Von Trapp family Tagged Articles at Cinematical

On this side of the Atlantic, there has always been the Trapp Family Lodge. Nestled in Stowe, Vermont, you could go there, ski, get fat on maple sugar, and revel in all things von Trapp. However, being in Vermont, and not Austria, it can't immerse The Sound of Music fans into the Austrian experience of the uber-popular film.

And now there's a new vacation spot to steal the Vermont Lodge's thunder. Reuters reports that the original family villa near Salzburg, Austria, is going to open as a hotel this July. I kinda feel bad for the US lodge, because what can compete, for fans, with sleeping in their rooms, or getting hitched in their chapel? You can even sing "Sixteen Going on 17" in Liesl's gazebo (a "self-assembly construction set"). To make things even more appealing, there are no large-scale renovations in store. The plan is to make minimal changes, like paint and rewiring, before the hotel opens and masses of fans can step back into time for a quite reasonable 100 euros a night. I wonder if the halls will be alive with music, and how long it would take to drive a normal traveler mental?

There's also tours through Salzburg Panorama Tours.

Now as long as we don't get a remake, we'll be set!

I'll go on record right now and say that I love The Sound of Music. Blame my mother, who had us watching it constantly while growing up, or the fact that as a supporter of high school theater, I've sat through many a production of the stage version. I probably like the songs more than anything, though, and I've just learned there is a singing troupe that perform a number of these songs live. Unfortunately, the troupe won't be singing them in their new film.

A whole new generation of von Trapp children, these the great-grandchildren of the Captain portrayed on film by Christopher Plummer (what, you didn't know it was a true story?) have been touring for years, dressing up in Austrian clothing and singing "The Lonely Goatherd", "Do-Re-Me" and "Favorite Things", and they are now set to star in a Christmas-themed film, tentatively called Von Trapp Children Christmas Movie, which is expected to hit theaters in 2007. If it isn't weird enough that some kids you didn't know existed are getting their own movie, maybe the casting of Jerry Mathers (aka "the Beaver") in a small role and the hiring of a mostly Star Trek-experienced crew is. Apparently the film's executive producer, John Demers, made a lot of connections in a former job working as a government liaison for public events -- like, for instance, Star Trek conventions. Maybe General Chang can make a cameo?

The film, which has been written by Paul W. Shapiro and is reportedly not a musical, tells the story of the four singing kids on their way home for the holidays, carrying a "very special" Christmas tree that some bad guys are trying to steal. Guess what? The bad guys are described as "bumbling." I have a feeling that this will make The Sound of Music look like a work of genius.