John Schneider, seen on Broadway in Grand Hotel, will play Captain von Trapp, and Broadway favorite Rachel York will play Elsa Schraeder in the July 28-30 concerts at the famed California venue. The two actors join the previously announced Marni Nixon as Mother Abbess and Melissa Errico as Maria von Trapp, the role created onstage by Mary Martin and latter immortalized on screen by Julie Andrews.
Other new additions to the Sound of Music cast include Andrea Bowen as Liesl, Ben Platt as Friedrich, Mary Catherine Hughes as Louisa, Andrew Hoeft as Kurt, Justine Dorsey as Brigitta, Emma Ashford as Marta, Anza Seller as Gretl, Jeffrey Tambor as Max Detweiler and David Larsen as Rolf Gruber.
Gordon Hunt will direct the Bowl's mounting of Music, which is scheduled for July 28 and 29 at 8:30 PM and July 30 at 7:30 PM. Kay Cole will choreograph the production, and John Mauceri will conduct the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is the latest musical to be presented at the Bowl, following acclaimed presentations of Camelot (2005), Mame (2004), My Fair Lady (2003) and The Music Man (2002).
"Before taking her final vows," reads Sound of Music press notes, "a high-spirited nun becomes the governess for a widowed captain's seven children. She captures the children's hearts . . . then the captain's. The family's dangerous mountain escape from the Nazis provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales in musical theatre." The Sound of Music originally opened at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in Nov. 1959. Mary Martin headed a cast that also included Theodore Bikel and Patricia Neway. Julie Andrews starred in the award-winning film, and the most recent Broadway revival featured Rebecca Luker as the beloved Maria von Trapp. The classic Rodgers and Hammerstein score boasts such tunes as "Do Re Mi," "My Favorite Things," "The Sound of Music" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."
Rachel York was most recently on Broadway in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. A Drama Desk Award-winning actress, York's additional stage credits include Sly Fox; Dessa Rose; Kiss Me, Kate; City of Angels; Les Misérables; The Scarlet Pimpernel; and Victor/Victoria. The actress also appeared as Reno Sweeney in the Reprise! staging of Anything Goes as Mother in the Paper Mill Playhouse mounting of Ragtime, and she portrayed television legend Lucille Ball in the CBS movie "Lucy."
John Schneider made his name in the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard," and later impressed critics in Broadway's Grand Hotel. He also starred in the national tour of Frank Wildhorn's The Civil War.
The Hollywood Bowl is located at 2301 Highland Avenue in Hollywood, CA. Visit www.hollywoodbowl.org for more information.
