The Sound of Music

The society changed their production to The Sound of Music just 11 weeks before putting on this performance but no one would know judging by this performance.

The sets worked well with a nice patio area just off stage left and although some of the Abbey scenes were staged with minimum set and props the show flowed well with minimum wait times between scenes.

The individual actors were not miked so the cast had to project which was picked up by footlight and hanging mikes. The gives the MD a difficult job as he must get his Orchestra mix right in order not to drown out the voices. John G Barry did a fantastic job with a great orchestra but the work he had clearly put in on the harmonies was lovely. The nun’s singing was beautiful and the principals and children were not just fantastic but full of energy too.

There were some lovely touches on direction and the staging, lighting plot and costumes which were wonderful and worked really well.

The cast worked really hard and gelled really well together, each of them clearly concentrating on their characterisation. The lead was taken by Susan Milligan who I thought was terrific in the role. Her dialogue and singing were faultless with crystal clear tones. I knew from her opening number of the title song that this was going to be a lovely performance as I totally believed in her as Maria. She looked great, acted superbly and sang faultlessly throughout and I loved her in this part.

Vanessa Randall also put in a stunning performance as The Mother Abbess with great vocals and touching acting whilst caring for her flock. The supporting sisters and chorus all sounded fabulous and the harmonies in all the numbers sounded great.

Stephen Kossowicz was very good in the role as Captain von Trapp remaining aloof in early scenes but warmer as the show went on which fitted really nicely to the part. Deborah O’Connor performed beautifully as Baroness Schraeder despite having a bad chest infection. Her vocals didn’t appear to be compromised as she sounded lovely. Philip Brady was great as Max with some lovely well delivered comic lines, again with great vocals and fun in the scenes with the children

Of the other supporting roles I particularly enjoyed Stella O’Reilly as Frau Scmidt the housekeeper who I thought was fabulous. Great projection of voice and warm, rounded acting.

The children were all fantastic with great acting, lovely vocals and charming happy dancing. Liesl played by Amy Milovanovic had a really bad cold on the evening I was in but this didn’t stop her putting in a beautiful performance with a lovely dance routine in “Sixteen going on Seventeen” opposite Sam Stevenson as Rolf who did a good job.

Overall this was a fabulous show which I was totally absorbed in and had me with a tear in my eye on a number of occasions. Well done to everyone involved.

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