The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is based on the true story of the Von Trapp family who fled Austria in 1938 on the eve of the Anschluss and settled in America where they had a very successful career as a touring singing musical group.  A story that is familiar to us all, starting off as a Broadway hit in 1959, coming to the Palace Theatre London in 1961, and memorably the Oscar-winning film in 1965 starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

On the night I attended, Maria Rainer was being played by Sammi McSporran who had learned the parts of Maria, Mother Abbess, Liesl Von Trapp and Baroness Elsa Schraeder! Any of these roles would be a challenge to undertake but Sammi made Maria her own. She worked well and seemed to have a natural rapport with the children. However, I did feel that there wasn’t quite the connection that Maria needed with Captain Von Trapp.  

Captain Von Trapp was played by Adam Wheeler, who brought a degree of sternness whenever he entered the stage. It was good to see a change in his stance and character when music was returned to his family. At times Adam did go into an American accent whilst singing and talking.

Max Detweiler was played by Daniel Hiller. It was interesting to see Max being portrayed as someone who perhaps enjoys the finer things in life too much. There were times when Max seemed to be a little too drunk to be understood clearly.

Baroness Elsa Schraeder was played by Vanessa Holt. She portrayed her sophisticated character well and was pleasant to watch.

Mother Abbess (Rachel Cuthbert) performed well and gave her all during her solos throughout the show. Sister Sophia (Helen Madden), Sister Berthe (Lisa Adams) and Sister Margaretta (Caroline Slack) worked well as a trio and really showed their characterisation despite wearing the habit. The makeup used for all the nuns was a little much and I felt this could have been toned down.

At times during the show we did miss some faces, people seemed to be directed to be facing upstage rather than downstage, this meant that some lines were missed. The sound could have benefitted from some improvement; the orchestra seemed to be a little sparing throughout the production and when you could hear it, it was overpowering the singers.

I look forward to seeing you at your next production on May of Guys and Dolls,

Kind Wishes,

Jordan W. McFarlane

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