Lichfield Operatic Society – The Sound Of Music

Lichfield Garrick

Wednesday 16th September

There are certain musicals that need almost no introduction. From the opening notes of The Sound of Music to Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Edelweiss and the magnificent Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Rodgers & Hammerstein created a score that has become part of musical theatre history.

This week those familiar songs return to the Lichfield Garrick as Lichfield Operatic Society celebrates an extraordinary milestone — its 130th anniversary.

Founded in 1896, the Society has remarkably staged The Sound of Music only twice previously, most recently in 2013, making this third production something of a special occasion.

And at the centre of it all is Maria.

A Maria full of warmth Samantha Hedley takes on one of musical theatre’s most recognisable roles and brings together the qualities Maria needs: warmth, humour, spirit and, crucially, a voice capable of carrying one of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s best-known scores.

Maria’s journey from uncertain postulant to governess and ultimately the emotional heart of the von Trapp family demands considerably more than simply delivering the famous songs. Her relationship with the children needs to feel natural, while her growing feelings for their father gradually change the direction of both their lives.

Hedley’s Maria has a lovely sense of personality about her, particularly in her scenes with the children, where the character’s playful side comes to the fore.

Opposite her, Cameron Morgan takes the role of Captain Georg von Trapp, initially presenting the disciplined, emotionally guarded widower whose seven children are summoned by whistle and expected to behave with almost military precision.

As Maria brings music back into the household, that formality begins to give way to something warmer.

The developing relationship between Maria and the Captain is one of the show’s most important threads, while the Captain’s Edelweiss takes on considerably greater meaning as events outside the von Trapp home begin to threaten everything the family holds dear.

Those wonderful children , Of course, The Sound of Music would be nothing without the von Trapp children — and Wednesday evening featured the youngsters of Team Whiskers.

Shannon Robinson leads the siblings as Liesl, with Jude Pick as Friedrich, Rosie Pilling as Louisa, Elliot McDonagh as Kurt, Eva Walters as Brigitta, Dotty Shipton as Marta and Robyn Johnson as Gretl.

Together they bring the energy and sense of family that the production needs.

Choreographer Jemma Tiso-Johnson has plenty to work with in numbers such as Do-Re-Mi and The Lonely Goatherd, and these are precisely the moments when the relationship between Maria and her young charges can really shine.

The production photographs capture that particularly well: whether gathered around Maria in their nightclothes or appearing together in their beautifully coordinated outfits, there is a genuine visual sense of this disparate group gradually becoming a family.

And little Gretl inevitably has some scene-stealing opportunities of her own!

The eldest von Trapp daughter has her own story, and Shannon Robinson’s Liesl shares one of the musical’s most charming numbers with Leo Foëtu-Foster as Rolf.

Sixteen Going on Seventeen initially provides some youthful romance and welcome lightness, but their relationship subsequently becomes entwined with the much darker political events unfolding around them.

That changing atmosphere is one of the reasons The Sound of Music has endured so successfully. What begins as an enormously warm family musical gradually becomes a story about courage, principles and the choices people make when circumstances around them become increasingly threatening.

The abbey scenes provide another of the production’s strengths.

Under David Easto’s musical direction, the nuns establish the musical world of the show from its opening moments, while the production photographs reveal some particularly atmospheric staging, with towering arches, stained glass, candles and carefully controlled lighting creating an impressive setting.

At their centre is Dawn Welch as Mother Abbess, joined by Rebecca Bowley as Sister Berthe, Heather Bustin as Sister Margaretta and Lucy Averis as Sister Sophia.

Their How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? brings some delightful humour, but Mother Abbess also gets one of the great musical-theatre moments of the entire evening.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain has become an anthem far beyond the confines of this musical, and its message of having the courage to pursue the life you believe in remains as powerful as ever.

Director Chris Stanley allows the warmth of the von Trapp story to sit alongside the increasingly ominous events surrounding the family.

As Nazi influence tightens around Austria, the carefree atmosphere of the earlier scenes begins to disappear.

Hein Hemke’s Max Detweiler and Kate Pilling’s Elsa Schraeder are inevitably caught up in that changing world, while Captain von Trapp’s refusal to compromise his principles ultimately places his family in danger.

The contrast is important. The songs and humour haven’t disappeared, but suddenly they mean something different.

Music, which initially brought Maria and the children together, becomes symbolic of the family’s identity and unity.

Visually, the production has considerable scale too. The Garrick stage moves between the abbey, the von Trapp home and outdoor settings, while the larger company scenes make excellent use of the available space.

The production photographs also show some striking use of colour and lighting throughout, particularly in the abbey sequences and the large ensemble scenes.

There is another lovely story behind this particular production which seems especially appropriate during Lichfield Operatic Society’s 130th year.

Three generations of the same family are appearing in the show.

On Wednesday evening Rosie Pilling appeared as Louisa, alongside her mother Kate Pilling as Elsa, while Rosie’s grandparents Lynne and Dave Hill appear as Frau Schmidt and Franz.

A musical fundamentally about family being performed by several generations of one real family has a rather wonderful symmetry to it.

And perhaps that’s ultimately why The Sound of Music continues to work.

Yes, there are those glorious Rodgers & Hammerstein songs. Yes, there’s romance, comedy and spectacle. But underneath everything is a story about people discovering what family means — and what they are prepared to do to protect it.

For Lichfield Operatic Society, a company celebrating an astonishing 130 years, this feels like an especially appropriate musical with which to mark the occasion.

A production bringing different generations together, both onstage and behind the scenes, to tell a story that has itself passed from one generation to another.

The hills at the Lichfield Garrick are very definitely alive once again

The Sound of Music runs at Lichfield Garrick until Saturday 19 September, with evening performances at 7.30pm and a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

Congratulations to Lichfield Operatic Society on 130 remarkable years — and here’s to the next 130.