The Sound of Music

To some, "The Sound of Music" is overly sentimental, but it always proves to be a winner with musical groups and audiences alike.   At more than two and a half hours, it could feel long, but it moves along smoothly on its music, with engaging songs ("Do Re Mi") alternating with inspirational ones ("Climb Every Mountain"): and who can hold out against the emotiveness of "Edelweiss,"?

This was Over Players choice for their spring production and the full houses proved how popular this show remains.  

In playing Captain von Trapp, Chas Barclay somewhat downplayed the usual martinet approach which worked as he is really a lonely man and therefore susceptible to Maria's charm and zest for life. The tender moment in the ballroom was well done and his principled nationalism under pressure from the Nazis was well portrayed. 

Maria and the children are key and Helen Scully though a slightly more mature Maria than I normally see, brought her own style to Maria’s character with energy and enthusiasm and her more mature voice did full justice to her songs.

The ‘aah’ factor as always are the children.  As is often the case, they were double cast and I saw Team A but doubtless each group was as good as the other. Harriet Smith was a charming Liesl, she has a beautiful voice and interacted well with Rolf and the children. I was particularly impressed with Jamie Tipple (Kurt), Sam Fretwell (Friedrich) and Martha Peterson (Brigitta) who gave strong and confident performances, but I also enjoyed the performances of Daisy and Rose Beresford (Louisa and Marta) and of course cute little Lydia Marshall as Gretl.  They made a good team and performed with natural energy and confidence.Oliver Hockin gave a good performance as Rolf.  This is a difficult role as it doesn’t give the actor much opportunity to shine but what he was called upon to do he did well.

The supporting roles were solid and were all strong singers: Linda Smith as Mother Abbess was excellent, playing the role with gentle authority but with a definite hint of mischief.  A superb voice too which brought the first act to a stirring and emotive close with Climb Every Mountain.  The three principal nuns Melissa Jordan (Sister Margaretta), Jane Beresford (Sister Berthe) and Becky Amos (Sister Sophia) gave the Abbess excellent support and were all nicely played.  Maria Marshall played the elegant Baroness Elsa with genuine warmth towards Captain Von Trapp. Ms Marshall has an excellent voice but the two strange songs the show lands her character with always seem out of place: nevertheless I thought she did them well.  The role of Max, here played by Stuart Bell, injects some humour into the proceedings and I enjoyed the obvious camaraderie between Max and the Captain.  

The smaller roles were covered nicely: Alan Kenney and Wendy Lowe as Franz and Frau Schmidt I thought did a good job as did Richard Fenwick and Steve Creighton as Herr Zeller and Admiral von Schreiber respectively.

With a cast of around 40, the stage got rather full at times but it did mean the big church numbers were impressive.  Full marks to the nuns chorus and to musical director Mike Bernard and his excellent orchestra. 

The settings on Over’s small stage worked well and my congratulations to Peter Whitmore and his stage crew on some pretty swift and efficient changes.  The lighting design by Chris Glenton too was very good.  The costumes were fine and I particularly loved the boys’ floral dungarees, although I don’t expect they did. 

I much enjoyed the show and appreciate the hard work and commitment it demands of both cast and crew to put on this type of production. So well done director Christine Turner and all involved.

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