The Sound of Music

Rodgers and Hammerstein, my favourite! Anneli Conreen took the title role and with her stunning vocal abilities she did indeed sound superb. I did find that her accent was distracting and needed much more work on intonation. Maria needs to fight her confused feelings especially the unexpected love she feels for the Captain but so much of that emotion just wasn't there and there needed to be much more depth into the complexity of Maria's true feelings. Anneli had a lovely relationship with the children which appeared very natural. Captain Von Trapp played by Mark Murphy captured the militaristic approach of the character. I'd have insisted that props needed to source a more adequate whistle that would be loud enough to summon the children from the other side of the house and indeed stop anyone in their tracks. A small point but big enough to make a difference. Mark demonstrated his superb acting abilities and that moment when he realises he has feelings for Maria was so apparent. I particularly loved Edelweiss which was performed with emotion that was timed beautifully with the lib. Well done Mark. There were two teams playing the Von Trapp children and although I only saw one team, I have it on good authority that "Group T" were equally as good so congratulations to you guys. Chloe Davies as Gretl was just the cutest little thing I've ever seen on stage and she performed her little socks off - a definite star in the making. Maria Dumencic as Leisl was delightful and every bit the innocent 16 year old and had a lovely on stage relationship with Rolf played by talented Matthew Orrillard.  Malcolm Wallace was the youngest Max Detweiler I've ever seen however delivered the most impeccable performance that definitely made him the most memorable. Frau Schrader was played by Julia Hart who played the part so elegantly - a perfect piece of casting.  I'd like to congratulate Malcolm Fallows as the MD and the Cast of Nuns as those harmonies sounded really terrific.   The set worked a treat and as always the lighting and sound delivered some some great work. The wardrobe team did a sterling job as the costumes were just right apart from the nuns heels being a tad to high.  As always, thoroughly enjoyable evening, the hard work you all put in is so apparent. Well done and as always thanks so very much for your warm welcome.

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