Friday, October 10, 2008

The Sound of Music

I went to see the revival of the Sound of Music on stage tonight.
Overall I was impressed. There are a few small changes, with the directors choosing to use the play material rather than the film.

The Bad
I was not really look forward to Elicica in the lead as I wanted Jana to win but she cut her hair like Jana's and at times I forgot who it was. Elicia is nice, but in a bland way. I don't believe she had any of the ton-boy spunk Julie Andrews had.
The leading man is NOT Christopher Plummer. He's about 50, too old, too overweight. Leisel looked to be older than Maria and was taller than Maria and had a face like a horse. Whatever age she is, she needs to go, as Frederick was 13 playing 14 and she looked 30 playing 16.
Two songs were added back from the original play, both sung by Max and the Barronness. Who cares about them?
Rolf was not blond, but still cute.

The Good
The staging will blow your mind. It looks like they spent millions of dollars. The mountains of Austria, the interior of the house where they sing "So long, goodnight." Stunning.
The part where the Captain allows music back into the house and all his children hug him made me and a lot of others cry.
All the songs we love are there, some in different order, but it all works. For example, the children sing "The Lonely Goatherd" during the thunderstorm, not "My Favourite Things".
This is the most loved musical of all time, in defence, it's hard to get it wrong. Almost all of the children were fantastic, except the youngest who has a face that looks like she was dropped. It's interesting reading the bios, all the kids go to private schools and ride horses or ski in their free time. Must be nice.

Overall a great night out, when they announce an extension I will be back in the front row to see Jana. I hope it's after I get back from Paris, I'm poor.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"I don't believe she had any of the ton-boy spunk Julie Andrews had."

That would be a kind of spunk particular to a very fat boy?