The Hills are Alive… and 50

This post originally appeared on the Blue Springs South branch blog on

June 23, 2010.

While sorting through some library items today, I was blown away by a book I came across: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. If that sounds vaguely familiar to you, good! 

The Von Trapps are the family featured in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. Rodgers and Hammerstein are one of the most famous songwriting duos in history. They collaborated for several musicals, which have been based on other works such as plays (Oklahoma!, Carousel), and novels (South Pacific, The King and I).

The Sound of Music is the only work based, though loosely, on a true story. Maria Augusta Trapp wrote her memoir in 1949 and even includes pictures of the family. The real Maria doesn’t look a thing like Julie Andrews, and Georg Von Trapp wasn’t anything like the cold, stern dad in the movie.

I’m proud to say that the Blue Springs South branch is the only one south of the river that has a copy too! The musical just turned 50 and the movie is now 45 years old! So, if you can’t wait until the holidays when they ALWAYS play it on TV, come into the branch and check out the movie, or find out where it all started and read The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.