All photos courtesy of Popular Productions Ltd.
Award-winning musical The Sound of Music will open in Qatar for the first time this November.
Six shows will be performed for fans at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, in a theater that can accommodate up to 2,300 people each show.
The cast of the show is comprised of 26 of London’s top West End singers and actors, according to State Media, which is putting on the musical with Popular Productions Ltd.
According to State Media, which also previously brought Dora the Explorer and Barney and friends to Qatar, “lavish costumes, beautiful sets and a stunning live orchestra” will be displayed during The Sound of Music shows.
Although a full cast list is yet to be released, a State Media representative told Doha News that singer and actor Lucy Hunter-James will be playing the lead role of Maria, which she has performed twice before in Dubai and Bahrain.
The musical
Premiering in 1959 on Broadway in New York, The Sound of Music has become an award-winning musical hit that has spurred numerous productions and adaptations.
Four years after the musical’s release, a film adaption was formed. To date, the musical and film have received an array of Tony Awards, Academy Awards and Golden Globes.
The original writers behind the musical were Richard Rogers (Music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Lyrics).
The creators behind Qatar’s show are John Payton and Lucy Magee, from Popular Productions. The show is also directed and musically staged by Payton.
Describing the musical’s narrative, a State Media representative told Doha News:
“The Sound Of Music recalls the touching memories of Maria and the von Trapp family, and their struggles as their homeland of Austria faces up to Nazi conversion during the Anschluss, just prior to the Second World War.”
Spectators can expect to witness the musical’s famous songs Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, The Lonely Goatherd and and others.
Tickets
On Nov. 26 and 27, shows will run from 7pm each day. From Nov. 28 to 29, there will be two shows running each day, the first at 2pm and the second at 7pm.
Each show will run for approximately 2 hours 40 minutes and will include an intermission.
Like with many popular international shows held in Qatar, ticket prices for the Sound of Music don’t come cheap.
They start at QR250 (silver), and go up to QR1,200 (VVIP). Tickets can also be bought for QR400 (gold); QR650 (platinum); and QR850 (VIP).
For VVIP ticket holders, there will be a red carpet entrance, the option of valet parking and hospitality before the show and during intermission.
Tickets can be bought at Virgin Megastore branches at Landmark mall, The Pearl Medina Centrale and Villaggio mall, or online here.
Children under the age of two will not be allowed inside the theater.
Do you plan to watch the musical? Thoughts?
The musicals “infamous” songs. “Cast” instead of “writers”. C’mon Doha News, why before you print something do you not get a native English speaker to proof read it? There is simply no excuse for bad English as there are enough English speakers in Qatar. As with most of your articles it would take just five minutes for someone to read and correct it and save you from embarrassing mistakes like these. I’d be happy to do it for you.
These are a few of my favourite things………commas, pots, kettles, lol
It would be great if they could rewrite it for the modern era and give it a Qatar twist. How about a Filipino nanny being assigned to look after an Arab family but ends up being kept prisoner by her sponsor. The children really like her and want to help her escape and along with some Nepalese labourers they arrange for her to sing at the Cube Nightclub. During the interval after several curtain calls she manages to get in the back of a Nissan Tida and escape to the industrial area where her sponsor is too afraid of all the bachelors there and refuses to go.
There, fixed it.
You win the internet today
“According to State Media, which also previously brought Dora the Explorer and Barney and friends to Qatar…”
Yes I rank The Sound of Music right up there with Barney and Dora. LOL. Too bad Spongebob Squarepants couldn’t make that illustrious lineup. LOL
I’d be careful about disrespecting Dora, Barney and Spongebob! Do you know how many kids will be after you!
I love Mr Squarepants but think Barney something very strange. Dora’s harmless.
Shame about the extortionate prices. You don’t pay that for west end tickets…
VVIP? Seriously? How can the VIPs live with themselves when they don’t even have a clear view of the stage for all the VVIP heads in the way
The funny thing is that the VVIP spots aren’t the best in the house. Front-row is a horrible view, but my guess is that the people buying them assume the closest must be the best.
I cant wait to hear how this group renders the songs. I love “The Sound of Music”