Review The Sound of Music Tweed Theatre Company

Review July 26th 2007 July 20, 21 at 7.30pm July 21, 22 at 1.30pm "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" By special Arrangement with Origin Theatrical on behalf of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatre Library of New York TWEED THEATRE COMPANY TWIN TOWNS SERVICES CLUB SHOWROOM “The Sound of Music”, the last of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s collaborative works, is one of those world’s most favourite musicals and had its Broadway debut in 1959. The show is based on the story of the Von Trapp family singers and their escape from Austria after the Nazi annexation of Austria in the Anschluss of 1938 just prior to World War 2. The ever popular film of the same name, directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Anthony, premiered in 1965. A restless young novice (Maria) leaves the convent and becomes tutor to the von Trapp children. Their father, Captain von Trapp, is a single father who runs his household to a strict military routine. Maria captivates and entrances the children and their father, and leaves the convent life to marry the Captain. The family are then forced to flee their homeland to escape the increasingly threatening nature of the Nazi occupation. The outstanding element of the Tweed Theatre production directed, musically directed and choreographed by Tracey Kris with Musical Orchestration by Ian Franklin was the talented cast and their singing. The Mother Abbess (Deborah Leigh Russell) thrilled the audiences on Opening Night with her powerful soprano voice when she sang Climb Every Mountain. It was one of the many singing highlights of the evening. The ensemble singing of the thirty nuns was quite stunning, particularly the Praeludium. The postulant, Renata Roja, gave pure delight with her poignant solo. Maria (Emma June Curik) gave an enchanting and convincing performance as a young Maria and vocally she demonstrated a purity of tone with superb vocal range. Baroness Elsa Schrader (Karen Oliver) was quite striking and sang with finesse. Captain von Trapp (Jason Brettel-Evans) Max Detweiller (Grant Ebeling) and Rolf (Stewart Ryan) all gave strong performances. The children – Liesl (Jaimi White); Friedrich (Henry Kafoa); Louisa (Ella Dann-Limon); Kurt (Harrison Plume); Brigitta (Emily Monsma); Marta (Courtney Monsma) and Gretl (Amira Younan-Wise) were charming. The cast maintained their characters well and Frau Schmidt (Gabrielle Nardi) and Franz-Butler (John Wetherall) in cameo roles achieved good focus. Sister Berthe (Vicki Toovey), Sister Margaretta (Michelle Cook) and Sister Sophia (Stefanie Kris) played the cameo Nun roles effectively. The costuming of this show was quite superb. The costume team (Joy Dodsley, Sheila Stevenson, Garby Davis, Andrea Deeley, Coral Kelly, Raelene Richards, Roger Mackenzie and Father Kevin Smith) and Wardrobe Co-ordinator Allan Grant achieved some quite spectacular effects, particularly with the wedding scene and the impeccably designed costumes of the children. Visually, the large chorus scenes especially the nuns had impressive impact. The graveyard scene in the Abbey was effectively staged as was the final tableau of the family leaving the Abbey to escape across the mountains. It was, however, disappointing that sightlines within the audience were not given enough consideration. Sitting on the floor of the auditorium some audience members were only able to see actors on the far platform from the waist up and much of the action upstage centre was completely masked. The staging on the side platforms as opposed to the main staging area also created poor focus for some major scenes. Members of the audience who moved to the main dress circle seating during the second act enjoyed a better view. Added to this, repeated stage crew movement for set changes on the main stage during key scenes was distracting. Reviewer: Annie Lotocki