BU Theatre Presents The Sound of Music
Bluefield University Theatre presented the beloved musical classic The Sound of Music, February 22-26, in Harman Chapel.
The production featured not only BU Theatre students, but also a multitude of local youth who make up the university’s Bluefield Youth Theatre. Together, BU Theatre and Bluefield Youth Theatre presented six performances of The Sound of Music, including evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday and matinees at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The Sound of Music opened on Broadway in 1959 with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, II, and a script by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The musical tells the story of a young postulant named Maria who is preparing to become a nun in Austria just before the German annexation of Austria in 1938. Maria leaves her convent to become a governess to the seven Von Trapp children, whose mother has recently died and whose father, Captain Von Trapp, is an officer in the Austrian Navy.
Maria falls in love with her charges and eventually falls in love with their widowed father. But, in 1938 Austria is annexed by the German Reich in the Anschluss. Rather than accept a commission in the Navy of the Third Reich, the captain with his newlywed wife and their seven children flee Austria by foot and cross the Alps into neutral Switzerland and freedom.
The musical was a great success on Broadway, winning five Tony awards. In 1965, The Sound of Music was adapted into the popular film starring Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. The movie won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The Bluefield University/Bluefield Youth Theatre production featured a cast of 36 BU students and youth, children, and adults from the Greater Bluefield area. Maria was played by BU Theatre/Music senior Laura Horton. Captain Von Trapp was played by BU theatre alumnus Brian Fisher.
Other members of the cast included Elie Haynes as Mother Abbess, Aaron Sudderth as Max Detweiler, and Rachel White as the wealthy Baroness Elsa Schraeder. The Von Trapp children were Isabella Deel as Liesl, Canon Smith as Friedrich, Bethany Goins as Luisa, Blaire Anderson as Brigitta, Callie Wilkinson as Marta, and Faith Schraeder as Gretl.
The ensemble included Cadence Lane, Deacon Goins, Bear Woodard, Miles Muique, Elise Jacobs, Grace Trent, Ian Matullo, Finn Smith, Ryleigh Lingenfelter, Tegin Merritt, Joana Schaptzie, Cate Thornton, Alyssa Dinger, Micah Deel, Silas Fain, Deacon Goins, Bear Woodard, Ashley Burton-Pruitt, Melissa Cumbow, Jenay Leedy, Lethea Smith, Shiloh Woodard, Becky Goins, Carrie Mullins, and Charla Wilkinson.
The Sound of Music was directed by Bluefield University theatre faculty Charles M. Reese and Rebecca McCoy-Reese. Musical direction was by Alandra Brannon, assisted by James Harris and Laura Horton. Choreography was by Abigail McComas and Ashley Burton-Pruitt. The set for the production was conceived and designed by Reese and McCoy-Reese. Costumes were designed by Brian Fisher. Stage manager for the production is Claire Fisher, assisted by Caleb Cumbow.
“The Sound of Music…presented several unique challenges for the cast and crew,” Reese said. “Among these challenges (was) costuming the very large cast that included such unique demands as nuns, Nazi stormtroopers, and living goatherd puppets.”
Reese said one of the biggest musical challenges for the cast was learning the Latin chants sung by the chorus of nuns multiple times in the production.
“The cast…had to deal with numerous meteorological challenges,” Reese added. “Rehearsals were seriously delayed because of the snow and ice that visited the area in January.”
As a result of their efforts, Reese said this production (was) one of the biggest productions Bluefield University has ever presented.
“People have been asking for this show for years, but we never felt we had the right cast (until now),” Reese said.