<Li> Gretl von Trapp, age 5 </Li> <Li> Ensemble includes nuns, high - society neighbors of Captain von Trapp who attend the ball thrown in Elsa's honor, Nazi soldiers and contestants in the festival concert </Li> <P> The Sound of Music opened on Broadway at the Lunt - Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, moved to the Mark Hellinger Theatre on November 6, 1962, and closed on June 15, 1963, after 1,443 performances . The director was Vincent J. Donehue, and the choreographer was Joe Layton . The original cast included Mary Martin (at age 46) as Maria, Theodore Bikel as Captain Georg von Trapp, Patricia Neway as Mother Abbess, Kurt Kasznar as Max Detweiler, Marion Marlowe as Elsa Schräder, Brian Davies as Rolf and Lauri Peters as Liesl . Sopranos Patricia Brooks and June Card were ensemble members in the original production . The show tied for the Tony Award for Best Musical with Fiorello! . Other awards included Martin for Best Actress in a Musical, Neway for Best Featured Actress, Best Scenic Design (Oliver Smith) and Best Conductor And Musical Director (Frederick Dvonch). Bikel and Kasznar were nominated for acting awards, and Donehue was nominated for his direction . The entire children's cast was nominated for Best Featured Actress category as a single nominee, even though two of the children were boys . </P> <P> Martha Wright replaced Martin in the role of Maria on Broadway in October 1961, followed by Karen Gantz in July 1962, Jeannie Carson in August 1962 and Nancy Dussault in September 1962 . Jon Voight, who eventually married co-star Lauri Peters, was a replacement for Rolf . The national tour starred Florence Henderson as Maria and Beatrice Krebs as Mother Abbess . It opened at the Grand Riviera Theater, Detroit, on February 27, 1961, and closed November 23, 1963, at the O'Keefe Centre, Toronto . Henderson was succeeded by Barbara Meister in June 1962 . Theodore Bikel was not satisfied playing the role of the Captain, because of the role's limited singing, and Bikel did not like to play the same role over and over again . In his autobiography, he writes: "I promised myself then that if I could afford it, I would never do a run as long as that again ." The original Broadway cast album sold three million copies . </P>

When was the sound of music first performed