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Sound of Music ready to climb every mountain

Prince George has hills, Prince George is alive with summer, and Prince George has the sound of music building to a crescendo at the PG Playhouse.
sound of music
Director-choreographer Judy Russell presents The Sound Of Music in Prince George, starring Shelby Meaney (above) in the role of Maria.

Prince George has hills, Prince George is alive with summer, and Prince George has the sound of music building to a crescendo at the PG Playhouse.

For the first time in more than 12 years, a professional production of The Sound Of Music is happening in this city. The Judy Russell presentation is in heavy rehearsals with an all-local cast and crew, only three weeks from opening night.

Russell said it was one of the strongest casting calls she had ever seen in her years of building musical theatre shows out of the city's considerable talent pool. The show is so beloved by actors, singers and audiences alike that it brought forth a wave of aspiring stage talent. Some were well known to Russell from past productions and some were newcomers.

The radiant role is, as most know from 40 years of Hollywood history, is Maria, the young governess hired by Baron Von Trapp to look after his six children on their Austrian estate in the time leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. It is, of course, a true story of that family's formation and their escape from the Nazis to America where they are still a tourist attraction unto themselves.

Their life story was turned into a successful Broadway musical in 1959 before Julie Andrews turned it into a silver screen blockbuster with her 1965 portrayal of Maria in the film that still endures as one of the most beloved movies ever made.

Lady Gaga led the showstopper tribute to Andrews and the Rogers and Hammerstein musical score during the broadcast of the 2015 Academy Awards.

Those who saw Russell's recent production of the Monty Python play Spamalot will be unsurprised to learn that Shelby Meaney earned the part of Maria. Meaney showed her ability, in that comedic rock-opera, to blow the roof off a theatre with vocal power and stage presence. Russell said she was challenged by other strong candidates for the Maria portrayal, but the times and circumstances were ripe for Meaney.

"Shelby has, for most of her life, been typecast into certain kinds of roles and the reality is she is a wonderfully trained classical singer and a real renaissance girl. It's a perfect fit for her," Russell said. "It's quite exciting where things are going for her right now, but I've also noticed that ever since she was a teenager herself, she's had this unbelievable connection to younger children. She has younger siblings herself, she teaches, and those younger kids have sparks for her, and that meant a lot to me in my thinking. She has to be able to sing those massive songs, movement is important for that role, and she can do all those things."

Another key role in The Sound Of Music is eldest Von Trapp child Liesl, who comes of age during the course of the play, and has the most complex relationship with incoming governess Maria and widowed father Baron Von Trapp. So strong were those auditions, said Russell, that she had little choice but to cast an understudy as well, so the part went to both Madison Hill and Jenna Magrath.

Her puppy love interest, Rolfe, also has some character complexities. Russell picked Joel Seifert for the job after his solid performances for Russell in smaller roles during Spamalot, Les Miserables and A Christmas Carol. She said, "He has grown into a fabulous singer/actor and he'll do a dynamite job of Rolfe."

While all Judy Russell shows have a large number of Russells and Murrays in the production staff and stage crew, it isn't always the case that a Russell name is on the cast list anymore, especially since her three dancer/actor sons have all grown up and are having children of their own. This time, however, one of them was pressed into on-stage service. Matt Russell, towering handsome presence that he is, will take on the role of Baron Von Trapp, a part he did not audition for but it was the one role with too few aspirants. A discussion among the production team soon centred on convincing Matt to come back to the boards after transitioning to off-stage professions in recent years. He agreed only after obtaining assurances of broader family that his two small kids would be well looked after during his rehearsal duties (his thespian wife, Anna, is simultaneously rehearsing for her role in Shakespeare Unfolded by Bound To Create Theatre Company).

"The Baron is an intimidating role, I get that," said Russell, as to why the performing males of the city chose to hesitate for those auditions. "It has some vocal demands, so you have to be a singer, but it also has a lot of pressure on your acting skills because there is family love, romantic love, political concern, strength, vulnerability, all these moods you have to be able to convey. It isn't just a straight-ahead character. It's a real person, he has real feelings, and the script captured that. Plus, it was made famous by one of the world's greatest actors - Christopher Plummer isn't just one of Canada's elite actors, he is one of the world's best ever - so that brings a certain intimidation as well. Who feels they can measure up to Christopher Plummer, right?"

Other roles will be filled by some of Prince George's favourite community actors from many past performances - Sandra Clermont in the role of Baroness Von Schraeder, Spamalot breakthrough performer Edward Quinlan in the role of Max Detweiler, singing sensation Beverly Smith, and many more.

"We had probably 130 people come out, altogether, and most of them were for the children's roles, which is great because there are a lot of them," said Russell. "I wanted kids who were able to sing at a high level. You have to be able to hold your own part when singing five-part harmony. If you can't do that, you can't have those roles. It's just too important. And I needed kids who were honest, not 'acting' their portrayal. I love what we have for this cast of kids."

The Sound Of Music runs July 21 to August 1 at the Prince George Playhouse (each showtime 7 p.m.). Tickets are available at Studio 2880.