The Sound of Music

The sound Of Music opened witha beautiful sound of Nuns singing in Nonnberg Abbey.  This was a pleasure to listen to and these ladies had obviously been groomed to perfection by the Musical Director Graham Albone .

Maria, Sophie Walker, had a lovely singing voice and her bond with the Von Trapp children was great, I especially liked “My Favourite Things” that she sang with the children.  Often Maria is played Julie Andrews style but Sophie had made this her own well done.

Captain Von Trapp, Simon Latter, portrayed the role as the stern captain of the shipeventually warming to the children and Maria. There was some lovely moment between him and the other characters and he sang and acted well.

Liesl, Hollie Jackson, gave an excellent performance of Liesl her singing and acting was lovely and her contrast from being one of the childrento an almost adult of 16going on 17 was great well done.

The Von Trapp Children, Fredrick, Shay Lowden, Louisa, Neve Murdoch,Kurt,  Henry Allen,  Brigitta,    Lula Peacock,  Marta, Isla  Pykermanand  Gretl, Agnes Allenwere all well cast and played their characters perfectly, their bond with Maria was wonderful and they all acted and sang well.

The Mother Abbess, Adele Walker, was a joy to watch. Her acting and singing was exactly right and I particularly liked her rendition of “Climb Every Mountain.” What a powerful voice, well done.

Rolf,Alex Hunt, it’s so easy to ham this part up but Alex portrayed the character very well with clear diction and good singing voice which blended beautifully with Liesl.

Elsa,Stephanie Seal.I really enjoyed watching Stephanie. You could tell that this was a performance from an experienced actress.  Her singing and acting were notable and her portrayal of the character was very convincing, well done.

Max,Kier Home.  I have to say I loved Kier as uncle Max, his bond with all the characters on stage was perfect and you can tell he was naturally comfortable in this role.  His comedy timing  was excellent and he gave the character life, great performance. Congratulations.

Franz,Jonathan Fletcher.From the moment he stepped onto the stage his characterisation was very convincing. Every line was clearly delivered. Well done 

Frau SchmidtMargaret Dinmorewas well cast in this role giving a solid performance as the worried housekeeper and delivering her lines to perfection.

Sister Margaretta Gina Abbatt, Sister Sophia Juliet Albone, and Sister Berthe Emily Woodhouse, all gave a good performance and their singing was a joy to listen to with a nice sound and harmony’s. Well done girls.

All supporting roles were played well.

Lighting and sound were good and props and costumes were in period.  

The set worked well for the stage and scene changes were slick. It was great to see a full size bed for the children to jump on as this worked well for the cast and was used to its full capability.  

I have to say that the Director David Walkerand the Musical Director Graham Albone had worked very hard with the cast but there were a few things I wasn’t sure about.  I was a little confused with the chorus singing the Goatherd number. Although it was nicely staged, I felt it should have stayed with Maria and the children.  

It appeared that some scenes had been changed around which I found confusing and I also missed the big dance break in “16 going on 17”. Obviously you had your reasons for cutting this and they were well founded. Over all I thoroughly enjoyed this production as did the audience so congratulations on a good show and I look forward to seeing another production in the future. 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.