Timpanogos Community Theater's The Sound of Music

Today is the first anniversary of my Mom's passing so my sisters and I decided to see a production of The Sound of Music with Timpanogos Community Theater last night. She suffered from dementia and during the last year of her life she loved the movie (she watched it every day and sometimes even watched it twice) so we thought it would be a great way to remember her. It was a bit emotional for me (I cried a few times just like I did when Marilyn and I saw a production at the Utah Shakespeare Festival last summer) but it was also so much fun to see it with both of my sisters because we would exchange knowing glances during particular scenes that my Mom loved. The production is delightful and we were really impressed with it! When a prospective nun named Maria (Maren Miller) is sent to be the governess to the seven children of Captain von Trapp (Nathaniel Brown), she brings music back to their household. Miller has a really beautiful voice and her version of "The Sound of Music" is incredibly stirring. I also really enjoyed her interactions with the von Trapp children, Liesl (Amalie Strongin), Friedrich (Benjamin Kland), Louisa (Summer Mitchell), Kurt (Lincoln Harper), Brigitta (Madison Hirschi), Marta (Chloe Hirschi), and Gretl (Story Harper), in "Do-Re-Mi" and "The Lonely Goatherd." I usually enjoy watching the young actress playing Gretl but in this production Lincoln Harper steals the show as Kurt! His facial expressions are hilarious! Strongin not only has a beautiful voice but she is also a great dancer and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" with Trystyn Roberts as Rolf is a lot of fun. I especially liked the choreography in this number because Rolf tries to teach Liesl how to dance but she ends up doing her own steps. Other standouts in the cast are Charity Johansen as the Mother Abbess, because her rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" just about blows the roof off of the theater, and Trevor Williams as Max Dettweiler, because his delivery is very flamboyant. There are some interesting variations in the staging of several numbers, including portraying the funeral of Captain von Trapp's first wife during "Preludium," having the Captain and the children upstage during "Maria" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" in order to foreshadow Maria's future, and having soldiers wearing Nazi armbands walking through the audience during "Edelweiss," but they are incredibly powerful. The sets are very elaborate for a community theatre production and I especially liked the arches in the Nonnberg Abbey set and the large staircase in the von Trapp Villa set. The costumes are what you would expect from this show but I did like the play clothes made out of Maria's drapes and I loved her wedding dress. My Mom would have loved this show! Tonight is the final performance but it is well worth seeking out (go here).

Note:  It is always disconcerting for me to see the stage version because it differs significantly from the movie (which I am very familiar with).