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SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News

B

ert Fink, who handles marketing for the Rodgers &
Hammerstein Organization in New York, has seen
many productions of The Sound of Music, but the one
with the greatest impact for him appeared in Israel.
As much as he loves the English language version being per-
formed through May 21 at the Masonic Temple Theatre, Fink
found a special magic when the dialogue and lyrics were voiced
in Hebrew.
Set in Austria in the late 1930s, the musical relates the true
story of the romance between widower Captain .Georg von
Trapp and Maria Rainer, his children's governess. The two will

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As the von Trapp family takes the stage at the
Masonic Temple Theatre, a member of the
Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization recalls
the men behind the "The Sound of Music."

Rodgers and HamMerstein Organization VP Bert
Fink, right, with Johannes von Trapp, the youngest son
of Maria and Georg von Trapp . The von Trap family
story is celebrated in "The Sound of Music."

15/19

2000

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not acquiesce to the Nazis and instead escape with their family
over the mountains to Switzerland.
Richard Chamberlain, who made his mark as TV's Dr.
Kildare and went on to miniseries such as Wallenberg and The
Thornbzrds, plays the captain. Meg Tolin, who toured with
Chamberlain in My Fair Lady, plays Maria.
"In 1996, I went to Israel, where I have a great deal of family,
to see the very first Hebrew - language stage production of The
Sound of Music," Fink, 40, recalls. "It featured Hani Nachmias,
a very popular children's television star, as Maria, and it was
immensely popular.
"The Israeli public clapped and sang along. They knew the
songs, and they knew the story. One of my cousin's little boys;
who was in first grade, sang `Do-Re-Mi' in Hebrew because
that's how they learned do-re-mi in his classroom. I witnessed
the rather peculiar sight of nuns singing in Hebrew and also the
disturbing sight of Nazi soldiers barking their orders in Hebrew.
"The performances were as compelling and moving to Israeli
audiences as they had been to other audiences around the
world. The Sound of Music is the most popular Rodgers &
Hammerstein musical internationally, and Israel is no exception.
I was tremendously moved by that."
It's been 10 years since Fink joined the literary agency found-
ed by musical theater greats Richard Rodgers and Oscar
Hammerstein II almost half a century ago. The songwriting