Review Roundup: Kate Rockwell Stars in THE SOUND OF MUSIC at The Muny

Read reviews for The Muny's The Sound of Music, the second show of the theatre's 103rd season. The Sound of Music runs through August 9, 2021.

The cast includes Kate Rockwell (Maria Rainer), Michael Hayden (Captain Georg von Trapp), Bryonha Marie Parham (The Mother Abbess), Jenny Powers (Elsa Schraeder), John Scherer (Max Detweiler), Elizabeth Teeter (Liesl von Trapp) and Andrew Alstat (Rolf Gruber), Leah Berry (Sister Margaretta), David Hess (Franz), Michael James Reed (Herr Zeller), April Strelinger (Frau Schmidt), Jerry Vogel (Admiral von Schreiber), Jillian Depke (Brigitta von Trapp), Parker Dzuba (Kurt von Trapp), Abby Hogan (Marta von Trapp), Amelie Lock (Louisa von Trapp), Kate Scarlett Kappel (Gretl von Trapp) and Victor de Paula Rocha (Friedrich von Trapp).

A high-spirited ensemble completes this cast, including Jordan Bollwerk, Emma Gassett, Madison Geiger (Gretl von Trapp understudy), Ta'Nika Gibson, Julie Hanson, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Beth Kirkpatrick, Debby Lennon, Eric Jon Mahlum, Leann Schuering, Blakely Slaybaugh and Taylor Tveten. The company will also be joined by the Muny Teen youth ensemble.

The Sound of Music features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, and is suggested by "The Trapp Family Singers" by Maria Augusta Trapp.

James Lindhorst, BroadwayWorld: "Often productions of The Sound of Music rely on the audience's fondness for the movie or the familiar score and settle for a flat production without an emotional connection to the material. Kunkel's The Sound of Music gives more than just a nostalgic look at a beloved classic. This production is rich with emotion and tension and exceeds all expectations."

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post Dispatch: "Rockwell brings verve and nuance to Maria, capturing the character's blend of warmth, wit and insecurity. Hayden is outstanding as the gruff but morally unshakable Von Trapp. The children are spiritedly played by Elizabeth Teeter, Victor de Paula Rocha, Amelie Lock, Parker Dzuba, Jillian Depke, Abby Hogan and Kate Scarlett Kappel. Powers and Scherer set a new standard for jaded sophistication. And as the Mother Abbess, Bryonha Marie Parham delivers "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," a song that rivals "The Impossible Dream" for overfamiliarity, with such grandeur and grace that it sounds brand new."