Music and lyrics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, book by Lindsay & Crouse
at
Princess Theatre from March 25, 2000
Reviewer: Kate
Herbert
For 40 years, The Sound of Music has been breaking box
office records. This Australian remount of a new Broadway production, starring
Lisa McCune, will be no exception.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein songs are inspired, despite
Oscar being seriously ill when he wrote the last song, Edelweiss. Will we ever again see the likes of such
musical collaborations ?
It is almost impossible not to sing along with the title
song, with the nuns solving "a problem like Maria" or the children
singing "a few of my favourite things." R and H created the
hilariously silly yodelling song, "Lonely Goatherd", and the youthful
love song, "Sixteen going on Seventeen."
Howard Lindsay and
Russel Crouse, who wrote the book,
strike a delicate balance between humour and drama. They incorporate into the
simplicity of the alpine life of the Von Trapp family and the nuns of the
Abbey, the insidious march of Nazism into peaceful and fun-loving Austria.
The moment three enormous red flags, emblazoned with
swastikas, drop from the roof and spotlights search the auditorium, the horror
or Nazism is palpable.
My musical highlight was always "Climb Every
Mountain". International opera singer, Eilene Hannan as Mother Abbess,
with her rich, mellow voice, gives it the poignancy, dignity and drama it
demands.
Lisa McCune is delightful as the ebullient Maria and the
crowd applauded like seals her every move. Her voice is light with a good upper
register but it is her charming persona which carries the role.
The fine cast includes John Waters as the stoic Captain,
musical theatre celebrity, Anne Wood as
lovelorn Frau Schraeder, June Salter as
Frau Schmidt and ever-popular Bert Newton as the cheeky Max Detweiler.
The children charmed the pants off the audience with their
fresh unaffected naivete as they learn to sing "doe, a deer or in the
sweet "So Long, Farewell" But it is the nuns' chorus which wins the
award for vocal beauty.
The orchestra, under Peter Casey, is impeccable and
direction by American Susan H Schulman, balances comedy and drama perfectly and
is complemented by Michael Litchefeld's
choreography. Heidi Ettinger's set captures the majesty of Salzburg, the
Abbey and home and its alps which lower over the entire story.
See the show, hire the movie, buy the music - then sing it
around the piano all night.
by Kate Herbert