Sound of Music

It is always quite refreshing walking into the Grange Theatre and seeing how the next production will be staged. This one certainly wasn’t a disappointment and with the best seats in the house how could I be!

A good Rogers and Hammerstein’s is a great excuse to sit back and sing along, obviously in your head, as I needed to remind the person sat next to me! Mid Cheshire did a sterling job of this production with some great staging ideas, which provided both a slick, and enjoyable production.

In the limelight as Maria, Fiona O’Connor surpassed all expectations and was just delightful in the role. Her confidence grew throughout the production with just the right amount of light and shade with that Julie Andrews touch. The children were all quite delightful and a joy to watch, each one of them confident in their individual characters. Fiona had a lovely relationship with them all and played out some really lovely scenes.

Laura Hobley was a lovely Liesl and played the innocent beautifully – opposite, as Rolf Gruber was Jon Hall who was just charming.  Both were perfectly cast and were great supporting roles to the production -  ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’ was a particular highlight with lovely singing and a creative dance routine.

Jeff Burgess as Captain Von Trapp wasn’t an obvious choice for me  I think the age gap between him and Maria looked too vast however he played the part well commanding the stage as required from such a role.

I really enjoyed Nick Murison’s portrayal of Max Detweiler who brought lots of humour and charisma to the role and had a great relationship with Baroness Schraeder played by Emma Johnson.

Sue Dodd as Mother Abbess was enchanting and her rendition of ‘Climb Every Mountain’ was captivating.

The show was well supported by a wonderful orchestra under the baton of Michael J Scott. The harmonies from the nuns came across beautifully - they were strong and well rounded throughout.

Thank you all for a lovely evening and your wonderful hospitality

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