Sound of Music - Chichester Festival Theatre

You are quite right Petula was 49 :Petula did not return to legitimate theatre until 1981, starring as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music in the West End of London. Opening to positive reviews and what was then the largest advance sale in British theatre history, Clark—proclaimed by Maria Von Trapp herself as "the best Maria ever"—extended her initial six-month run to 13 to accommodate the huge demand for tickets[23][54] and receiving a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Don’t forget to record your score in our poll if you’ve seen it!

Travelling home from this afternoon’s matinee performance.

I absolutely loved this sparkling production. As a fan of the movie, before today I thought the stage treatment simply wasn’t for me. I was left cold by Connie Fisher in the West End and subsequent tour (a miscast Jason Donovan didn’t help matters), but I’ve completely changed my view thanks to this warm and heartfelt version.

It is true that show is greater than the sum of its parts. The set is efficient and “gets the job done” without being spectacular, the direction is sturdy and faithful rather than revolutionary. Projections are used very sparingly; there’s a trapdoor, the usual and expected use of the auditorium’s entrances, a couple of trucks on tracks - nothing earth shattering. I did have a little quiet giggle as Mother Abbess was raised up in her chair through the trapdoor, I don’t know why but it reminded me of Rocky Horror or something. A bit silly looking!

Where it truly shines is in a very strong cast, led by Gina Beck, who in my view is Britain’s finest musical theatre leading lady.

Beck’s Maria is genuinely warm. At times funny, vulnerable, beautiful and frightened, she acts the part magnificently. The real magic happens of course when she sings; and she sings the hell out of these famous classics with style, her soaring soprano and no small amount of power.

I was a bit concerned at first by a very shouty couple of opening scenes from Edward Harrison’s Captain von Trapp, but by the end I was absolutely sold. Harrison isn’t an amazing singer by any means, but he holds his own and his character’s arc was beautifully realised by the actor. The children’s cast (and Liesl) were wonderful, as was the ensemble, with strong work by the ever reliable Wendy Ferguson, the underrated Emma Williams as Elsa and of course Janis Kelly as Mother Abbess, who absolutely nailed “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” to a massive ovation.

The first act is very much front-loaded with classic songs; I had forgotten how old-school the transitioning into musical numbers is in this - and other classic musicals. It’s not an issue for me, but it might be jarring for some to have musical numbers with literally no purpose in the plot. Thunderstorm? Better sing a completely unrelated song! The second Act uses a lot of reprises, and the “new” songs are forgettable - but “Edelweiss” is beautifully staged, so it all pays off in my view!

For balance, a couple of nitpicks; the set changes looked a touch messy and could’ve been quicker and tighter in my view. Ako Mitchell didn’t work as Max - on many levels - and his motivations and actions are muddied and muddled due to the nature of the casting decision. His diction also wasn’t the best, although he did win a few laughs. As said above, the show is somewhat front-loaded and the second Act doesn’t introduce many new melodies. Some of the direction is hamstrung by the CFT’s stage arrangement, and central block is definitely the place to be. But none of these are major gripes.

The audience - surprisingly enough given its reputation - were absolutely electric at the performance I attended. Whooping, cheering and huge applause for many of the strongest numbers (“The Lonely Goatherd”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and several others). A huge spontaneous standing ovation immediately on the final blackout was very telling. The audience absolutely loved this. This afternoon’s performance was described as sold out by the theatre, and I didn’t spot many empty seats.

If I were a betting man, I would “get on huge” for this to transfer into the West End. It is an absolute banker, the set can go into a mid-sized venue as is. The question would be whether Gina Beck would be willing to work in town 6-8 shows a week. I suspect a transfer might hinge on this.

One of the easiest 5*s I’ve given. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it is extremely faithful, honest and staged with love.

I am not sure if it's normal pre reviews but it is not selling that well except for matinées. Lots of seats still available. Would that affect it's transfer chances. Looking forward to going later this month.

Gina has done lots of shows and was doing South Pacific on tour within the last year so a West End transfer as the star of the show would be a no brainer IMO. If the vocal demand would be too much to do 8 shows over a longer West End run then maybe Emma could get the chance to do a couple of the shows and finally play Maria in the West End with her understudy doing the Baroness for these performances.

She role shared with Alex Young because she was pregnant before starting rehearsals (and essentially I think did the show until she was 7 months pregnant) - it wasn't for any other reason.

The following year she then went on tour with the show for 5 months.

I think she'd manage a London run just fine - in fact it would be easier than what she's already done.

portable 😂😂😂

Telegraph, Stage, Evening Standard all 4s...

Without a soaring tenor as Von Trapp (Ovenden), SOM is probably a 4 star musical if you don't try to reinvent the wheel, which they evidently haven't.

Whatsonstage is 3 stars and seems to reflect comments here

I’m sorry for repeatedly banging this drum, but Gina Beck really is terrific in this as the reviews reflect. Worth the ticket price alone.

I was hoping for him too. I can’t recall the guy that played Von Trapp but he sounded like a goat all the way through it. Awful casting.