The Sound Of Music

How wonderful to be back at Tickenham Village Hall. A first for me in around  eighteen years when I last saw the super production of The Hired Man. Thank  you for the most wonderful welcome from Lou Beale (so nice to see you  again), and her team front of house. It has always had such a wonderful  community atmosphere at Tickenham, and none of that has been lost. I did  feel for you nuns wearing their regalia in all that heat, but you really did set  the scene front of house. It felt quite natural to see the open set for Mother  Abbess’s office. The back lit cross was a good added effect. 

The Director set the spirit of this show right from the off. The simplistic sets,  just using what was needed to depict our setting and the scaled back  orchestra to one piano actually did this piece no harm at all. As an audience it  really focused on what was important here, which is the content of this show.  We were able to focus on the dialogue which when you think about it, is still  sadly as poignant today as it was back in 1959. You scored very highly again  on your casting. Not always easy to get everyone just right in their parts when  you are in a club environment but this was spot on, so it was quite obvious  from the first couple of scenes we were in for a very good night. 

The singing in this production again reached great heights. The Alleluya  chorus hit us with wonderful harmonies and even when unaccompanied you  all kept terrific timing. I even noticed the MD wasn’t conducting so this  showed signs of how well drilled this operation was. Maria won us over as  soon as she started to sing. The Hills of Tickenham were certainly alive.  Again it was so easy to forget there was no orchestra, when you have an  excellent pianist and such strong clear vocals. We were all blown away. 

Song after song we were hit with great impact and the pace of songs and  dialogue was just perfect. This ran all the way through the show, so well done  on maintaining that. 

The songs “Maria”, “Favourite Things” and "I have Confidence” were sung  with just the right amount of humour and fun. Sisters Margaretta, Bertha and  Sophia all added a super energy, all displaying your individual characters.  Simple choreography was all that was needed. I really appreciated how you  all broke that fourth wall and included us as an audience, we felt very much a  part of the action. 

“Favourite Things” saw another side to Mother Abbess letting her guard down  and guiding Maria to the way ahead. Maria certainly displayed her growth in “I  Have Confidence” and again a strong vocal. 

Finally we get to meet The Von Trapp family. All characters very well chosen.  The strict discipline and regimentally run household under the guidance of  captain Georg von Trapp. He gave us a very well thought through  performance. I could read your facial expressions fully. It was clear you ran  that household with a rod of iron. Each child was completely focussed  throughout, and added their own individual characters, bringing us many a  smile and laugh. I’m sure I heard a few “aahs” throughout the audience too.  This shone through in spades in “Do Re Mi” a tricky song which must have  been rehearsed to within an inch of its life. It was excellent.  

Liesal and Rolf displayed their fine acting qualities when secretly meeting.  Great energy in “sixteen going on seventeen” we could all sense this was  going to be a difficult coupling and I thought you portrayed these too  characters very well indeed throughout the journey of this show. 

“Lonely Goatherd” delivered with lots of fun and a good energy and again  nice simple choreography which worked a treat. 

Elsa ands Max certain made their mark as soon as they hit the stage, both  very considered portrayals. Max great comedy timing and good projection of  voice. Elsa looked stunning throughout from your poise to the look that could  kill. A good actress with a very pretty voice just to complete the package. The  red dress particularly stunning.  

Act 1 wouldn’t be complete without the rousing “Climb Every Mountain” and  this didn’t disappoint. Mother Abbess and the chorus of nuns played us out  beautifully and poignantly into the interval. 

I haven’t forgotten Franz or Frau Schmidt. Franz always on cue and looking  very dapper in his uniform. Frau Schmidt played this character perfectly.  Great actress and made every word count, we felt your stress and strains of  working in that household and good comedy timing especially during the  “whistles” your sympathetic side alway shone through. I enjoyed seeing you  onstage again. Well done. 

During the second act, I decided to just sit back and enjoy and that I certainly  did. Two things jumped out at me. The songs, “Something Good” and  “Edelweiss” both sung to perfection. I thought the chemistry between Maria  And Georg worked extremely well, I believed everything you both portrayed. I  don't think I’ve ever heard “Edelweiss” sung with such meaning and pathos.  Congratulations to you both.

So, were there any negatives? To be honest all I could nit pick in this  production were just a few “clunky” scene changes. Just one example:  towards the end where the garden furniture needed to go off you could have  maybe used the children under the direction of Frau Schmidt to have come  on as if playing a game to remove them before they lined up to be scrutinised  by her. As long as its choreographed the audience wouldn’t have given it a  second thought, but when the pace suddenly stops our attention span  wanders. I believe this was the only wrong lighting cue also, certainly all I  noticed anyway, so well done lighting team. Sound also seemed to be well on  cue and I thought a great balance between the vocals and piano. 

So not only did I think this was a brave choice for Tickenham to take on, I also  thought you did it the best way to suit the surroundings and space in the hall.  This was also a brave decision and one that really paid off. Congratulations. 

Thank you so much for the invite and again your warm hospitality. I’m already  looking forward to the next production. 

Mike Purnell.

 

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