Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC at TPAC'S Jackson Hall

When I was around the age of three, my parents showed me the movie adaptation of The Sound of Music for the first time. Combined with the 1960 videotaped broadcast of Broadway’s Peter Pan starring Mary Martin, this movie started my love for the world of theatre. Random fun fact before I continue, but did you know that Mary Martin originated the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music? It’s not even a coincidence that two different Maria actresses made me want to take center stage and dazzle everyone. Despite the influence that the movie had on me as a child, it wasn’t until this week that I finally got to see a live production of the show. It was also a first for my dad, who also saw the movie for the first time when he was around three years old. We are such big fans of the movie that we even went on a tour in Austria for some of the filming locations when I was five years old. I was happy to see that gazebo in real life. Getting to finally see a live production together was a beautiful full-circle moment for the two of us. I was happy to see a bunch of kids in the audience because I knew that this musical was bound to change their lives like how it had changed mine. Everyone was cheering, laughing, and gasping together as we bounded over our love for the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Running October 14-18 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall, everything about The Sound of Music is a small handful of my favorite things.

The visuals of the production blew me away very early on. I don’t know what impressed me more: the attention to detail or how smoothly the crew transitioned from one set to another. When the set switched from the abbey to the von Trapp mansion, I whispered to my dad about how smooth that transition was. Douglas W. Schmidt’s scenic design was nothing short of breathtaking. My favorite detail has got to be the thin walls in the mansion that were made of what appeared to be enormous fabrics of floral lace. Elevating the gorgeous set was Natasha Katz’s lovely lighting design. The designs for the abbey were nothing short of heavenly, and the lighting for the various scenes in the mansion perfectly matched the different tones of the scenes in question. Even the simple set and lighting designs for the festival scene were effective, and the way the set changed at the beginning received a huge reaction from the audience. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sudden visuals. By the first sound cue given right before the overture, I could tell that Kai Harada’s sound design was going to be just as much as an audible delight as the music itself. And as for the music itself, conductor Jonathan Marro carefully guided his fellow musicians and the cast through the classic songs that I finally got to hear live. Tom Watson’s hair design was nothing short of fabulous, perfectly matching the time period. Elsa Schraeder’s hair style in particular was possibly my favorite, mainly because it reminded me so much of the character’s hairstyle from the movie. Jane Greenwood’s costume design made me so happy. Most of them were as vibrant as the set, and they matched the characters so perfectly. Other than the various floral prints and embroidery, I like how the von Trapp girls were wearing white dresses with blue satin sashes for the wedding scene. How fitting. Danny Mefford’s choreography was spectacular, with my personal favorite being the one for “Sixteen Going On Seventeen”. I’ve always been a fan of that dance scene in the movie, and the stage version was even better. Director Jack O’Brien truly captured the spirit of the story that so many of us had watched on our screens growing up. For most of the audience, this is probably their first time seeing it live. O’Brien has given the first-timers a beloved theatre memory that they will forever cherish, especially the younger audience members. Even during the emotional and more horrific moments of the show, the beauty is never lost for a second. Thank you for giving me a beautiful memory to cherish, O’Brien.

The Sound of Music has no shortage of talented cast members. Obviously, I can’t name every single cast member, but I can shout out two actors who had to fill in for some roles. On Opening Night, Mark Bradley Miller filled in for the role of Admiral von Schreiber and Steven Grant Douglas filled in for the role of Baron Elberfeld. Both did a great job. The ensemble as a whole was fun to watch, especially the nuns. Even minor characters like Franz the butler (John Adkison) and Frau Schmidt the housekeeper (Laura Stracko) got plenty of laughs out of the audience. Lisa Rosetta Strum, Charlotte Jenkins, and Connor Lyons were entertaining as Sister Berthe, Sister Magaretta, and Sister Sophia respectively. Jenkins’s mic kept cutting out in the second act, but she handled it like a pro. Plenty of actors were hilarious, but there’s no doubt that the funniest performance came from Nicholas Rodriguez. Ok, one of the child actors nearly gave him a run for his money, but he was a lot of fun to watch. Other than the laughs, I loved how sincere Rodriguez was in the role. Yes, Max cares about making himself look good, but you can tell that he truly cares for his friend the Captain and the rest of the family. Kate Loprest was highly memorable Elsa Schraeder. She had the right balance of glamour, humor, and emotion. On the way to the show, my dad asked if it was ok to boo Rolf anytime he appeared onstage. I said to wait until curtain call, but we did jokingly whisper a few boos to each other and exchanged some thumbs downs. Despite our obvious feelings regarding the character, Dylan Bradford was excellent as Rolf. The character teeter-totters from his loyalty to the Third Reich and his loyalty to Liesl, and Bradford handled both sides pretty well. He and Liesl’s actress, Ariana Ferch, had excellent chemistry in every scene they had together, even when it was clear to the audience that Rolf was the worst possible choice for Liesl. I also admired his energy during “Sixteen Going On Seventeen”. How is he able to do all of those jumps and hurdles in those shorts? 

