The Record
March 13, 1998
Maria Keeps The Faith
By ROBERT FELDBERG
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who find "The Sound of Music"a lovable and inspiring show, and those who think the musical is shallow, saccharine, and gaggingly cute.
If you're in the latter camp, you probably wouldn't think of going to a revival unless it were a revised version, with Maria and the captain getting divorced at the end and putting the seven kids up for adoption.
If you're in the first group, however, you're in for a great treat: The (faithful) production that opened Thursday night at the Martin Beck Theater is a bright, lively, and altogether winning version of the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein show.
There's nothing musty about this revival, whose main producer is the Hallmark greeting-card company. Beginning with Heidi Ettinger's enchanting sets , an inset in the curtain provides a wonderful snow-globe effect, the production, directed by Susan H. Schulman, seems as freshly minted as any brand-new show.
As Maria, the apprentice nun who discovers her true calling by caring for the widowed Captain von Trapp's large brood, Rebecca Luker is delightful. Her warm, pretty smile and sunny eagerness seem entirely genuine aspects of Maria; they create the believability that holds everything together. Equally seductive is Luker's beautiful soprano voice. When Maria bursts into the show singing the title song, against a background of Alpine peaks, even those who loathe"Sound of Music"might feel a goose bump or two.
This Maria has spunk as well, and her firm stance against the strict captain plays as effectively as her innocent charm, which quickly captivates his children.
Also excellent in this very well-cast show is British actor Michael Siberry as Von Trapp. He conveys rigidity without meanness, so that his softening towards his kids and Maria, although happening too rapidly, in musical-comedy shorthand, is easy to swallow. Siberry, in addition, gives Von Trapp great strength of character, which enables him to deliver his songs authoritatively, though Siberry has a very modest singing voice. It also provides a solid core for the captain's opposition to the Nazi takeover of his Austrian homeland.
The kids are all appealing, with Tracy Alison Walsh as the blunt-spoken Brigitta especially effective.
Among the adult supporting actors, Jan Maxwell stands out as Elsa, the captain's wealthy fiancee. In what could be a stereotyped role of a woman who represents all the worldly, false values that Maria doesn't, Maxwell creates a balanced human being, with some grace and wit.
Key elements of any"Sound of Music"are, of course, the family musical numbers:"Do-Re-Mi," "My Favorite Things,""So Long, Farewell," "The Lonely Goatherd."One of the great pleasures of this production is the precision with which they've been staged by Schulman and choreographer Michael Lichtefeld. The physical and vocal interactions among Maria and the seven kids have a gleeful synchronization whose only appropriate conclusion is the wild applause they inevitably receive.
From a musical-history perspective, the score of"The Sound of Music,"the last that composer Rodgers and lyricist Hammerstein wrote together, wasn't their best, although it fits the needs of this family show like a glove, as does the well-constructed book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse.
Two additions to the original score are"I Have Confidence"and "Something Good."The words and music were written by Rodgers for the 1965 film. (Hammerstein died in 1960.). The original production of"The Sound of Music"ran for a remarkable 1,443 performances, and the movie was an enormous hit. This revival doesn't, however, rest on their laurels. It has loads of appeal that is entirely its own.
Copyright 1998 Bergen Record Corp.