The Sound of Music

This iconic and well loved musical, loosely based upon the real life of Maria von Trapp (nee Rainer) will be forever associated on-screen with Julie Andrews. Any actresses brave enough to portray the character of Maria are to be commended and applauded. Fortunately, in the considerable talent of Helen Dixon, applause was only too easy to carry out as the audience amply showed.

Playing opposite Maria was the assured Michael Ayres as the heroic though serious faced character of Captain Von Trapp. Mike's was a well observed and skilfully nuanced portrayal of a complex character. A wonderful impish foil to the seriousness of the Captain, was his friend and houseguest Max Detweiler played with natural charm and distinct presence by Andrew Hamel-Cooke.

This company can boast a deeply layered (in talent) cast and all on stage acquitted themselves with credit. The charming von Trapp children, all seven of them, captured the hearts of the audience:-
Liesl  (Eleanor Hegarty), Friedrich (Jacob Beaver), Louisa (Maeve Hegarty), Brigitta (Abigail Johnston), Kurt (Elliot Weaver), Marta (Millie Littlewood) and Gretl (Rosie Dunn).

Eleanor Hegarty as Liesl showed maturity way beyond her tender years and may soon not be much available to amateur societies. Her prodigious talent will take her to pastures new, I believe. It was heartening to see children of a tender age used, with Kurt in particular being distinctly younger than the eleven years old his character claimed to be, much to the audience's kindly meant amusement. All the von Trapp children did splendidly well, without exception.

Another still young adult who impressed was Jacob Elsey as the "going on eighteen"  Rolf Gruber. The tender scenes with Liesl and when having discovered the family hiding in the Abbey, were both of top quality.   Like Eleanor, Jacob also has a lovely singing voice and they worked together with an obvious chemistry on stage.

The nuns were impressive too, with outstanding performances by Gill Eve as Sister Berthe, Selena Hegarty as Sister Margaretta, and  Hannah Kitchener as the imposing Mother Abbess. Dreen Legg also did well as Sister Sophia.

Keith White (who shared the role with Sid Dolbear) was an effectively sinister Herr Zeller, with Di James playing Frau Zeller noticeably well.        

Sophie Johnson in the important role of the Baroness Schraeder gave a most convincing performance of this elegant, if somewhat indulged, but ultimately rejected lady. It was a keenly observed portrayal of a complex character.

Other smaller roles worth an honourable mention were Mark Mowbray as Franz and Nicole Perrier-Doe as the helpful Frau Schmidt.

I very much appreciated the detailed work that had clearly gone into characterisation and interplay. Interest never flagged and nor did the all important  pace and also clarity of diction which was well above expectations, given the numerous young performers on stage. The direction was of a high order and Martine Young deserves much praise for her interpretation and for excellent character casting. The use of puppets for the "Lonely Goatherd" was a great idea and a great success. A real show highlight in fact!!

Singing was excellent and I would highlight the wonderful nuns' harmonies, beautifully observed. James Marr and his two keyboard band gave sterling support to the singers and must feel pleased with the standard attained.

Choreographer Hannah Dare set some well carried out dances and stage movement, "The Laendler" being especially good. Kris Benjafield supplied costumes which were well fitted, entirely suitable and under the wardrobe mistress Jenny Hasted, ably assisted by Pat Barnes and Vera Downey, they made a strong impression.

With the aid of fine lighting, courtesy of Tony and Dee Bowdery and well used sound effects by Clive Vinall, the many changes of all important atmosphere were skilfully achieved.

All in all, this was an extremely fine production of this wonderful show and I salute BLOS on the standard of performance achieved.

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