After a long day of callbacks for Elf The Musical, I settled into the front seat of my car, excited for the night ahead of me. My nervousness from my audition had long faded by the time I entered ASU Gammage, a beautiful theatre designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This season, I had already seen the National Tour of Cabaret, but tonight I was to see The Sound of Music.
This spectacular musical was written by Rogers and Hammerstein, who also were the creators of several other breath-taking musicals, such as Oklahoma, South Pacific, and Cinderella. The Sound of Music was the first musical in over fifty years to be aired on NBC, and was seen by over 44 million people. Broadwayworld.com describes the show as “thoroughly winning”, and I completely agree. The Sound of Music is the ultimate “feel-good” musical, and easily warmed the hearts of everyone in the 3,017 seat theatre.
The beautiful Kerstin Anderson opening the show as Maria.
Kerstin Anderson led the show as Maria Rainer, her beautiful voice echoing throughout the theatre as she serenaded the audience with “The Hills are Alive”, a tune that was previously carried by Julie Andrews. Anderson definitely brought the audience to tears time and time again throughout the entire show.
Another factor of the show that I particularly enjoyed were all of the extremely talented children that were part of the cast. Anika Lore Hatch, an Arizona native, had the opportunity to perform in her own state. The six-year-old plays the energetic Gretel, one of the Von Trapp children. All of the Von Trapp children had beautiful voices, and sang in perfect harmony, especially in the songs “So, Long Farewell” and “Do-Re-Mi”.
Maria leading the Von Trapp children in a song.
Several children filled the theatre, and I soon found that this musical was a pure example of a family-friendly classic. However, although the show is a classic, the touring company brought it to life in a way I had never seen before. The lively actors paired with the exquisite set made for a wonderful experience overall. This show is absolutely one that I would recommend to anyone wanting to take their whole family to the theatre!
The post “Go to the Hills!” The Sound of Music National Tour Review appeared first on Camp Broadway.
