Willow Glen family knows the notes to sing in ‘Sound of Music’

Like the von Trapp children they’re portraying in Foothill Music Theatre’s “The Sound of Music,” the Hutton siblings have grown up making music. Instead of a governess, the Hutton children look to their mom, Leandra Saenz, to help guide their performances.

All three Hutton children — Grace, 13, Billy, 11, and Mary, 7 — cut their musical theater teeth performing in shows with Children’s Musical Theatre San Jose. Saenz, who plays Sister Sophia in “The Sound of Music,” has been on stage with Grace and Billy in CMT Marquee shows, which feature adult performers. But Foothill’s current production marks the first time that all four members of the Willow Glen family are on stage together.

(The von Trapp children are double-cast in the show; the other cast features siblings Wesley and Sheridan Stewart as Kurt and Marta von Trapp.)

Saenz says 7 seems to be the magic age when it comes to performing with her kids for the first time. She was in “Annie” with 7-year-old Grace and in “Mary Poppins” with 7-year-old Billy at CMT.

“Now my third one is 7 and we’re doing a show together,” Saenz says, adding that it can be difficult for her to step out of her role as mom when she’s performing with her offspring, especially when one of her kids does something worthy of a director’s note during rehearsal.

“You can’t pull up your pants 100 times during a scene,” she says by way of example. “But it’s the director who needs to be telling them these things.

“It is fun to watch them go through the (rehearsal) process, but when we’re running the show, I have other things to worry about.”

For the Willow Glen mom, sharing the stage with her kids can be as rewarding as it was for Maria von Trapp.

“It’s kind of neat to harmonize together,” she says.

“The Sound of Music” runs through through Aug. 5 at Smithwick Theatre, Foothill College, I-280 and El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. Ticket are $12-$32 at https://foothill.edu/theatre or 650-949-7360.