BWW Interviews: THE SOUND OF MUSIC's Charlotte Wakefield

Hello, Charlotte! Welcome to BWW:UK - and congratulations on the role as Maria!

Thank you! We're having a lovely time - it's the most beautiful production in the most beautiful setting. The elements add another layer to something that's already so wonderful. I love the show anyway, but this takes it to a whole new level - to be able to play Maria in a production like this is something so special.

Is Maria a role you've always wanted to play?

Well, yes, I think every actress would like to, just because it's arguably one of the most prestigious roles in musical theatre for women. I'm 22, so I'm young to be playing Maria, although the real Maria was young, so in that sense I'm the right age, but for me to be given this challenge is amazing. It's taken my skills to a whole new level and I've had to work so incredibly hard, going from playing Sophie in Mamma Mia! - I only had a week off between the two - into a Rodgers and Hammerstein top soprano.

It's pushed my boundaries, and Rachel Kavanagh, our director, has been so brilliant in letting us take risks and us pushing ourselves as actors. The way we've done this is very original. It's a true and honest production of a very classic story.

You mentioned moving from Mamma Mia! into this - what kind of work have you had to do on your top soprano range? Has it been a lot of classes?

I got the part before I left Mamma Mia! so I've been going to a vocal coach to enable me to sing two things at once - obviously I was learning the vocal material before I started rehearsals, and even though the songs are iconic and I know them, you don't necessarily know the correct version! It was a huge challenge - to sing the pop belts and the pure sound they need in Mamma Mia!, with no vibrato, and then this top soprano, a totally different style and a totally different way of using your voice, which is a muscle, so I was having to retrain my muscles.

It was hard, I'm not going to lie to you; there were times when I was like, "I don't know if I can do this," but I have worked so hard to do the best I could possibly have achieved, thanks to Louise Shephard, my vocal coach. I did start my singing lessons with an opera singer, so I had it in my voice, but doing Spring Awakening, then Mamma Mia!, then this - my voice is now something completely different, but it's interesting to know I can do both. I've learnt a lot about myself and my voice and what it's capable of. I've not been to drama school, so I learn something new on each job, and this has been the biggest lesson - it's brilliant.

You also mentioned being quite young to play Maria compared to the way it's usually cast - that does work quite well, though, because there's an extra layer of why she's intimidated by looking after the children, as Liesl is only a few years younger...

Yes, and we're a young cast anyway. Michael Xavier plays the Captain and he's younger than it might have been cast before. I think it works well - I look quite young on stage anyway, so if he was much older it might be a bit funny, and not as believable. I know Faye [Faye Brookes], who plays Liesl, really well, we went to school together, but she's actually older than me! On stage, it works. What this casting brings is a more kind of young sexiness, if you can say that when talking about The Sound of Music - a modern edge to it, a new dimension to the relationship.

So you're playing Maria until September - do you have plans afterwards?

It's wait and see, really; I'm fortunate that I'm in a place where I'd like to do roles that excite me, and having been given this amazing opportunity, I'd love to take on more challenges. We'll see what happens after this. It's exciting times.

Charlotte Wakefield plays Maria in The Sound of Music at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.