Question by b4f2f: Why did Trapp Family allow changes in their story for musical “Sound of Music”?
Went to Italy and not Switzerland. All the original songs rewritten or removed.
Best answer:
Answer by AngelAura
You don’t have a choice once you “sell the rights” to your story.
It was up to the Producer and Director at that point . . . and the Trapp Family was paid very well for the priviledge of changing their story to be “more” understandable to the film audience.
The original songs they really sang were mostly church songs and would be boring for a Broadway audience or an American audience of movie-goers who may be Jewish, Athiest, Muslim and a million other things besides Europeon Catholics. Not everyone wants to hear “Ave Maria” in a happy musical story . . . even European or American Catholics who are not, at that point, at church.
I say this as a person who read and loved the true story (book version) of the Von Trapp Family Singers.
Nevertheless, most of their real life music was church hymns when they traveled to Italy, etc. It wouldn’t translate well into a full-length Broadway or movie musical for two hours.
Also, that would make the film more like a complete documentary and they wouldn’t have to had hire actors. It’s hard to condense a story that took about twenty years to happen into two hours and keep it interesting to all types of people . . .
Give your answer to this question below!
Maria Von Trapp wrote the book on which the original play was based (the play was the basis for the movie.)
She sold the rights to the book before the play was written and so had no control over it’s content.
A LOT was incorrect, but it was never intended to be a biopic, after all.