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Cree Henson as Capt Georg von Trapp with Molly Hopkins as Maria and the von Trapp children. Pictures: Adam Fradgley The Sound of Music Stage Experience The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham The sound of music can certainly be heard loud and remarkably clear at the Alex in this splendid performance of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic in another Stage Experience explosion of young talent. And what stars in the making they are. Molly Hopkins positively glows as Maria in her third appearance in Stage Experience. From the moment she appears she owns the stage whenever she appears, solving the musical’s age-old problem of Maria at a stroke. She has just finished her MA Musical Theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music adding extra polish to her lovely voice. Her acting is natural and unforced, every word, spoken or sung clear as a bell, and, if the theatre gods smile on her, she is a star in the making. The same can be said of Birmingham Conservatoire masters student Ella Blair as Mother Abbess. Her Climb Ev’ry Mountain was a real showstopper to bring the curtain down on Act I. She gave it some real wellie, again with superb enunciation, pitch perfect and soaring to the top notes with consummate ease, so much so that you feel we have not yet seen her full range. She is a real class act with a voice to die for in what is her first Stage Experience . . . experience. Oh, and did we mention she was also a Scotland U21 netball player, plays piano and woodwind and freelances as a professional singer? Singing takes the honours in this 19th Stage Experience, all superbly directed and choreographed by Pollyann Tanner who has the ability to get the best out of youngsters, many on stage for the first time, and at times fill the stage with youngsters yet keep it all orderly, massed rather than crowded, co-ordinated rather than a mob.
Ella Blair as Mother Abbess The overture from the excellent nine strong band, under musical director Chris Newton leads into a soaring Preludium from the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey in Salzberg as the curtain rises, opening with Psalm 110, Dixit Dominus and moving into Alleluia. Superbly sung, a capella, it would not have been out of place in any cathedral in the world, it was simply magnificent. The choral work throughout was exceptional, especially considering the short rehearsal time of two weeks, to bring in four part harmonies and counter points, and pull them off with such style in such a short time frame along with full rehearsals takes some doing – ask any choirmaster. Not that the men were left floundering in the wake of the excellent girls, Cree Henson, in his second SE show, opens with a military bearing as Georg von Trapp, softening as Maria enters his life, making a more than creditable fist of playing the Austrian war hero defying the Nazis as the 1938 Anschluss unfolds – the annexation of Austria into the German Reich. He adds a pleasant tenor voice to proceedings, blending well with Maria, Kieran Powell is another SE returnee and brings a sense of infectious fun to the role of Max Detweiler, the lovable, fun, and always charming friend of Georg, and organiser of the Kaltzburg Festival. Max goes with the flow, never rocking whichever boat is sailing by, whether it is Austrian or German, he will always be Max, friends with everyone, his own non-existent politics always, by amazing coincidence, superficially in line with those of whoever he is with. It is a delightful performance, full of fun and adding another splendid, trained tenor voice. While Max is all things to all men, Molly Ann Bache is the hard as nails Elsa Schraeder, the Viennese businesswoman sinking her sophisticated claws into Captain von Trapp, with Mrs Trapp being an aptly named aim of her ambition. While Max is a pragmatist, anything for an easy, and, let’s be honest, luxurious life, carefully nurturing rich friends, Elsa has seen the future and is happy to embrace it, doing whatever is best for her and her business, which sets her at odds with the proud Austrian and Nazi defying Georg. It is a fine performance, entirely believable, as we see her scheming her way through to the altar only to see it crash and burn with Georg becoming a liability as the Nazis arrive., Then there are the children, all seven of them, with Bessy Hingley as Liesl, Jake Miles as Friedrich, Evie O’Malley as Louisa, Logan Meers as Kurt, Sophie Ballentyne as Brigitta, Frankie Foulger as Marta and Lilly Jones as Gretl. The seven of them gel together beautifully as a unit, and, as Max spotted, they sound great.
Molly Ann Bache as the scheming Elsa Schraeder There is good support from Aidan Cooney as Rolf, the telegraph boy who embraces Nazism yet in his moment of helping the cause of the Reich finds his love for Liesl stronger, while the Abbey, with its order of nuns, has leading lights Rebecca MacGregor-Black as Sister Berthe, the Mistress of Novices, Liv Glenny as Sister Margaretta, the Mistress of Postulants, Emily-Violet Haywood as Sister Sophia and Holly Boden as Sister Hilda And in the von Trapp household we have Eden Wedgbrow as Frau Schmidt the housekeeper and Samuel Ryan as the Butler Franz. And just to add a bit of nastiness to the idyllic alpine proceedings we have Michael Pegg as the thoroughly unlikable, even his mum would struggle to love him, Nazi saluting at the drop of a hat Herr Zeller, the Gauleiter, regional head of the Nazi party and top cheese. And, spoiler alert, he didn’t half throw a wobbly when the van Trapps did a runner over the mountains to Switzerland leaving him chasing shadows. This was Oscar Hammerstein’s last musical. It opened in 1959 and he was to die of cancer, aged 65, nine months later, while Edelweiss, added during rehearsals, sung at the end of Act II, was his final song. Sixty five years on The Sound of Music still resonates, based on a true story, the1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, it has elements of adventure, familiar songs and, taken as what it is, a moment in history, it has not really dated, and is as fresh as ever. No one seems to be credited for the simple but effective sets but Alex Johnson’s lighting was both unobtrusive and highlighted scenes and moments without drama or fuss, while Mike Riley’s sound made dialogue clear added a richness to dramatic songs. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen The Sound of Music over the years and this did not look out of place with some excellent performances and a wonderful infectious enthusiasm from the huge cast. Stage Experience is just that, it gives youngsters experience of working at professional intensity on a professional stage. It is where dreams are made in a profession where far more are between jobs than actually in them but there is enough talent on show to at least give a hand to play in the game if lady luck and the gods of Thespis shine on them. We can do no more than to wish them well. The hills will be alive with music to 17-08-24, Roger Clarke 15-08-24 |
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