Friday 14 January 2000

A satisfying revival of 'Sound of Music.'

Unlike the nuns in the abbey who wonder how to solve a problem like Maria, theater producers long ago figured out how to mount a revival of a popular musical such as The Sound of Music.

The basic ingredient of the successful formula is a star in a lead role, because audiences, especially those on the road, want to see a performer as familiar to them as the show itself. The Sound of Music that's playing the Merriam Theater until Jan. 23 offers Richard Chamberlain as the drawing attraction, and a good choice he is, too. Not only is he popular and well-liked, as the warm reception he received at Wednesday's opening- night performance will attest, but also he's very good in the role of Capt. von Trapp.

Add to Chamberlain's pleasing star turn a more than competent supporting cast, a handsome presentation, and the sum is a quite satisfying production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show that, due to the tremendous popularity of the movie, may be the best- known musical of all time.

And be assured that this is The Sound of Music you know. There are musicals that lend themselves to reinterpretation and imaginative directorial twists, but this is not one of them. With characters and relationships that are pretty much as immutable as the musical's setting in the Austrian Alps before World War II, all anyone mounting this show can do is see that the story is told well and that the tuneful and agreeable, if overly familiar, Richard Rodgers score gets it due - which is what director Susan H. Schulman and music director Randy Booth concentrate on doing.

With his easy command of the stage and handsome features, Chamberlain's von Trapp is an authoritative, attractive figure. The actor is careful not to make this retired naval officer too much of a stiff-necked martinet in the early scenes, and that makes his later softening - into love for Maria and accessibility to his children - seem natural, which is not the case with all Capt. von Trapps. Chamberlain also sings well; his delivery of "Edelweiss" especially shows off a voice with range and feeling.

Maria, the postulant who comes to the von Trapp household to be governess to the widowed captain's seven children, is played by Meg Tolin. Though energetic and winning, Tolin's portrayal of Maria is somewhat recessive for the musical's primary character. Her sweet, competent but rather thin singing voice complements her performance.

If Tolin's Maria doesn't take over the stage, neither do the actors playing the seven von Trapp children. They are a rather subdued lot, which is fine with me, since it means they are neither cloyingly cute nor obnoxiously robust. As a group, they sing exceptionally well, and that's fine, too, as the von Trapp brood is required to do a fair amount of choral vocalizing.

Drew Eshelmann as Max Detweiler, von Trapp's witty, accommodating friend, gets the part just right, and Rachel De Benedet portrays a refreshingly decent and personable Elsa Schraeder, the woman von Trapp courts before a difference of opinion over allegiance to the imminent Nazi regime comes between them.

This is a scenically sumptuous production. The sets are skillfully rendered, evocative and smoothly changed. Especially effective is the visually stunning wedding scene filled with colorfully costumed characters enacting the ceremony before a massive, carved and candle-lit altarpiece. It's the kind of spectacular scene that is designed for Broadway, but is frequently reduced to the routine for the touring version. By keeping it in for the folks in the hinterlands to enjoy, the producers prove themselves as classy as their show.

© 2000 Douglas J. Keating