Charlotte will be alive again with ‘The Sound of Music’ movie at Carolina Theatre
Get ready for the return of “raindrops on roses” and “whiskers on kittens,” along with a few more of your favorite things — “The Sound of Music” is returning to Carolina Theatre for the first time in 60 years.
When the beloved movie musical opened in uptown Charlotte in March 1965, it soared to a record-breaking, 79-week run at the theater. But this time, it’ll be here and gone faster than you can say “Do-Re-Mi.”
In honor of the film’s 60th anniversary, the recently revived Carolina Theatre will run the movie for one day only, on June 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., the venue announced Tuesday. The evening show will be a sing-a-long, good for ages 1 to 100 as well as those who are “Sixteen, Going on Seventeen.”
The historic 98-year-old theater on N. Tryon Street reopened in March following its $90-million renovation after being closed for nearly half a century. Sean Seifert, Carolina Theatre’s executive director, said the organization had been asking its audience what it wanted to see at the venue.
So, how do you solve a problem like “which movie”?
How do you make a choice and pin it down?
How do you find your way to get the movie?
A commemoration. A celebration. A gem.
Yes, you know what they landed on — the movie from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and all those von Trapp kids singing their way out of World War II Austria.
“Overwhelmingly since day one, people have asked us to bring back this movie. We’re ecstatic to bring it back to our theater so many years later,” Seifert said in a statement. “This movie will forever be a large part of our history.”
Rodgers & Hammerstein and ‘The Sound of Music’
By the time Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated on “The Sound of Music,” they had long left their mark on Broadway history.
The songwriting team, with Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics and the libretto (the book of the show), created such classic musicals as “South Pacific,” “The King and I” and “Carousel.” In 1943, they had ushered in Broadway’s so-called Golden Age with “Oklahoma!”, which rooted the story of the show with its songs and choreography to form a complete narrative.
“The Sound of Music” was their final show.
Hammerstein died of cancer in August 1960, less than a year after the musical opened on Broadway and before the movie began production. The last song he ever wrote was “Edelweiss.” Rodgers added two songs for the film, handling both music and lyrics duty for “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good.”
“The Sound of Music” went on to win five Oscars, including for best picture of 1965 and best director for Robert Wise.
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When the movie played for over a year at Carolina Theatre, ticket prices were $1.50 to $2 (about $15 to $20 in today’s dollars.)
An estimated 400,000 people saw “The Sound of Music” during its initial run at the theater. That’s more than double Charlotte’s population at the time, which is nothing to yodel at.
A big Charlotte tie to ‘The Sound of Music’
The Charlotte area is also the longtime home of the man who played one of the movie villains, Rolf, the erstwhile Nazi youth in love with Captain von Trapp’s oldest daughter, Liesl. In February, Actor Daniel Truhitte spoke with The Charlotte Observer about his iconic role and memories of filming as he rewatched the movie with us.
Meanwhile, a newly restored and remastered version of the film in 4K UHD is being released this year. A Disney restoration team has worked for nine months to digitally enhance the movie.
Also for the 60th anniversary, the Rodgers & Hammerstein organization highlighted 60 behind-the-scenes photos from the 1964 production by 20th Century Fox.
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But to catch it on the big screen, you’ll need to head to uptown. Then it’s so long, farewell, Auf Wiederseh’n, goodnight — until the next big anniversary, that is.
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Want to go?
▪ What: “The Sounds of Music”
▪ Where: Carolina Theatre, 230 N. Tryon St., Charlotte
▪ When: June 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (The evening show is a sing-a-long)
▪ Cost and more info: Tickets start at $10; TheCarolina.com
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This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
