Sound of Music at The Hollywood Bowl this summer will star...- Page 2

[jwsel]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:30pm

I saw this last night and have not seen any reviews on the board. The production was the complete original musical, i.e., not just selections and not a sing-along (thank god). Characters were in costume, but there was minimal staging, mostly just a few pieces of furniture brought out for particular scenes, and simple choreography

One confession before I begin commenting. I find the Sound of Music incredibly saccharine and cannot stand the movie. The lyrics are so sappy that they often make me want to bang my head against the wall. And I will admit that I was rolling my eyes at times at the lyrics last night.

But I still enjoyed the production. With the exception of Jeffrey Tambor as Max, everyone sang well. Marni Nixon had to warble a bit, especially on Climb Every Mountain, but there were flashes of her original singing voice and even the warbling fit the character of the Mother Abbess. I actually liked that she was significantly older than Maria, and not just 40 or 50. It gave some weight to the role.

The other standouts were John Schneider, Rachel York, and Andrea Bowen (Liesl). Schneider sang well and had a nice presence as Captain Von Trapp. York stole every scene she was in and she made you see Elsa as a creature of the complex circumstances. Bowen, mainly known as the daughter of Teri Hatcher (who was in the audience) on Desperate Housewives had a surprisingly good singing voice and clearly has had ballet training. Of the other kids -- who mostly were just cute -- Dorsey was particularly winning as know-it-all Brigitta.

Melissa Errico as Maria was good, and captured the wide-eyed, naivete, and optimism of the character. Her singing was fine, but she lacked the stage presence of York and Schneider. The character of Maria, imho, is so shallow and without nuance that it is hard to comment on the acting. I have never seen a stage version of Sound of Music before, so I cannot tell if other actresses have given Maria more gravitas.

The production was long. It started at 8:30 and did not end until after 11:30.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:59pm

Thanks so much for the review! I've been looking for some.

A friend of mine found two pages of pictures of the cast (out of costume): http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearchState%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c28%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c71526466%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c%7c%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0&p=7&tag=2

ETA: WireImage has more: http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====202140&nbc1=1&VwMd=i (Of course Teri Hatcher, who wasn't even in the show, gets almost the largest number of pictures!)
Updated On: 7/30/06 at 12:59 PM

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 1:57pm

I've been waiting to see a review of this. Thanks so much for posting, jwsel. While I agree with you about the show itself, I was very curious to see how this staging would fare. The cast sounded promising, and it seems as though they did deliver, for the most part.

Maria truly is a thankless role in some respects. I think she comes across better on film, not just because it was Julie Andrews, but because opening the scenes up allowed her to scamper through the countryside and ride bikes with the kids and such. Her childlike exuberance and innocence are better expressed through that kind of physicality. The stage production puts her in a candy coated box a bit. I'll bet Melissa sang it beautifully, though.

Since Rachel York is a personal favorite of mine, I'm so glad to hear she did such a great job. I have always been impressed with her stage presence and her ability to plumb the depths of every character she's played. Elsa can be a very meaty role when played as more than a simple villain, and it sounds like Rachel nailed it.

I like John Schneider, too. I think he is underrated a bit because of his "Dukes of Hazzard" roots.

And thanks, MCfan2, for the link to those great photos. It looks like it was a beautiful warm summer night at the Bowl. It brings back memories from many, many years ago when I had the pleasure of listening to Beethoven's Fifth from way, way up in the amphitheater. What a venue!

lc
Updated On: 7/30/06 at 01:57 PM

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 3:35pm

You didn't mention David Larsen as Rolf. Thoughts?

lc

[jwsel]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 4:23pm

David Larsen was fine singing, but I found the character a bit confusing. I've always seen Rolf as a young man, who buys into the propoganda of the time, but ultimately makes the right choice in letting the family escape. He was only onstage a couple of times, but he came across almost sinister in Sixteen Going on Seventeen. So it was hard to view him as an innocent kid who has been duped by propoganda and it made his final decision a bit harder to view as consistent with the character so far. But I think that is probably as much a flaw in the musical and direction as in the acting.

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 4:35pm

Interesting. I agree with your take on Rolf. I wonder why the director/actor made that choice.

