Interview: BWW’s 'Kid Reporters' Chat With THE SOUND OF MUSIC’s Touring Von Trapp Kids
The Sound of Music plays at the Hollywood Pantages May 5-24 before heading to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts June 2-14.
The hills are alive again—and this time, they’re headed for Southern California.
“The Sound of Music” national tour plays the Hollywood Pantages Theatre May 5–24, followed by a two-week stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County June 2–14.
The musical—which premiered on Broadway in 1959 and has seen several Broadway runs, along with countless tours and regional productions since—features epic songs like “My Favorite Things” and “Climb Ev'ry Mountain,” as well as a half-dozen children who play one of musical theater’s most beloved families.
And let’s be honest: while audiences come for Maria, Captain von Trapp, and those unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, it’s the kids who steal the show.
So what’s it actually like to be one of them—traveling city to city, performing night after night, and living life on the road? For any kid who’s ever wondered, we’ve got some answers.
BroadwayWorld’s guest kid reporters—siblings Roxanna and Sidney Ordonez, ages 8 and 10, along with Mickey Pasquo, 14, and Harlee Epstein, 15, all Los Angeles-based musical theater actors—hopped on Zoom with four of the show’s young stars: Torben Mularski, 12 (Friedrich); Skylar Matthews, 13 (Louisa); Reece Boyle, 11 (Kurt); and Haddie Mac, 12 (Brigitta). The young performers talked about life on tour, what it’s like to be part of one of Broadway’s most iconic shows, and what actually happens behind the curtain before the show begins.
Second row: Sound of Music's Haddie Mac, Torben Mularski, Reece Boyle, Skylar Matthews.
Roxanna: What's it like to get used to a new stage in a lot of new cities?
Skylar: It's really cool being able to experience being in different theaters and being in different cities and seeing the different parts of places. It's also kind of tricky sometimes because you'll get used to a new theater and then right after you understand it, and you're like, ‘OK, I got this,’ you move.
Sidney: Which one of you is most like your character in real life?
Skylar: Probably Everly. Everly plays our Gretel. She's not on currently with us, but Everly plays Gretl, and she's so sweet. I love that girl so much. She's just like Gretl in real life. I love that she looks up to us, which is so sweet, and she's always fun and energetic, and she's just great. She's just like Gretl.
Mickey: What's it like being in this production as a kid and working with older actors who have experience in this field?
Reece: It's really awesome because the adults in the cast are so talented and just getting to work with Broadway performers who have been in countless Broadway shows—it's just insane. It brings so much life to the performance that we put on every night. And it’s just really cool, being so young and getting such a cool opportunity like this.
Harlee: What's your favorite scene or song to perform and why?
Haddie Mac: You know, this show is iconic, and just getting to perform all of it is really special to me. Though what I really love most is probably “Favorite Things” because it really, actually, does make me feel happier. If I'm having a bad day and I'm performing, it really makes me happier.
But also one thing that I really love is that we have a 15-piece live orchestra. And right before Act Two, they always play this really, really cool entrance with all of the different songs all mashed into one together. And getting to hear that backstage is really, really special.
Roxanna: Do you like doing school on the road?
Haddie Mac: Yes, we do have an onset teacher. She's also a wrangler, so she takes care of us while we're backstage. But some of us do school before the show. We still have to do school, even though we're on tour.
And I am a little bit different from the other kids. I do an online program, and I homeschool with my mom. So I take tutorials on school, and I have tests and exams, like all of you do. It's basically like all these teachers are teaching me, but on a computer.
But for the other kids, they, and sometimes me too, are going to have go to school in LA, which is really exciting. I'm excited to do that. We have to go in before the show and do a couple hours of school, where we can ask Miss T questions; that's our teacher. And we just, we're all in different grades, which is the interesting part. So we have kids from 8 years old to 13 years old. So we're all in that age range. And to have a teacher there is really helpful because she can help with all of our curriculums. And it's really helpful doing that. But school on the road is really fun.
Sidney: Does it feel weird to add parents that aren't yours?
Reece: That's interesting because when you're with them for such a long time, they honestly feel like they're like your family away from your family. So honestly, I don't think it's that hard.
Mickey: How does it feel to balance being a kid while still performing so much on stage?
Torben: It's not the easiest, because when you get back home, all your friends are doing different things—their own things, that they've been doing for a couple months now, and you've been on tour. But it's really fun because all the people on tour just become your friends and family. So it kind of switches. When you're home, you have your home friends, and then on tour, you have your tour friends.
Harlee: How do you think you relate to your character most and your character's journey?
Skylar: So I am one of the only people who is actually the age of my character. A lot of people are like a year younger or a year older than their character, so I'm actually one of the people who is actually the true age of their character, at least in the beginning. But I think that my character is—she's fun, but also like, she's like a prankster at the same time. So I really enjoyed that side of her. I get to really pull that out in myself because I love a good prank every now and then.
Roxanna: Do you squabble like real siblings?
Torbin: I think we haven't gotten to that siblings part yet, but I think we're starting to understand each other more now, so we're starting to get into, sort of, squabbles and stuff. We're becoming more like real siblings
Sidney: What advice would you give to a young actor?
