This review has been reposted courtesy of the League of Cincinnati Theatres. For more LCT reviews click here to visit their reviews page.
The Covedale Theater concludes its season with a solid, enjoyable and touching rendition of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music”. The key to a successful show is Maria and the children and both perform very well in this version. Maria, played by Helen Raymond-Goers, transitions well between the naïve postulate to the mature woman who helps the family deal with the Nazi threat and eventually escape Austria. She also has an excellent voice and handles the variety of songs from the comic and boisterous to the delicate love songs with equal aplomb. The children, a critical part of the play, who help Mariawith that transition, excel in their roles as believable and distinct characters with good voices. Margot Grom, as Liesl, was the best singer and dancer among the children and Violet Hicks was delightful as the youngest, Gretl. Justin Glaser found the arch in the role of the Captain and his big bass/baritone voice was powerful and appropriate.
Justin Glaser as Captain Georg Von Trapp & Helen A. Raymond-Goers as Maria Rainer. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.
Much of the success for the show must be attributed to co-directors Dee Anne Bryll and Ed Cohen who keep the action moving without falling into the trap of being overly sentimental. The set design by Brett Bowling was very cleverly constructed to easily represent both the abbey and the Von Trapp living room with a minimum of alterations. My quibble is that the music was canned and robotic. Initially, the singers were out of sync with the music but that improved as the evening progressed. Some of the scene changes could have been done with more blackout – the scene changes were long and somewhat disruptive. Overall, I recommend the show and hope people will “Climb Every Mountain” to see it.
For more information on the production, click here.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 