Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC is Gorgeously Sung at the Citizens Opera House

The Citizens Opera House is alive right now with the magnificent music of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, thanks to the gorgeously sung and impressively staged North American tour of “The Sound of Music” being presented by Broadway in Boston through January 18.

Based on Maria Augusta von Trapp’s autobiography, “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,” and set in Austria in 1938, the final collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein features classics like “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss,” “My Favorite Things,” and the title song.

But like most R&H shows – including “Oklahoma!” “South Pacific,” “Carousel,” and “The King and I” – “The Sound of Music,” set during the pivotal moment in World War II when Austria was being subsumed by the Third Reich, is about more than just a singable score. Indeed, the book is by the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, well known for rewriting the book for “Anything Goes,” adapting “Life with Father” for the stage, and winning the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for their play “State of the Union.” Lindsay and Crouse wrote the book for “The Sound of Music” at the Crouse family summer home in the village of Annisquam in Gloucester in the late 1950s.

The Tony Award-winning original Broadway production played out-of-town tryouts in New Haven and at Boston’s Shubert Theatre before opening on November 16, 1959, at New York’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it starred Mary Martin as the young postulant-turned-governess and later wife Maria and Theodore Bikel as retired Austrian naval Captain Georg von Trapp, a widowed father of seven. In 1965, the stage musical was made into a feature film, with Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as Georg, that earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and became not only a classic but also one of the most commercially successful movie musicals of all time.

Under the direction of the estimable Jack O’Brien – three-time Tony Award winner (“Henry IV,” “Hairspray,” and “The Coast of Utopia”) and the 2024 recipient of the Tony for Lifetime Achievement – this touring production, with choreography by Danny Mefford, deftly balances the musical’s beloved score with its impactful story of German Chancellor Adolph Hitler’s encroachment into Austria, chillingly chronicled as swastikas begin to appear on costumes and set pieces.

Between touring and local productions, “The Sound of Music” has never been away from Boston for very long. And while many mountings have been quite good, few have been as truly great as this one. O’Brien previously directed an earlier national tour that played the Opera House in the spring of 2016. It is not surprising that the Broadway veteran was once again brought on board for this new tour. O’Brien knows this show, understands why it is a classic, and has what it takes to bring that to the stage.

With names like Martin, Andrews, Bikel, and Plummer in the ether, that usually starts with casting. Cayleigh Capaldi may not be the most multi-dimensional Maria but, in her touring debut, she displays a winning blend of exuberance and strong vocals, evident from the beginning in her scene-setting rendering of the title song near the top of act one.  Her youthful energy also contributes to her believability in the role.

Kevin Earley plays Georg with a stern bearing, standing admirably strong at several key dramatic moments such as his ultimate outwitting of the Nazis who are taking over his homeland and demanding he return to duty to captain a ship in the German navy.

Nicholas Rodriguez, who played Georg in the 2015 national tour, is Max Detweiler, the government arts official and friend of Georg’s who comes up with the idea that the von Trapps should take their musical act public. Rodriguez has a fine voice but plays Detweiller with a joie de vivre that undercuts the seriousness of what’s going on around him.

Kate Loprest is elegant as Georg’s fiancé Baroness Elsa Schraeder, who ultimately lacks the courage to stand with Georg and stand up to the Third Reich, as they accept on the wistful “How Can Love Survive?” Earley, Rodriguez, and Loprest are moving on act two’s “No Way to Stop It,” which portends the uncertain future facing Georg, Max, and Elsa.

Also contributing fine work are Ariana Ferch as Liesl, the oldest of the von Trapp children, who is often at odds with her father and initially cautious about Maria, and Ian Coursey as her besotted suitor and ultimate savior Rolf, a young telegraph delivery messenger drawn into the service of the Nazis. The pair duet memorably on act one’s “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.”

Bringing humor and warmth to their roles as the other Von Trapp children are Eli Vander Griend as Friedrich, Ava Davis as Louisa, Benjamin Stasiek as Kurt, Haddie Mac as Brigitta, Ruby Caramore as Marta, and Luciana Vandette as Gretl. The seven young performers harmonize sweetly throughout, often joined by Capaldi and Earley, but never more so than in their heart-tugging rendition of “So Long, Farewell” at the end of act two.

The true standout among the supporting cast, however, is Tony nominee Christiane Noll (“Ragtime”) as the Mother Abbess. Noll – who played Sister Margaretta in NBC-TV’s “The Sound of Music Live!” in 2013 – grounds the Nonnberg Abbey in the reality of the time. She also lends her clarion-clear soprano to “Maria” and “My Favorite Things,” and lets it soar to the farthest row in the balcony in her act-one solo closer, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” which provides this production with one of its most thrilling musical moments.

The show also benefits from its highly accomplished creative team including scenic designer Douglas W. Schmidt, who has created breathtaking sets and rich tapestries and wall coverings in period color palettes, and costume designer Jane Greenwood, who uses fine fabrics to convey interest and authenticity. Natasha Katz’s atmospheric lighting greatly enhances the shifting moods of the story, which continues to have relevance seven decades after it was first written.