Girls, Are Any Of Them Still Alive???????????????

Just who are these people, darlings???????? When it comes to "The Sound Of Music," they are the Forgotten Ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who are they? From left to right, in order of their ages, they are--

Lauri Peters (Liesl)
William Snowden (Friedrich)
Kathy Dunn (Louisa)
Joseph Stewart (Kurt)
Marilyn Rogers (Brigitta)
Mary Susan Locke (Marta)
Evanna Lien (Gretel)

If the actors' names aren't familiar, their stage names certainly are--those are the Von Trapp Children in "The Sound Of Music." And the actors listed here are the ones who originated those roles when the show first opened on Broadway at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre the night of November 16, 1959!!!! (Just two days till my fifth birthday, darlings!!!!!!!!! I know I should have been in it, but even then I was too young!!!!!!!!!)

Why should this come to mind? It seems I did something of a post on them awhile back. But I recently recalled a 45rpm I had as a child, which was the song "Do Re Mi" sung by Mitch Miller (whose variety show, "Sing Along With Mitch" was very popular at the time), and, once I could read, underneath, the words "and the Children from "The Sound Of Music." Since this preceded the film, it was the Children from Broadway.

Now, as my girls know, once the film came out, those children eclipsed these!
After all, Angela Cartwright was well known prior, thanks to "Make Room For Daddy," and, as the film became a blockbuster and then a Classic, the screen children, who became a tightly knit, sibling-like group themselves, became almost promoters of the film, which they still do. Eldest daughter Charmian Carr even penned her memoir of the experience, entitled "Forever Liesl."

So, in the shuffle, the Broadway Children became kind of forgotten, which always made me wonder how they felt about all that. After all, they were the first, and there they are on the Original Cast album; in many ways singing better than their screen counterparts, because they all COULD sing, whereas most of the film Children were dubbed or accentuated.

You can see the Broadway Children on a YouTube excerpt from "What's My Line?" when they were the Mystery Guest. At the time, their ages ranged from 17 to 9. When I did the math, that comes out today to between 61 and 69.

Lauri Peters is still alive; may in fact still be in town. She has been known for teaching the Meisner technique at NYU. Hey, Lauri, if you get wind of this, comment on here, and let my girls and I know what is up, what happened to the others, do you all keep in touch, etc.

Unfortunately, my search led to the discovery that one of the group, Marilyn Rogers, passed on last year, in Miami Florida, at the age of 63. She was the original Brigitta. And like the film Brigitta, Angela Cartwright, I think she may have had some credits prior to, as she is billed on the cover of the cast album.

I would love to know about the boys in particular, William Snowden, and Joseph Stewart. What we all want to know is--Darlings, how did it feel being boys, and nominated for a Broadway TONY in the category of Best Supporting ACTRESS In A Musical???? Does that haunt you to this day??????????

So, kids, if you are out there, let me know on here. Or if you know one, or know someone who does, feel free to comment on here!!!!!!! Look at the photo, depicting how the departure from Austria was achieved onstage. How theatrical!!!!!! Quite a contrast to that spacious end shot in the film!!!!!!!! I understand onstage there were wet eyes every night, and when Act One ended, with Patricia Neway as Mother Abbess hitting the final note of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," the rafters and chandeliers shook nightly!!!!!!!!!

A toast to the Broadway Children of "The Sound Of Music"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is about time you got the credit you deserve!!!!!!!

Auf Wiedersehen , adieu, darlilngs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!