The Sound of Music

Peter Howell’s productions are always very strong and this was no exception with a cast to die for in the choice of performers, in fact a ‘dream’ cast  of principals, great energy and talent and hard work from all the supporting cast, great attention to detail throughout, musically excellent under ‘Posy’ and movement from Carole, and all set off by those really excellent  and atmospheric ‘home produced’ sets which moved with minimal interruption to the story in difficult circumstances and truly a tribute to the well-coordinated backstage team.

The opening chorus of Nuns within the Abbey set the mood and style and standard of singing; the Sisters Margaretta, Sophia, Berthe, Catharine and Agatha played by Selina White, Madeline Hudson, Pauline Lingard, Yvonne Kidd, and Janet Nightingale were well characterised by their foibles and perceptions and led the team from the front in style. And, as Mother Abbess, Janette Davidson was a joy to behold in her dignity, consideration and sympathy, and as for that voice, what heaven to hear her sing with operatic truth of melody, truly moments of perfection of golden notes, no wonder that the audience was carried away with the strength and quality of performance into rapturous applause.

An unknown in the role of Maria: Helen Haines was the perfection of casting with the voice, the looks and age, the acting skills, the empathy of carrying out this role with a character style so credible and yet not forced in feelings, this was a performance to relish and enjoy in her relationships with the Captain and with those delightful children, a relaxed and natural style but professional all round, no wonder that she has sailed into Stage School and will be lost to the amateur world, what luck for Cromer that she was available this summer.

And in the strict role of Captain who mellowed with love, Gary Clifton produced the right tempo and strength of character as expected from his previous acting roles in plays for the society, and now has the ‘feel’ for performing in musicals, the interactions with Maria and with Elsa and Max were extremely competent and convincing, and all four adult principals should be commended. A smooth operator with great timing and suave and stylish performer after his own ends, the Max Detweiler from Nick Bird was up to his usual professional style. And a glamorous and delightful Elsa Schraeder by Kat Tindall, definitely the looks and personality of a Viennese aristocrat and entrepreneur, a good performance. Some nice smaller cameo character roles from Carl Denis, Thelma Torr, Andrew Grey and Peter Thrower.

Into the younger element and the Teams Schnitzel and Strudel were a delight to behold, the energy given, the voices and singing, and the differing characters brought out and maintained, how can any one performance of this young group be picked out except that Brigitta is always the one to watch along with Gretl and ‘her finger’. Led by the Liesl of Louise Waller protectively the older sister, a performance to be commended for talent and consistency, no wonder that she won Young Performer District 5 last year and, no doubt, will also be disappearing to stage school soon. And Liesl growing up throughout the show, her relationships of family and young love with Rolf (Zac Green is worth cultivating for more roles in the future as a good performance), their scenes were worth watching.

We battled along the Promenade through the crashing waves and across the Pier in the howling wind, but this show more than rewarded the eager audiences into that standing ovation at the end of the show, definitely an evening to remember, and good for the box office sales. Congratulations to all.

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