Uplifted by the Sound Of Music
Strong storytelling, moving (but not mawkish) lyrics and theatrical flair ensure this is a triumph
Oscar Hammerstein was already dying from cancer when he wrote the lyrics for The Sound Of Music. The doctors told his family and composer Richard Rodgers but not Hammerstein himself, who for some time believed he was just suffering from an ulcer.
It may be why the show contains a lot of his lyrics that are sweeter than in his earlier work. And yet the musical has two songs that are far from sentimental – the cynical There’s No Way To Stop It and the humorously ironic How Can Love Survive, both of which were dropped from the 1965 film, presumably because the sentiments didn’t gel with the general spirit of the show.
The real-life Maria von Trapp, knew, of course, that the musical is based pretty loosely on her book. Musicals need drama, and drama means tweaking the facts, vigorously if necessary.
The show opened in November 1959 and Hammerstein died in August 1960. One film director said he never heard him say anything mean or nasty about anyone. And Mrs von Trapp, who had enormous respect for him as a person, once said he was ‘as close to perfection as one can get and still be alive’.
More abuse has probably been hurled critically at The Sound Of Music than at any other great musical, mainly accusing it of excessive sentimentality.
But Hammerstein was no cynical schmaltz merchant: he worked exhaustively over the simplest lyrics. And every time I see it on stage, I’m impressed by the theatrical skill of the writing and how well it works – as it does in this latest production.
It has a strong story with the historic background of Austria’s involvement in World War II, the conflict of individual political allegiances, a romantic triangle of opposites, an abundance of melodic invention, scenes that could be mawkish but can be or very moving and a main character, the self-preserving Max (Howard Samuels), who carries the humour.
Audiences seem to respond instinctively to the situation of the widowed Captain von Trapp, a man with seven children, who has withdrawn from emotional involvement and music. They grasp the dilemma of the postulant Maria from the convent, torn between human love and her desire to serve God as a nun. And the setting of the nuns’ abbey, the mountains and the stately home, has the same appeal as all costume drama.
What it probably lacks most is a central villain to balance the niceness of nuns and extra-wellbehaved children (beautifully drilled in this production).
The Nazis turning up helps things along. Directors can’t seem to resist putting nuns through an excessive amount of genuflecting, curtseying and blessing themselves. Any nuns I’ve known have been extremely practical people.
One of the many good things about this production is the clarity of the dialogue and the singing, although the sound system caused some roughness.
Lucy O’Byrne (The Voice UK finalist) is a sprightly Maria with that essential Julie Andrews crispness and purity in her singing and dialogue, and Celine Byrne works up quite an emotional blitz with her rendition of Climb Ev’ry Mountain.
Neil McDermott is a slightly crustier Captain von Trapp than usual but his singing is adequate for the role.
There’s no skimping in the scenery department, from the von Trapp home to the abbey and the glaring swastikas at the music festival.
Audiences seem to respond to the plight of the widowed Captain von Trapp, a father of seven