Haddie Mac: You're going to lose a lot. You're going to have to keep auditioning. You're gonna have to keep trying. The whole part of it is trying. And once you get the one thing that you get, it feels amazing, but never give up. Never lose hope. Never feel like, ‘Ah, I'm not getting anything. Why can't I do this?’ Just know there's always an opportunity out there. And just know that you can keep going. Just keep going, just keep doing it.
Mickey: If you could swap roles with anyone in the cast and play any other role, what would you play?
Reece: I mean, all of the kid roles are really great. I don't know, maybe being like part of the ensemble would be cool. Maybe being Friedrich, being an older one of the kids would be cool. Right, Torbin?
Skylar: Can I piggyback on that one a little bit? We have an ongoing joke that if Maria were to call out sick, Reece would go on as Maria. We’ve always been like, ‘OK, Reece is going on as Maria today.’
Harlee: What costume in the show is your favorite?
So my favorite costume is probably the iconic sailor suit because they're actually really fun to wear. I feel so in uniform, which is the opposite of what the character wants to be, but it's fun just being silly like that. I also really love the concert outfit that I wear—it has the best spin if you twirl around. Honestly, though, all of the costumes: Jane Greenwood, our Costume Designer, really did a good job with every single one.
Sidney: Which favorite thing is your favorite thing?
Skylar: I mean, I love all the favorite things. But I would say that one of my favorite things—and it’s also a little bit of an Easter egg in our show—are the girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. If you go to the show, keep an eye out for it: there’s a certain scene where you’ll look at the girls, and they’re in long white dresses with blue satin sashes. It took me a minute to actually figure that out and then I was like, ‘Oh, I see what they’re doing here.’
Sidney: Do you hate mic tape as much as I do?
Torbin: (laughs) Well, I don’t actually have mic tape I have clips that I put in my hair. But I do hate mic tape if I have to use it—it just hurts so much when you have to tear it off!
Haddie Mac: The cool thing about our mics—’m really happy about this—is that they go down our foreheads instead of the side of our face. It’s so much better because if I do wear mic tape, it doesn’t hurt as bad as your cheek. So that’s a good thing. But I feel like most of us try to wiggle out of wearing mic tape, because it’s not fun.
Mickey: What is one behind-the-scenes moment that was funny or unexpected?
Skylar: We can all chime in with this one. Going back to what Haddie Mac was saying earlier about one of her favorite parts of the show: Right before intermission, when they're playing all the music before, we're all dancing and having fun backstage—so if you're watching, just know that behind the curtain, there's a bunch of Von Trapp children going insane. It’s really funny because our guardians are also like, ‘Guys, calm down, we're about to go on the stage!’ And it's just all of us there having fun and laughing and playing games and all of this stuff.
Harlee: Which song is constantly getting stuck in your head from the show?
Reece: No way to stop it. It plays in my head with no permission. Whenever I’m trying to sleep, it just pops in, especially because my dad hums it a lot, too.
Sidney: Does the captain’s whistle interfere with the mics?
Skylar: I don’t really know, but I can tell you a little more about the whistle, if you want
Sidney: OK!
Skylar: The whistle is really fun—honestly, it’s one of my favorite parts of the show because certain whistles mean certain things. I love that there’s a certain whistle call that means ‘Stand in Line.’ There’s a whistle call that means, ‘Step forward and say your name.’ So I love listening to the whistles and memorizing them.
One cool thing is that our captain, Kevin Earley, when he was making all the whistle sounds, he had his own code to them. One of them is the intro to Superman, and so he’s whistling Superman, and that’s somebody else’s entrance. It’s really funny to uncode the whistles.
Mickey: How do you keep the show fresh without it feeling the same every time?
Haddie Mac: We try to keep the show as similar as the one to the last one we did as possible. But a lot of crazy things happen. Like one time, the power went out. One time, the scrim wouldn't go up. Not every show is going to be the same, but not necessarily because of our acting, but because of technical difficulties.
But it is fun when something goes a little bit off course, gives you a little thrill, gives you a little rush. Because doing the show so many times can get a little bit crazy.
Harlee: Do you have a favorite city you've performed in so far?
Reece: Boston was really cool, all the history and all the stuff. I've gotten the privilege to perform in my hometown . . . But I feel like we're all going to really love having a little bit of summer in LA because it's just such a great city, and we're really excited to get in a pool.
Skylar: I have been waiting for LA for so long! I am so excited for LA! I saw it on the tour and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to LA.!’ I have been wanting to go to LA for years now and am so excited to get to go there. So l think LA will be my favorite.
Sidney: Are any of you actually scared of thunderstorms?
Skylar: (laughs) Okay, I've had a joke going on with a lot of our cast mates for a while that we're going to get so used to screaming every time we hear thunder that we're going to go home, and there's going to be a thunderstorm, and we're all going to lose it. We’re all going to be like, “Ahhhhh!”
Mickey: What’s something specific you’ve learned as a young actor from this show?
Torbin: As a young actor, I think I've learned just to really follow my dreams because Maria, she gives up because she thinks Captain's going to be married, but then she keeps going and then finds her dream. So I think that's just a really important life lesson for me as an actor, to just keep pushing and you'll always get there in the end.
The Sound of Music will play at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre May 5-24 followed by a two-week stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts June 2-14. Tickets are available at broadwayinhollywood.com/events/detail/sound-of-music and cfta.org/events/2026/the-sound-of-music.
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