The Sound of Music

“The Sound of Music”. This title has never fitted a production so well.

It was with great pleasure that I joined The Hilltop Theatre Company at the Pentyrch Village Hall Cardiff for their production of this iconic show, “The Sound of Music”. With such a well-known and much-loved musical, it is difficult to bring new life and fresh ideas into the direction of a story that the public know so well. I must therefore offer my congratulations to Director Allan Mears for an approach that made the production everything that the audience expected but still provided surprise and interest in the clever use of a unique stage setting and floor of the auditorium giving an expanse to the staging and movement. Very well done.

Congratulations to the wonderful cast, we were all spoiled for choice in the talent shown throughout the performance. It s quite a unique show where all the cast is a named character and each part from the lead to the smallest speaking role is important to the telling of the story. 

Maria played by Harmony McCarthy clearly showed that she was capable of following in some very famous footsteps. An outstanding and powerful performance capturing the character of Maria and thrilling the audience with her vocal excellence.

Sister Berthe [Lynfa Ackerman]  Sister Margaretta [Linda Coombes] and Sister Sophia [Amanda Cambell] proved to be a perfect combination both vocally and in the characterisation of the convent Sisters, with good harmony and lovely facial expression, so important when in a nuns habit.

The Von Trapp children, always a difficult combination of personalities to perfect, as the audience is very likely to have a preconceived idea of who they are and how they should be portrayed. My congratulations to the production team and the chosen cast for their beautiful performances both visually and vocally.

Liesl [Ffion England]  Friedrich [Aidan Dorrington]  Louisa  [Mabli Rogers]  Kurt [Niall Dorrington]

Brigitta [Brooke Hewings]  Marta [Grace Morgan]  Gretl [Elinor Coles]

Well done to you all, especially for your superb rendition of The Clock in The Hall. Excellent.

A lovely performance from Tim Driscoll as Captain Georg Von Trapp, not such an easy character, needing strength and emotion.

Well done to Ben Joseph Smith as Rolf Gruber, its never too easy to play the villain.

Mother Abbess outstandingly played by Jo Burton, gave the audience a gift rarely seen or should I say heard even on the professional stage. Her performance of “Climb every Mountain” exceeded all expectations and left the audience knowing that they had witnessed something very special. My greatest respect for her performance, it was enthralling.

 The whole cast in this production must be whole heartedly congratulated. You would have to go a long way to see a more professional or a better performance of this show.

Dianne Hayes NODA  Wales and Ireland Regional Representative District 7

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