Musical Theatre West Knows How to Serve Up “The Sound of Music”

Musical Theatre West ❤ The Sound of Music so much they’d marry it if they could — but staging it for the fifth time suffices to show their eternal devotion. However, since I’d never seen it there — or anywhere, including on film — it was all new to me.

Well, not completely. The Sound of Music has seeped so deeply into American pop culture that I found myself familiar with more than half the songs in Act One — most of which I don’t like. But a funny thing happened on the way to the von Trapps’ heading for the hills….

Austria, 1938. Maria (Juliana Sloan) wants to become a nun almost as much as she loves to sing. But the Mother Abbess (Sarah Wolter) isn’t so sure this is what God wants, so she sends the young novitiate out into the world — which in this case means down to the road to the von Trapp estate to serve as governess to widower Georg’s (Jonathan von Mering) seven children until Georg can find a permanent replacement (which may take some doing, as the kids make sport of scaring off governesses). Things play out as expected (Maria wins the kids over, she and Georg fall in love), until the Anschluss. And because Georg will not entertain getting into bed with the Nazis….

From “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” the hits just keep on coming: “These are a few of my favorite things,” “Do[e], a deer, a female deer,” “I am sixteen going on seventeen,” “So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye….” If you like these songs, you’ll find little not to love in how they’re delivered here. Tasked with singing on more than half the show’s numbers, Juliana Sloan shoulders her heavy load with ease and charm. The kids are wonderful, especially when it’s just the seven of them. And Sarah Wolter does not tumble from the dangerous precipice of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”. 

But except for the miraculous melody of “My Favorite Things”, to my ear all those hits are pretty hokey, and Act One is way too cutesy. This isn’t to say director Wayne Bryan and choreographer Christine Negherbon aren’t able to manufacture some nice moments (e.g., the blushing exuberance of first love in “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”), but The Sound of Music is what it is.

And what it is is far more interesting in Act Two. For starters, every single reprise — even “My Favorite Things” — is more effective than its original version, showing that, for all their hokeyness, Rodgers & Hammerstein have plenty of tricks up their sleeve. And whenever Nazis show up, cutesy won’t be a problem. This shift to a more serious mode is mirrored by greater musical variety, from the boppy “No Way to Stop It” (during which Meghan Andrews is particularly strong) to the mournful “Edelweiss” to the nuns’ full-on a cappella alleluias, as legit as you’ll hear this side of the Vatican.

Scene types, too, are of greater variety after intermission, an expansion highlighted by Adam Koch’s scenic design, which, in concert with Paul Black’s lighting (love those moving latticed shadows, Paul), effectively expands the show’s color palette (a sunset; huge stained-glass windows). And a bit of scrim magic makes for affecting tableau to send us out on a high.

The only thing wrong with Act Two is the romance between Maria and Georg, which appears basically out of nowhere rather than being developed. Is this a problem in Lindsay & Crouse’s book? If so, six decades is more than enough time for someone to have done something about it.

But The Sound of Music is a contrived piece of theatre almost by design, so plot arcs and acting are not of central import. That said, Bryan and his cast are to be commended for not overplaying the cutesy, which could mire the whole show in treacle. 

Whatever its shortcomings, there is no doubting The Sound of Music’s bona fides as a crowd-pleaser. I don’t call it great art, but hell, I enjoyed myself, you know? Musical Theatre West may be a little too in love with this populist product (five times?!), but they certainly know how to serve it up.

The Sound of Music at Musical Theatre West
Times: Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 1pm, plus Oct 26 7:30pm & Oct 29 6pm
The show runs through November 5.
Cost: $20–$125
Details: (562) 856-1999, musical.org
Venue: Carpenter Performing Arts Center (6200 W. Atherton, Long Beach)