The Sound of Music @ Dallas Theater Center
—Wayne Lee Gay
The thought of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music on a relatively small apron stage seems oxymoronic: for generations of us, the title alone brings to mind the spectacular widescreen movie version of 1965—rich with mountain scenery, gilded interiors, Austrian gardens and lakes, and a young Julie Andrews in a role that made her name a household word. So I’m sure I’m not the only fan of musical theater who was intrigued when Dallas Theater Center announced a production of this classic show for the intimate space of ATTPAC’s Wyly Theater.
But under the able hand of DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty, The Sound of Music transitions successfully to the smaller confines, picking up considerable insight and energy—and a closer sense of intimacy between audience and actors than is possible in either a film or a traditional stage version.
Beowulf Borrit’s sets intriguingly evoke the sense of a society resting on the ruins of a once-powerful empire and a no longer omnipotent church. A long staircase with indicators of damage and age dominates the stage, serving by turn as representative of mountains to climb and the interior of the Von Trapp family’s mansion. Crumbling masonry suggests abbey walls; a high window occasionally holds the Mother Abbess, looking on from afar, or a glaring Nazi officer, foreshadowing the absorption of Austria into the Third Reich in 1938. A grand, round rose window dominates from on high, its perfect, unblemished stained glass filtering a radiant light onto the stage and actors at appropriate moments.
The Sound of Music may well be considered the last of the great American operettas; the unfailingly appealing songs (music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hammerstein) include many that have become a basic part of the American musical heritage, from the title number to the jolly “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” and others. Even in its first season on Broadway in 1959 some critics decried the show as old-fashioned, but this last collaboration of Richard Rodgers with Oscar Hammerstein II is both enduring and endearing. Its easy familiarity is part of why audiences still love it, and the show is enriched by the decades of experience Broadway’s most famous creative team poured into it. (It’s a pleasure as well to hear songs from the original show that the movie left out: “How Can Love Survive,” “No Way to Stop It,” and “An Ordinary Couple.”)
The feisty, brave Maria, sent from a convent to care for a war hero’s motherless children, was also the last of her sort on Broadway (for a while, at least), soon to be replaced by heroines such as Fanny in Funny Girl, Mama Rose in Gypsy, and Sally Bowles in Cabaret. (Both Sally and Maria are based on real people who were alive in Central Europe in those fraught pre-war years. I wonder, did they ever bump into each other at the train station or market? Probably not.)
Angela Turner Wilson’s DTC debut as the Mother Abbess provides the highest of many high points in this production. She sings the show’s central song (and one of Broadway’s greatest anthems) “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” which she delivers with a gorgeous contralto voice, perfectly commanding and timing the rising intensity. Beyond providing inspirational music for several decades of high school graduation ceremonies, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” is a damn fine piece of vocal writing in any genre, from pop to Broadway to classical—and familiarity has not dimmed its ability to thrill. (All right, I’ll admit this jaded old classical music critic pulled out his hankie about three lines into the song at Sunday afternoon’s performance.) Wilson’s performance is, in itself, a fine reason to see this show.
The chorus of nuns is likewise musically exquisite. For The Sound of Music, composer Rodgers wrote fairly challenging choral songs for Broadway professionals (in the style heard for centuries in Catholic convents, abbeys, monasteries and churches), and this ensemble carries them off beautifully. The chorus of the Von Trapp children is well-trained and appropriately loveable; Alex Organ makes a strong appearance as lean, wily, ultimately likeable Max, while Sarah Gay brings a convincing human angle to the role of Elsa, Maria’s wealthy and powerful rival for Captain Von Trapp’s love.
Christina Austin Lopez is a convincingly lovelorn teenage girl as oldest daughter Liesl, opposite Lance Jewett, who brings a nice adolescent swagger to the role of Rolf. In their duet, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” Rodgers & Hammerstein reach back to vaudeville with a humorous (and definitely old-fashioned) song-and-dance number about young love.
Tiffany Solano is dramatically compelling in the principal role of Maria; however, her beautiful, clear voice and delivery is frequently marred by her habit of falling back on a glottal catch—that little vocal sob at the beginning of a phrase. This mannerism really belongs to the realm of ‘50s pop or country-and-western—not in an operetta-style soprano role. Paolo Montalban is also formidable in acting the part of Captain Von Trapp, who runs his family like a navy ship but who softens to the magic of Maria’s music. His voice, however, is just passable in a role that calls for a few moments of tenor or lyric baritone expansiveness.
Conductor and music director Samuel Bagala keeps this masterful score clipping along neatly, with a flawless command of tempo and an ear for the clever inner musical lines Rodgers threw in along the way. The orchestra includes an entourage of strings and percussion along with the digital keyboard; the intrusion of synthetic sound has long been a feature of regional musical theater, though one can’t help wondering if a purely acoustic ensemble wouldn’t be more effective and easier on the ear.
The Cinderella-style story of the governess (or servant, or poor girl) who wins the heart of the master of the manor (or prince, or rich guy) is eternal in human culture, and that’s another reason The Sound of Music continues to appeal, particularly in a generally fine production such as this one. The shadow of tyranny looming over domestic happiness is sadly relevant in a world in which Fascism is once again on the march (the Von Trapps, after all, must decide if they’ll flee their invaded homeland). And one can’t help feeling a twinge of sad recognition when Captain Von Trapp throws a party in which half the people aren’t speaking to the other half because of political disagreements.
Happy endings aren’t as de rigeur as they used to be in musical theater. But in 2022, maybe a grand old Broadway show—with great songs and a happy ending—is just exactly what we need.
WHEN: Through April 24
WHERE: Dee and Charles Wyly Theater, AT&T Performing Arts Center
