There's something about the classic film The Sound of Music that brings back a lot of childhood memories from Julie Andrews playing Maria as well as Mary Poppins.
The Sound of Music is based on a true story from Maria's memoirs where she wrote about her life after marrying Georg von Trapp, a naval commander, who had seven children from his first marriage. After his first wife had past, the children needed a governor to teach them. In the movie, the ending shows that the family hikes in the middle of the night, running away from the offer which the Nazi had offered Captain von Trapp who was to accept without fail. This would be the ending we know from the movie itself, but in truth of the real story, instead of the midnight hike, the whole family of the von Trapps had actually fled to United States where they continued their singing tour.
Couple of months ago before the tickets were sold to the public, we had the advantage to purchase the tickets in advance! Very lucky indeed. They have been on play since mid may and will be continuing till mid June at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).
You can't really compare a theater musical to the movie... but I do think the leading lady, Carmen Pretorius, who plays Maria, played rather well even though I didn't feel the impact of the opening solo from the score The Sound of Music itself. Rather than feeling disappointed in that, I found (Captain) Georg von Trapp, by Mark Rayment was rather a let down. When I was watching him, I felt like the orchestra was swallowing his voice up and more than half the time he seemed like he was in agony.
I was actually quite confused at first when some scenes were not sung with the same musical scores. Like when the children were scared of the thunder, they sang "The Lonely Goatherd" instead. Truthfully and personally, I was very muddled.
With a few new musical scores sung and played between the darker and more intense moods were Max, Elsa the Baroness, Frau Schmidt the house keeper and Franz the butler. Where as the 16 year old Liesl going on 17 sung beautifully, on a contrary, the one of played Rolf was less convincing he was going on from 17 to 18.
As I am told, all the kids who played Captain von Trapp's children (apart from Liesl) were local international students rotating their time of acting while still at school. Very impressive by all those who played the night I watched them. There's no word but adorable to describe them.
Saving the best to last. Together with all the ones of play the nuns and sang along especially with Janelle Visagie's powerful voice who plays Mother Abbess were all stars of the show. There's something about her cheerfulness on stage that makes her very endearing.
If you've seen the play please do let me know your views even if you've seen it in other countries!
* * * * *
Performing at :
Lyric Theatre
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Lyric Theatre
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
May 15, 2015 - June 21, 2015
Prices from HKD $395 - $995
* * * * *
Seems like it was a fun experience! :D
ReplyDeletewww.maireem.blogspot.com
It was indeed ! Very different feel to what I had first imagined but still very enjoyable x
Delete