Awesome / The Sound of Music

"The only one in the area not flying the Third Reich flag since the Anschluss." - Captain von Trapp shows just how much he hates Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Awesome moments in The Sound of Music.

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• The nuns, when they calmly reveal they sabotaged the Nazis' cars, which also doubles as a Funny Moment:
  "Reverend Mother? I have sinned." (the Sisters reveal parts that they pulled from the cars' engines)
  • The best part is that Sister Bertha, the one who criticized Maria the most is one of the two badasses nuns. She may be a grouch but she cared for Maria as much as everyone else.
  • And even before that, the nuns go out of their way to give the Von Trapps enough time to hide. Reverend Mother makes sure Sister Bertha walks slowly to the door. Despite seeing an entire team of Nazis outside, she keeps her head and walks slowly and calmly to the entrance and takes her time to open the gate - all the while making it look natural and not as though they're hiding enemies of the state.
• Maria riling Georg up enough to call her Captain.
  • That whole speech was a great moment of Maria going Mama Bear on behalf of the children. Georg is clearly taken aback that anyone, much less his employee, is daring to speak to him like that.
    Georg: I don't want to hear this.
    Maria: I know you don't want to hear it, Captain, but you've got to!
• "How clumsy of me. I meant to accuse you."
• Georg confronting Rolf, buying time for his family to escape. And then walking forward and taking the gun out of his hand.
  • In the musical version, Rolf choosing to let the family go and pretending it was a false alarm even though he'd likely have been severely punished if his deception was discovered.
• The dinner scene. Despite all the nasty tricks they've played on her - including putting a pine cone on her chair - Maria passive-aggressively shames the children into tears at how badly they've treated her. Captain von Trapp, surrounded by bawling kids and rather taken back, has this to say:
  Captain von Trapp: Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of... indigestion?
  Maria (after starting her meal and looking around calmly at the sobbing children): ...Oh they're all right, captain; they're just happy.
• Despite how catty the Baroness is in the film version, when she realises that Georg has fallen in love with Maria, she bows out gracefully and encourages him to be with the woman he really loves. She exits the story classily, facilitating the happy couple to end up together.
• On stage at the festival, Max openly gives the details of the Nazis' upcoming attempt to pressgang the Captain into the navy. They go right for him when the family disappears and you know it probably doesn't end well for him, but that's some bravery.
  • Plus points when a messenger declares that the von Trapps are gone. The camera cuts to the lead Nazi, then to Max, who is clearly resisting all attempts at smiling.
• Upon coming home from his honeymoon after the Nazis have invaded Austria, Captain von Trapp takes the Nazi flag he's meant to hang over his home and tears it in half without a moment's hesitation. Possibly the most understated moment of awesome in the whole movie. It clearly shows just how much he loathes Hitler and the Nazis and wants nothing to do with them, including his commission in the Kriegsmarine.
• Audra McDonald's performance of "Climb Every Mountain" in the 2013 live show. Every time the camera cuts to Carrie Underwood, it's clear we're not seeing Maria, but Carrie herself realizing what a privilege it is to get a front row seat to this phenomenal singer.
• In the 2015 live production:
  • Kara Tointon received near-universal praise for her performance as Maria. Given just how beloved the film is in pop culture, that she could hold her own is in itself remarkable.
  • Likewise, perennial West End mainstay Julian Ovenden in a much-praised turn as the Captain.

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