This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw The Sound of Music at the invite of The Alexandra.
For Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre, actors Molly Hopkins and Molly Ann Bache spoke about their roles in The Alexandra Stage Experience for 2024. Listen below:
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour
Review: The Sound of Music at The Alexandra
⭐⭐⭐⭐”A wonderful production”
Directed by Pollyann Tanner, Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Based on a true story, and set around the start of World War Two, The Sound of Music follows Maria (Molly Hopkins) from her ambition to be a nun to becoming the governess at the home of a widower Georg Von Trapp (Cree Henson) and his seven children.
This is an ambitious production compared to previous ones as it is very iconic and plenty of the audience will know nearly all the songs (with a few not in the film). The immediate vocals of Ella Blair as Mother Abbess and the other nuns of the convent assure the audience that the project is being taken very seriously.
Accent-wise this is a very English-sounding part of Austria and the children do sound like they are quite Birmingham at times but that only serves to emphasise what a locally-produced show looks like. Llly Jones in particular gets her moments to shine as youngest child Gretl.
Molly Hopkins shines as Maria, from shy young woman to confident mother figure, whilst Kieran Powell and Molly Ann Bache do their best to steal scenes around each other as Max and The Baroness.
The Sound of Music not only works as a production because of the vocals and music but the serious overtones of the story and the threat of World War Two is particularly present and adds huge amounts of depth to what some might consider a show just filled with songs.
The sets and props are straightforward and the backdrops are beautifully realised, I particularly loved the stairs that form the Von Trapp family home.
A wonderful production. The Sound of Music is at The Alexandra until 17th August 2024. Book tickets here: atgtickets.com/shows/the-sound-of-music-stage-experience/the-alexandra-theatre-birmingham.