I’m sure that most of the audience was curious about how well the child actors were going to be in a touring production this size. Thankfully, the von Trapp children I got to see were as lovable and talented as the ones I saw in the movie. Gretl was my second-favorite child growing up, and I thought that Emma Rose Marinoff was adorable in the role. As soon as I saw her, I thought, “Oh, the audience is going to love her”. I was right, as she got a lot of laughs and “awws” out of the audience. Rory L. Prichard was cute as Marta. I smiled when she delivered the famous line about the pink parasol. Someone give this sweetheart a pink parasol pronto. I mentioned earlier that one of the von Trapp children gave Nicolas Rodriguez a run for his money, and that child was Stormie Piper Treviño as Brigitta. She was just so sassy, yet also so collected for a child. Kurt was my favorite von Trapp growing up, and Charlie Palmer played the part so well. He was so funny and lovable, and his vocal range is incredible. I honestly don’t think that the role of Louisa gets too much time to shine, but that’s probably mostly based on what I know from the movie version. Regardless, Lilly Belle Lanese makes sure that she gets her own spotlight. Whether she’s by herself or interacting with a sibling, she makes sure that she is noticed. Cooper Johnson is charming as Friedrich. He brings so much energy to the role, and he gets along well with the rest of the children. I won’t say exactly what is going on in this scene because I don’t want to spoil it, but Cooper and Charlie had to crawl out from under a set piece at one point, and it got the biggest laugh out of me. There was no way they were comfortable being under there for over a minute, but props to them were doing it. And finally, we get to my favorite von Trapp child, Liesl. Ariana Ferch brings so much emotional complexity to the role of Liesl, and I’ve loved every second of her performances. While her singing was great, I was most amazed by her facial acting. Without uttering a single word, we can tell exactly what she is thinking. At one point during the show, a piece of fabric unraveled from the ceiling as part of a scene change, and it accidentally hit her in the face. She handled it well, and continued on as if nothing had happened. All in all, I loved her depiction of Liesl just as much as I had loved Charmian Carr’s depiction in the movie. 

For my last paragraph, I’d like to highlight the three best performances in the entire show. Lisa Howard, who played Mother Abbess, was honestly the only person who could out shadow the two leads. From the very beginning of the show, we could tell that she was going to deliver as she opened with the first song. The moment that ultimately sealed the deal was her performance of “Climb Every Mountain”. When the curtains came down for intermission, my dad and I joked that the show was basically over at that point because there was no way that anyone could top that performance. He also regarded her as “the best singer in the show”. Not only did I think that she delivered in the vocal department, but I also thought that she had amazing chemistry with Maria’s actress. Whenever she was onstage, I stopped and paid attention to her. Just when I thought I would never find someone to top Christopher Plummer’s performance in the movie, Kevin Earley comes along and proves that he was born to play Captain Georg Von Trapp. He checks off just about every box that Plummer did, but he also improves on it. Amazing singing voice? Check. Strong and articulate speaking voice? Double check. Ability to switch between being stern and being loving? Triple check. Amazing chemistry and banter with the leading lady? So many checks that you end up blacking out the clipboard. And last but not least, we have the leading lady playing one of my favorite characters of all time; Cayleigh Capaldi as Maria Rainer. This woman had my eyes watering with tears of joy as she sang how the hills were alive with the sound of music. I’ve waited so long to see the character of Maria in a live production, and Capaldi made all of my dreams come true. She truly captured the spirit of the postulant who isn’t fully sure of what she wants to do with her life. She was so lively, caring, funny, and emotionally driven. And her vocal range. Oh my goodness, her vocal range could reach the peak of Mount Everest. I don’t think I could think of a better actress to play the lead in my first live production of The Sound of Music, and her performance will forever be one of my favorite things. 

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