TO REVIVE ONE of the most-watched and best-loved musicals in history is always going to be tough - especially when it's been made into a movie so successful that many people forget it started life as a stage production.
But it's a challenge that Michael Duff has taken on with aplomb. As music director of The Sound of Music, he says he's reinvented the Broadway hit by combining the best of both the stage and screen versions. Its Singapore tour last month was a sell-out. And musicians are being auditioned for the production's opening in Hong Kong in September.
'I tried to stay true to the score,' Duff says. 'I grew up with Rodgers and Hammerstein. They're great writers - their craft is exceptional. I've learnt a lot from both of them. I just keep in mind that the audience is seeing it for the first time. It's my job to try to hit it like the opening night every night and keep the musicians fresh.'
The Sound of Music is based on the true story of the von Trapps, an Austrian family who fled their homeland during the second world war.
The musical, written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was first staged in New Haven in 1959 and became a Broadway hit the next month. It ran for 1,443 performances and earned seven Tony Awards, including best musical. The original cast's album earned a gold record and won a Grammy award.
Then in 1965, director Robert Wise turned the musical into a film starring Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the Captain. It won five Academy Awards.