The show is inspired by Maria Von Trapp and her Austrian-born family, who rose to fame after fleeing their home country and becoming a touring musical ensemble. Director Vincent J. Donehue initially drew inspiration from Maria Von Trapp's memoir "The Trapp Family Singers" for the musical, as well as the 1956 German film "The Trapp Family."1, which was the first work to tell the story of the Trapp family. family and fictionalize it slightly. With the idea of ​​casting her good friend Mary Martin, a popular star of the time, in the lead role, Donehue brought in producers Leland Hayward and Richard Halliday (Martin's husband). Ironically, they had originally planned to create the show as a pure play, save for a few Von-Trapp songs and a few original Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers. However, they quickly realized that not musicalizing the entire show would be almost impossible; thus triggering the creation of a full-fledged musical. Although the show is based on..., their true story is far from the classic show known and loved by many. As most Golden Age musicals go, the story is optimistic and paints a picture of a perfect family who end up living happily ever after together; but the real Von Trapps did not lead the most joyful lives. In reality, Maria was the true disciplinarian of the house, while the captain maintained a more relaxed approach to things. Maria was known for her uncontrollable temper and even used electrotherapy shocks on one of the children, who never fully recovered. The captain's fortune – the majority of which was inherited from his first wife – was almost completely diminished during the worldwide Great Depression; which in turn forced the family to rent ...... middle of paper ...... lost during the worldwide Great Depression; which forced the family to rent part of their house to travelers and students. Their family choir career then began, essentially as a last resort to create a greater source of income. Soon after establishing themselves as performers, requests to sing at Nazi-affiliated events poured in and the captain was offered a position commanding a submarine in Nazi Germany. While the Captain abstains from this position in the musical, their escape did not involve running into the mountains with instruments, but rather taking a train to Switzerland. Soon after, an American agent arranged travel plans for them to escape the war in Europe and begin a national tour of the United States. On top of all this, there were ten children instead of seven, and their names, ages and genders were all changed.