The Sound of Music (touring) – theatre review

The charm, the fantasy and the perils – as the Nazis close in – haven’t dissipated after all these years as the world continues its love affair with the von Trapp family and The Sound of Music. Now its Melbourne’s turn to savour the excitement, the drama and heroics again.

This production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical premiered in 2006 at the London Palladium, where it ran for a record-breaking 954 performances and was seen by more than two million people.

Set in Salzburg, Austria just ahead of WWII, a 42-strong cast headlined by Amy Lehpamer (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Cameron Daddo (Legally Blonde) brings us the uplifting story of the fun loving governess who changes the lives of a widowed military man and his seven children, the eldest 16. Lehpamer shines in her role as the passionate and warm Maria. Daddo is strong and dignified as Captain Georg von Trapp, although I found his singing voice thin and relatively quiet in the first act. He came into his own in the second when he rolled out Edelweiss, although the romance between he and Lehpamer was unconvincing.

Among the big names in the show are Marina Prior (Mary Poppins) as Baroness Schraeder and Lorraine Bayly (Calendar Girls) as Frau Schmidt. I was particularly taken by Jacqueline Dark (Opera Australia’s Aida), who has a big, stirring voice and enviable stage presence as Mother Abbess, the Mother Superior at the convent where Maria is studying to become a nun. David James (Avenue Q) plays the scheming friend of Captain Georg, referred to by the children as “uncle” Max Detweiler. Stefanie Jones (Once) steps into the shoes of the eldest of the von Trapp children, Liesl, while newcomer Du Toit Bredenkamp is her love interest Rolf. Three casts alternate as the six youngest von Trapps.

With creative staging and rousing chorus numbers – by the nuns and von Trapps – the best thing about Sound of Music apart from the story itself is undoubtedly the score. It includes some of the most famous songs ever performed, including My Favorite Things, Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, The Lonely Goatherd, Climb Ev’ry Mountain and the title song, The Sound of Music.

The musical premiered on Broadway – where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical – in November 1959, attracting record advance ticket sales, and in London in May 1961. The 1965 Hollywood film, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and quickly became the highest grossing film in history. Even today it remains the most successful movie musical of all time and it is not hard to see why.

The original Australian production of The Sound of Music opened at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in October 1961, with a cast headed by Australian soprano June Bronhill. Later Australian revivals starred Julie Anthony and Lisa McCune as Maria. Lehpamer et al keep the standard high and quickly win over an enthusiastic audience, clamouring to hear those wonderful songs again.

The Sound of Music is playing at the Regent Theatre, before moving to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre on 9th August and the Crown Theatre in Perth on 14th September.

Alex First