A scene from Andrew Lloyd Webber'€™s The Sound of Music, which will play in Jakarta in October. (Courtesy of The Sound of Music)

After Broadway'€™s Beauty and the Beast, Indonesia'€™s theater enthusiasts will soon be able to enjoy Andrew Lloyd Webber'€™s The Sound of Music straight from the London'€™s West End Musical Theatre district.

The Sound of Music, brought in by Sorak Gemilang Entertainment promotion company and produced by the Really Useful Group production company, is set to take place at the Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in Jakarta from Oct. 6 to 11.

The performance, which requires at least 10 containers of props and costumes to be shipped to Jakarta directly from England, is based on the original 1959 theatrical performance, which had won Tony Awards and was composed by American composer Richard Rogers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein.

The story is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, a nanny who was taking care of widower Captain Von Trapp'€™s seven children when the Nazis were taking control of Salzburg, Austria, in the 1930s.  

The Broadway production of The Sound of Music by Rogers and Hammerstein debuted onstage in 1959, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel.

The musical soon became a legend in the theatrical industry worldwide and has gained as many awards as one play possibly could.

The play, which came to the big screen with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer as the stars, has also popularized songs like '€œDo-Re-Mi'€, '€œSixteen Going on Seventeen'€, '€œMy Favorite Things'€, '€œHow Can Love Survive'€, '€œSo Long, Farewell'€ and '€œEdelweiss'€ over decades.

Sorak Gemilang Entertainment marketing and new business development Director Mervi Sumali said it was a long and grueling process to bring The Sound of Music to Indonesia.

'€œThey were not sure about performing in our country because they saw we had no sufficient venue to host such a big musical production,'€ Mervi said.

'€œEventually, their president director visited Bali and agreed to meet us in Jakarta. We sat and took him to look at potential venues. He asked a lot of questions such as why we wanted to present a big musical in Indonesia and how many of Webber'€™s productions we had personally watched. In the end, I thought we managed to convince him because we gained his trust for our reasons instead of our money.'€

The Sound of Music performance in Jakarta would be the only show that the production team would present in the Southeast Asian region this year, making it a very rare opportunity for musical and theater enthusiasts to have a magical experience.

Early bird ticket prices range from Rp 720,000 (US$54) to Rp 2,960,000 while normal price tickets have price tags up to Rp 3.7 million. Tickets started being sold to the public on June 8.

The show will also give a chance for Indonesian children to directly take part in the musical as the production team plans to conduct a live audition for the roles of Frederich and Louisa from June 22 to 24.

Such a policy of auditioning local children to take part in The Sound of Music is a tradition that both Webber and Ian have been conducting since 2006.

'€œOur children have beautiful voices and they [The Sound of Music crew] have no idea about this at all. It is time to show them what we can bring to the table,'€ Mervi said.
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'€œEventually, their president director visited Bali and agreed to meet us in Jakarta.'€

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