute gentleman of infinite patience when it came to providing me with information on locations within and around the Austrian city. If everyone was as helpful and kind as Christian, every project would be a joy to work on.

Personal thanks to Benjamin Barrett for the Perth scoop; Brian Durnin, for getting me Von Trapped among other things; John Cerullo; Jim Howard, for the Oregonian touch; and James Sheridan, always knowledgeable, always helpful.

And so, for all those others who opened a window or two:

Roseann Agriesti, Duluth Public Library; Answer Squad at the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library; Barcelona Bibliotecari; Biblioteca Nacional de Espaa; Brown County Central LibraryGreen Bay; Russ Butner, Margaret Herrick Library; Michael Coate, The DigiBits, for his invaluable information on exhibition; Tracey Codd-Lorenz, Expedia CruiseShipCenters; Dennis Copeland, Monterey Public Library; Kim Cowdrey, Onslow County Public Library; Marie Crilley; Jenny Cutting, Auckland Libraries; Jennifer Daugherty, New Hanover County Library; Arpita Deb, Melbourne Library Services; Franoise Devroe, Bibliothque Charles Janssen; Christene Drewe, State Library of Queensland; Elizabeth Dunn, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library; David Elkouby, Hollywood Show; Sandra Enskat, St. Catherines Public Library; Peter Evans, Cardiff Libraries; Karen Falk, the Jim Henson Company Archives; Rosemarie Fischer, Morrin Centre; Jean Fisher, Tacoma Public Library; David Flegg, State Library of Victoria ( TSOM in Melbourne); Gary Fleetwood; Roberto Gollo, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Milano; Brian Guckian; Megan Halsband, Library of Congress, for Whats on in London? ; Stacey Harris, Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library; Alex Hartmann, James V. Brown Library; Helsinki Library; Michelle Heng, National Library Singapore; Jeff Herberger; Barbara Heuberger, Managing Director, Salzburger Marionetttheater; Danile Hoslet, Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles; Judy James, Akron-Summit County Public Library; Jane Jorgenson, Madison Public Library; Peter Kazmierczak, Bournemouth Libraries; Marybeth Keating; Molly Kinney, Mifflin Public Library; Dyron Knick, Roanoke Public Libraries; John and Betty Lowdermilk; Peggy Mainess, Hickory Library; Lyn Martin, Willard Library; Jackie McMillan, Dunedin Public Libraries; David J. McRae and Lucia M. Shannon, Brockton Public Library; Carol Merrill-Mirsky; Rosanna Mojica, Beaumont Public Library System; Gary Morris; Nottingham Central LibraryLocal Studies Library; Shirley Nuell, Bristol Library; Roslyn Pachoca, Library of Congress; Rebecca Paller; Janelle Penney, Central Auckland Research Centre; Lora Peppers, Ouachita Parish Public Library; Pat Preblick, ABC; Jody Osicki, Equipe Quaestio Team; Katrin Perner, Panorama Tours; Laura Peters, The Muny; Christine Pu, Headquarters Library; Red Deer Public Library; Patti Renaud, Central Manchester LibraryChristchurch; Jeremy Robichaud, Maynard Library; the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization; Penny Rudkin, Southampton Central Library; Patrick Russ; Dan Sheahan, Fall River Main Library; Adrian Shindler, The British Library; Jane Simmons, Napier Library; Sarah Skrobis; Elaine Stefanko, Osterhout Free Library; Debbie Stewart and Kathryn Kulpa, Great Falls Library; Elisabeth Streit, The Austrian Film Museum; Bridget Summer, 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle; Dale Taylor and David Govier, Manchester Central Library; Ola Trjas, Svenksa Filminstitutet; Kim Walsh, Sioux City Public Library; Philip Ward, City of Sydney Library Network; Wong Sze Wan, Hong Kong Leisure & Cultural Services; Stella Wentworth, Oxfordshire Libraries; Heather L. Wickert, Newport News Public Library System; Amanda Williams, Live Oak Public Libraries; Trent & Anne Wilson; Tom Wilson; Julie Woosley, Wayne Theatre Alliance; Sara, Sioux City Public Library; Rebecca, Akron-Summit County Public Library; and Paul, Historic Embassy Theatre.

Further thanks must go to all of those who endured my incessant mentioning of The Sound of Music in the period I worked on this project.

And of course the deepest gratitude of all to my life partner and fellow Sound of Music appreciator, Tom Lynch, for helping me ford various streams. Not sure what I did to deserve such support and companionship, but Im tempted to say that somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good.

Introduction
The Sound of... Asbury Park?

When I first saw The Sound of Music , I was six years old. And unlike pretty much any other movie I saw in my youth, I actually remember when I saw it.

The reason for attending the film was a celebration of my sister Michelles birthday. Our cousin, Hilda Kelemen, took the two of us, along with our aunt, Olga Monush, to see the film on the Saturday afternoon leading up to my sisters birthday, which made the date October 16, 1965. The theatre was the Paramount, which was directly on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a town my father would take us to sporadically throughout our childhoods so that we could go on rides (a Ferris wheel that went through the roof of a building!) and buy saltwater taffy. There were no further trips to the Paramount Theatre, however, during my so-called formative years, which was a shame.

Im not sure when I agreed to see that October showing of The Sound of Music , but from my realization years later that this would have been a reserved-seat engagement, I assume Hilda bought four tickets in advance, with the belief that somebody in our family would be interested in filling that fourth seat. My mother was not available, because, as I recall, she was waiting for my sisters birthday gift, a piano, to show up at our house in Hazlet; my brother Bryan probably heard the title and instantly vetoed the idea; while my father basically never went to the movies, so that was that. At any rate, Im sure that when I heard the title I was more than happy to be the fourth attendee, and certainly would have been easily swayed by the fact that the movie starred the very same lady who had just played Mary Poppins , a recent favorite of mine and of pretty much every other kid at that time.