Photo Flash: THE SOUND OF MUSIC Comes to the Arsht Center Tonight

The brand new production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien, launched this September at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, under the auspices of the Center Theatre Group, and is now touring North America for multiple seasons, playing multi-week and week-long engagements. THE SOUND OF MUSIC premieres at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County tonight, December 29, 2015 through January 3, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

BEN DAVIS (Broadway's Violet, A Little Night Music, La Bohème) will play Captain Georg von Trapp and ASHLEY BROWN (Broadway's Mary Poppins, NBC's The Sound of Music) will play The Mother Abbess with MERWIN FOARD as Max Detweiler, TERI HANSEN as Elsa Schraeder, DAN TRACY as Rolf and PAIGE SILVESTER as Liesl. The von Trapp children will be played by JEREMY MICHAEL LANUTI (Friedrich), MARIA SUZANNE KNASEL (Louisa), QUINN ERICKSON (Kurt), SVEA ELIZABETH JOHNSON (Brigitta), MACKENZIE CURRIE (Marta) and AUDREY BENNETT (Gretl).

And introducing Jack O'Brien's brand new discovery, KERSTIN ANDERSON as Maria Rainer. A current student at Pace University, Ms. Anderson won the coveted role from hundreds who auditioned.

The ensemble includes Carey Rebecca Brown, Ronald L. Brown, Cáitlín Burke, Christopher Carl, Kyla Carter, Patton Chandler, Daniella Dalli, Elisabeth Evans, Donna Garner, Meghan Hales, Jenavene Hester, Adam Hill, Darren Matthias, Kelly McCormick, Julia Osborne, Andrea Ross, Brent Schindele, Jim Schubin and Lucas Schultz.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. This new production is directed by Jack O'Brien (credits include: Hairspray, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Coast of Utopia), choreographed by Danny Mefford (Fun Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and music supervision by Andy Einhorn (Bullets Over Broadway, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Brief Encounter, The Light in the Piazza). The design and production team is comprised of Douglas Schmidt, set design (Tony Award® nominee: 42nd Street, Into the Woods); Jane Greenwood, costume design (2014 recipient of the Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Natasha Katz, lighting design (Five-time Tony Award® winner: An American in Paris, Once, Aida, The Coast of Utopia, The Glass Menagerie) and Ken Travis, sound design (Aladdin, Newsies, Memphis). Casting by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC enjoyed extraordinary success as the first live television production of a musical in over 50 years when "The Sound of Music Live!" aired on NBC in December, 2013; 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the film version, which continues to be the most successful movie musical in history. The spirited, romantic and beloved musical story of Maria and the Von Trapp Family will once again thrill audiences with such songs as "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Edelweiss" and the title song.

To purchase tickets, visit www.arshtcenter.org, call 305-949-6722 or visit the Adrienne Arsht Center box office located at 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Tickets start at *$29. For more information, visit www.TheSoundOfMusicOnTour.com.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy