HOW DO YOU TREAT A ROLE LIKE MARIA?
We talk to the lead actress in a new touring show of The Sound of Music
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The Sound of Music premiered in 1959. The show was based on the memoir of Maria Augusta von Trapp, titled The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. It tells the story of the former governess who became stepmother to the talented family, and their folk singing that enabled their escape from the Nazis in Austria during the Second World War.
The original Broadway production starred Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel and won five Tony Awards. The 1965 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer won five Oscars.
It was the final musical written by the legendary musical team. Oscar Hammerstein died from cancer in 1960. Over the decades, The Sound of Music has grown into one of the most beloved theatrical musicals in the world, and the role of Maria is considered one of the best female leads in the genre.
American “actor, singer, dancer, dreamer” Jill-Christine Wiley performs the role in the new Broadway Across Canada tour of the show. She took time from rehearsals to discuss the new production with Postmedia News.
Q How do you handle a challenge like Maria? As roles go in musical theatre, this one is mega.
A Following in the footsteps of such iconic and revered talents as Mary Martin, Julie Andrews and the young woman who had the role for two years before I came onto the production is a huge privilege. I grew up with the movie, and always dreamed of being in the show.
Q Do you think the fact that this is a story about a real person and a true situation makes it resonate all the more in the public mind?
A For sure. While this is obviously a musical retelling of the tale, it touches on so much reality, too. That makes it something more than just another storyline. Somewhere in the back of your head, you know that this happened, and these people lived this.
Q Did you go back to the
original source material to find yourself in the part?
A I avoided any recordings, watching any film versions, and so on to avoid falling into anything resembling our beloved Julie Andrews’ voice. Working with the creative team and reading the memoir, we were able to go beyond the familiar and get deeper into this nanny, (a) bit of a tomboy, who undertakes this great adventure.
Q You worked as a nanny in New York City for several years in between stage work as well as with N.Y. Princess Parties. If some reports and stories are to be believed some employers in these capacities might have been worse than the Nazis the von Trapps fled?
A Ha ha. I was able to identify with her on many different levels, but I have been very lucky to work for nice people and great kids. But being a young woman thrown in over your head to be the governess for seven children brought in a whole lot of truth telling, and I felt living in the moment was the way to approach it. My prior experience meant that connecting with each of the children in the show came, perhaps, a bit easier.
Q There are so many killer songs in the show. Do you have a personal favourite?
A The orchestrations in our version are absolutely devastating and I never get tired of hearing Mother Abbess singing Climb Every Mountain. It gives me chills every time. Singing the title track is such a meditative experience, and such a release. But I think singing Do-Re-Mi is it. It’s the first time you see me interact with the kids and, by a certain part in the number, it just becomes all about the celebration, and all the components coming together is really triumphant.