It’s hard to reinvent a production set in the 1930s but a
little more imagination and panache is needed to rescue this latest tour of The
Sound of Music.
If you’ve not seen the film (I haven’t so not everyone has!)
this is the story of loveable and feisty Maria Rainer and her struggle find her
place in the world. Does she want to dedicate her life to God and become a nun
or can this free-spirit shake up the regimented von Trapp household and breathe
new life into Captain von Trapp?
The good; Grace Chapman shone brightest as eldest von Trapp
Liesel, dazzling the audience with a strong vocal performance and fine footwork
during Sixteen going on Seventeen
with Luke George. She also had an authentic chemistry with her new Mother Maria
(Jessica Daley), which was startling lacking elsewhere during this production.
The remaining six von Trapp children brought energy to the production
and helped engineer real warmth and heart on stage with Cole Emsley (Friedrich)
impressing when hitting those high notes during So Long, Farewell. Speaking of notes, Jan Hartley gave the most
impressive vocal performance of the show during Climb Ev’ry Mountain and deserved her two hearty round of applauds.
The bad; this was an incredibly safe show which needed to
break free of the shackles, just as the von Trapp’s do in the story. Jessica
Daley was loveable as Maria but we didn’t see enough of her cheeky side to make
her difficult decisions matter. The chemistry between her and Captain von Trapp
was non-existent which made the love interest and speed of their romance almost
comedic.
The character of Max Detweiler has probably the best chance
of injecting some
This was a show suffering from a lack of direction meaning
its capable cast were left exposed and ill equipped. Why, in a show so devoid
of props, the guitar was so over used and the actors were not taught to use it
correctly is bizarre and the use of battery operated flashlight torches in the
second half was another faux pas by Martin Connor.
More needed to be teased out of the actors to bring their
characters to life. More comedy needed from the characters previously
mentioned, a slower blossoming romance between Maria and the Captain and Elsa
Shraeder (Sarah Soetaert)
With more attention to detail and stronger direction, this
cast could have used the strength of the shows well-loved numbers to really
shine, but clangers like the torches, the guitar and lack of chemistry between
the shows leads meant this was an overly long and flat production. The
defeatist pace of the under-used ensemble during the finale summed it all up.
Review by Andy Edmeads
Rating: ★★
