For several years now Worthing Musical Theatre Company have produced high quality productions that demonstrate just how far the world of Amateur Dramatics has moved onward and upward. Gone are the stereotypical wobbly scenery and dodgy vocals and instead what we are offered in their latest production, The Sound of Music, is a 12 piece live orchestra (under the direction of Michael Winter), crystal clear vocals, slick and smooth scene changes and a theatre experience that rivals, and at some points exceeds, their professional counterparts.
From the opening scene, where a candlelit procession of nuns make their way through the auditorium to the stage, and through the superbly quick transformation to the hall of the Von Trapp Mansion, the incredible attention to detail is so specific that it makes the production even more enjoyable.
The Von Trapp Children, played alternately by Cameron House and Morgan Pharaoh (Friedrich), Amy Quinn and Chay West (Louisa), James Marron-Papa and Beau West (Kurt), Lily Arnott and Eva Morgans-Mills (Brigitta), Ellie Bowley and Evie- Grace Mott (Marta) and Arabella Bishop and Amy Burt (Gretl), together with Lois Capel as Liesl, provide faultless harmonies and really excel in Do-Re-Mi, The Lonely Goatherd, So Long, Farewell and Edelweiss.
Mark Roberts is suitably aloof and remote as Captain Von Trapp with Ruth Roberts as the Captain’s new love interest, the manipulative and jealous Elsa Schraeder and Tim Ingram equally crafty and underhanded as entrepreneur Max Detweiller. The three of them, plus Brogan West as the postboy and willing member of the Hitler Youth movement, Rolf, move the storyline along well and deal admirably with the political side of the tale, as Europe teeters on the brink of World War Two.
Reigning supreme in the convent is Sally McDonald as Mother Abbess with Bob Woodman, Liz Windley and Cindy Love as Sister Berthe, Sister Sophia and Sister Margaretta and the remaining female members of the ensemble as the nuns. Their choral singing in the Preludium, the Morning Hymn and the wedding accompaniment, Gaudeamus Domino and Confitemini Domino, is just breathtaking.
Of course, The Sound of Music wouldn’t be complete without it’s Maria and in Sarah Milner they have found the perfect combination of the vulnerability and repentance of a novice nun mixed with a young girl’s desire for wide open spaces and the chance to sing. And sing she does, clearly and powerfully throughout the show. Whether it’s the iconic title song, the list of her Favourite Things, the slightly lesser known I Have Confidence or her romantic duet with the Captain, Something Good, she attacks every song with a desire to give her very best and the audience is very happy to show it’s appreciation of her talent.
As they Climb Every Mountain to escape from the Nazi occupation of Austria, and the audience takes to it’s feet with a very well deserved ovation, Director Tony Bright and Worthing Musical Theatre Company can add one more to their list of top quality, perfectly executed productions.
***** Five Stars