The Stratford Festival's revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music at the Festival Theatre is expected to become the prestigious company's highest-attended production in its 49-year history, and has been extended one week, to Nov. 11.

Cynthia Dale plays Maria Rainer and C. David Johnson is Capt. Von Trapp. By July 24, attendance reached 154,000, almost 15,000 more than Fiddler on the Roof by this time in 2000. Fiddler is the fest's most attended show to date, selling 163,194 tickets. A Stratford spokesperson said Sound of Music will surely surpass that number.

Kelly Robinson directs the recent Broadway revival script, which incorporates songs by composer-lyricist Richard Rodgers from the popular film ("I Have Confidence," "Something Good"), while retaining the 1960s stage show's hit numbers ("Maria," "Do-Re-Mi," "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain") and lesser-known songs ("No Way to Stop It," "How Can Love Survive?") by composer Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein died shortly after the show opened on Broadway and did not see it reach international fame as a film.

Sergio Trujillo choreographs, Ruari Muchison is the designer and Bethold Carriere musical-directs. For information about the Stratford Festival, in southwestern Ontario, call (800) 567-1600.

— By Kenneth Jones