“The Sound of Music,” an RV musical directed by choir director Mr. Grant Mech, tells the story of Maria, tasked with the job of a governess as she contemplates taking her vows of chastity to become a nun, except she falls in love with Captain von Trapp, the widowed father of seven children.
RV’s Musical Theatre Ensemble performed the musical November 2 and 3 in the PAC, each member playing two roles, one per night. The Thursday cast featured junior Paris Ford as Maria. Performing alongside the MTE, Keira Sohosky played flute and Mr. Patrick Fink played piano. All of the cast and production crew performed exceptionally well, especially considering the low-key nature of the staging and the amount of time they had to learn parts.
The show was semi-staged with minimal props, no costumes and the audience seated on stage, all of which allowed for a more intimate and down-scaled viewing experience.
The same rang true for the cast as RV junior Keria Dallos, who played one of the children.
“It has been a lot of fun putting this show together,” said Liesl, “And everybody else in the cast is so great.”
Most members of the cast learned two parts throughout quarter one, having classes every other day. Despite that short amount of time, MTE learned 25 pieces between the characters along with scenes between each song. Such scenes featured interestings characters like Max Detweiler, played by Max Balsamo, to incorporate humor and dramatic storytelling, furthering the plot.
Occasionally, technical hiccups and misalignment between the singers and the supporting music occurred; however, the slight disconnects can be attributed both to nerves, differences between the music and vocal scores and the few rehearsals the group had to prepare. These slight disconnects did not take away from the show.
Personally, my favorite moments came in times of great harmony between the singers and music such as the song “So Long, Farewell” featuring the Children, Captain and Sohosky on flute. Sohosky’s transition piece after “Do-Re-Mi” was exquisite as was the entire marriage section, including “Gaudeamus Domino” and “Confitemini Domino.”
As Maria, Ford’s favorite moment was the Ländler dance.
“I love that dance, and it’s really nice to dance with JT [Mozes, who played Captain Von Trapp],” she said.
Prior to the Thursday night show Mr. Mech noted that many of the students were operating with a lot of both nervous and excited energy, and when you’ve got that kind of energy anything can happen; after the show he stated, “I was very proud of them,” regarding their performance.
As a whole, the production portrayed “The Sound of Music” exceptionally well with an excellent cast of characters and supporting musicians.
