Sound of Music @ Stratford & Stephanie Rothenberg

[karen24]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 3:06pm

I just saw this production last weekend and was really impressed with the show as a whole (with a couple of minor caveats) and by Stephanie Rothenberg in particular. I found her acting wonderful, her singing voice very good (I mean, no one is Julie Andrews, but she sounded lovely) and her stage presence great. I thought her interactions with the children were adorable, too. I missed seeing her in How To Succeed but am hoping that she'll make a return to Broadway before too much longer. She really has what it takes, IMHO.

Overall I really enjoyed the production; it was actually my first time ever seeing the show on stage, so the only basis for comparison I have is the NBC version. I thought Ben Carlson did very well as the Captain (it was fun seeing him in that role since we also saw him play Petruchio the night before). The only actors I had any issues with were Alexandra Herzog as Liesl; she seemed too old for the part, although her dancing was great. And Shane Carty as Max was rather subdued; I preferred Christian Borle

The only thing that I really didn't care for was Donna Feore's decision to include those dancing - cowboys? - in between the scenes; I couldn't figure out what they were doing there! It was like they wandered in from "Crazy for You." Perhaps she was just trying to give some of the male dancers more to do.

All in all, though, a very enjoyable production, with Rothenberg as the stand-out for me.