Maria

"In the 1950s, Oscar Hammerstein is asked to write the lyrics to a musical based on the life of a woman named Maria von Trapp. He's fascinated to learn about this Catholic novice who was living quietly as an Austrian nun until her abbey sent her away to teach a widowed baron's children. When the assignment turned into a marriage proposal and the family was forced to escape the Nazis, it was Maria who taught them to survive by using the power of their voices and song. It's an inspirational story, to be sure, and as half of the famous Rodgers & Hammerstein duo, Oscar knows Maria's story has big Broadway potential. But much of her life will have to be reinvented for the stage. ... When Maria sees the script, she is so incensed that she sets off to confront Hammerstein, who foists her off on Fran, his secretary. The pair strike up an unlikely friendship as Maria tells Fran about her life, contradicting much of what will eventually appear in The Sound of Music and delivering a far grittier tale"--