The Sound of Music @ Roleystone

I saw last night's performance of this perennially popular R&H piece, as did an almost full house of other enthusiastic punters. While the template is slavishly adhered to as usual, there are a number of quite unusual aspects to this production. First, the set consists of an open horseshoe stage, flanked by panels upon which are painted the various scene settings in a gallery-like arrangement. As the scenes change, the panel representing the appropriate setting is lit up in a very effective way. Secondly, the characters do not really fit the usual 'type-moulds'. This may have to do with the pool from which the cast was drawn. Clearly, singing ability was put before physical appearance in several cases - which is as it should be in 'community' theatre. Thirdly, the musical accompaniment consisted of a single pianist instead of the usual lush orchestration. While this did seem to detract a bit from the play's potential, at least it was live music and not a recording!-) There were numerous highlights, particularly the children and the nuns chorus numbers and despite the fact that there didn't seem to be a lot of 'chemistry' between the two leads, there was many a misty eye in the house at the romantic bits. Finally, while the scene changes were relatively simple, they seemed to take an inordinately long time and make a lot of noise. To me, this means 'not enough stage crew on hand'. This is hard to fathom, given the large number of walk-on 'extras' who could have been helping out backstage when not involved in the show, but there may besome other explanation for that. Well done, all!

You know, I often wondered why I have never done a production at Roleystone. Is it because of that long trek over that hill, the weird reverberating acoustic on the DSR of the auditorium, or the fact that they just do musicals?

Come to think of it, it's all of the above...

Since when was An Ideal Husband a musical?

as the stage manager of this show i would like to thank you for your review (and no i'm not being sarky) just to let you know we have used 3 cast members in the crew,as you can see during our largest change there is 10 of us on stage at one time,and for those who know me,noisy changes are one of my biggest pet hates,but..... 10 of us on that old wooden stage its a bit of a challenge :) as for the set, i got bored with doing it the "standard" way and got a lil more creative.

I agree with all Stingers comments - I was pleasantly surprised with the standard and different appraoch to this well known musical. Well done to the cast and crew of The Sound of Music - certainly one of the best things that Roleystone have produced of late. Hope the rest of the season is a huge success! DW :)

I agree strongly with Stinger. I went to Saturday (22nd) night performance and was thoroughly pleased after such a long trip to get there. I do offer my compliments to the crew who despite the noise did an amazing job. It's one of the first times I've seen a double bed carried onstage at a 'community' show. I tip my hat also to the lighting and set designers. Its definitely one of the more creative lighting design's I've seen used in a while. Spots were used quite effectively and the lighting was subtle enough in it's changes to not be obviously noticeable when there were dramamtic alterations to it but still created a nice atmosphere. And the set paintings are amazingly detailed and were put to good use by the performers I do agree that the cast appear to be chosen more for their singing ability then physical appearance which is nice to see. It's better to have a nice voice to listen to then to have a not so nice voice but a stunningly beautiful actor (male or female). I also agree that there was a lack of chemistry between the two leads and unfortunately for me it detracted from the believability of the second act. But I will not fault their individual acting and singing abilities. The seven children seemed to be held up by three strong voices and four weaker voices. They were quite cute though. There weren't many weak picks. But I believe the nun's and the chorus stole the show, for me. The voices were powerful and harmonized beautifully. Overall an entertaining night and worth a look see before the season's out. ~ Tari The Writer is a child forever listening at the keyhole of the adult world.

Hiya, Completely off-track you are.... We do three plays and two musicals on average every year, more plays than musicals to my mathematical reckoning!!

the changes are getting much quieter with more practise :-)

It's hard when there are so few "middle-aged males" who can sing and act around for community theatre parts... but I'm glad people are enjoying the show :-)... even if the intimation is that I am unattractive!! Also, I am always concerned that even though musicals generally do not reflect reality (he he he he) that, as always, people are judged on their looks :-( Up there on stage are real people and that's what real people look like!! If you have a look at the photos of the real Trapp family you'll see that we look great by comparison:-)

I think that is the problem in many cases. I'm one of those "middle-aged males". I can certainly hold a tune, but I really don't know whether I could hold a show, so that keeps me from auditioning for many of these musicals. I'm definitely not picking on your company, but the standard seems to be set so high in the audition notices for many "amateur" shows (must be able to sing, act, dance, speak seven languages, juggle, build sets and fold time and space) that I usually think "No way am I good enough to try out for that...." So I don't. Lee Sheppard - Keeping it strictly amateur -

I believe people can be pleasantly surprised by what they CAN achieve. Don't let things like that daunt you. ~ Tari The Writer is a child forever listening at the keyhole of the adult world.