Thanks for sharing.

lc

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 4:42pm

I saw it last night, and I will review it later.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 5:50pm

Whoops, found some more pictures! (You're welcome, lovesclassics!) None of Melissa in this batch, though.

http://www.filmmagic.com/ItemListing.aspx?cgl=202519&evntI=0

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 6:51pm

MCfan2,

Scroll to the second page of the link you provided. There are some really nice shots of Melissa, and Rachel.

lc

[MCfan2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 7:10pm

Oops! Stupid me. I see what happened: Melissa's name isn't listed at the side of the page with the others' for some reason, so I thought she wasn't there.

Is it just me, or does Rachel York look like Gwyneth Paltrow?? I never noticed it before, but then I've only seen her with red hair before.

[Yero]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 7:16pm

Dear Rachel York,
I love you. You're Beautiful.
Love,
Andrew

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 7:17pm

Gosh, MCfan2, now that you mention it, there IS a resemblance. Because she was recently in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I noticed some similarities to Sherie Renee Scott. But you are absolutely right. Although I think that Rachel has a prettier smile.

I also found some photos over at CelebrityPhoto.com. Here's the link to the third of three pages:

lc

Celebrity Photos

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 7:21pm

Yero,

You're too much!

lc

[Yero]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 9:50pm

hehe.
OH, speaking of Rachel York.. loveclassics,
Kiss Me, Kate came the other day, I watched most of it and skipped some parts. Rachel was amazing! She's so funny and she has a helluva voice. I love her.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 10:29pm

I saw The Sound of Music last night at the Hollywood Bowl, and I must say I was suprised. I wasn't suprised by Melissa Errico or Marni Nixon, but by Rachel York who was the real star of the show. Rachel York as Elsa Shraeder was really the stand out of this production. Every scene that she was in, I could not take my eyes off of her. The character of Elsa Shraeder all of a sudden was much more complex then before, and ten times more funny. I found myself hoping that they wouldn't climb every mountain, just so I could hear more of Rachel singing.

The Vontrapp children were for the most part in tip-top shape. The standout from the Vontrapp kids was Andrea Bowen as Liesl. She has a beautiful voice and really was the other standout from this show. She had great stage presense and had really devloped a character with many layers that the audience could relate to. Ben Platt and Andrew Hoeft were great as Friedrich and Kurt, and also stood out from the kids. My only real problem from them was Gretl. Gretl is always supposed to get you with her "cutness", but I hate to pick on a little kid, but she really didn't do anything for me.

The other three problems I had were Marni Nixon, Melissa Errico, and John Schneider. Marni Nixon was not that big of a problem, except for...SHE KEPT FORGETTING HER LINES! She stopped several times after starting off saying the wrong line, then backtrack and say the correct one. Also, as expected she does not have the voice she used to have. John Schneider I have never heard of. He has an excellent singing voice, but his acting was crap. He really didn't capture the role of Mr. Von-Trapp AT ALL. It was almoust as if he was reading lines of a paper, he wasn't strict or firm, but nice and very sensitive. Unlike John's under acting, Melissa over-acted the role. Her voice was too vibrato for my taste, and she like I said over-acted the role of Maria Rainer.

Overall The Sound of Music was a good production Jeffery Tambour was there to provide Comic Relief and David Larsen was there to provide some of the more dramatic. The Sound of Music certainly was heard at the Hollywood Bowl, with some help from John Mauceri and his gorgeous orchestra.


Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I am in a hurry.

[jwsel]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 1:58am

neddyfrank2,

I agree with a lot of what you said, but I didn't think John Schneider was bad. In the musical, Captain Von Trapp does not spend a lot of time as the very strict disciplinarian. He appears, acts very strict, then gets lectured by Maria about not knowing his children, and softens almost immediately. It actually is one of the things I find pretty sappy about the musical. During the time he was a hard-ass, I thought Schneider did pretty well. After that, there is not that much for him to do in terms of acting. Even the dilemma about giving in to the Nazis versus standing on principles is pretty shallow. You would think that such a decision would actually require more thought, given the consequences to him and his family. But the musical does not dwell on that much.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about Rachel York. She made Elsa a complex character instead of a villain and definitely stood out. In fact, I was at the show with two friends who did not know anything about the performers other than one was Teri Hatcher's daughter from Desperate Housewives and another was Bo Duke. Aat intermission, the first thing they both said was how impressed they were by "the blonde."

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 2:09am

Did you see it tonight?

I didn't think that John Schneider was good, I just thought he was bland and mediocre. I recognized Lisel (Andrea Bowen) from the second she came out, but I couldn't figure out where I knew her from, and when I did realize it, I was VERY impressed.


Edit: Sorry, who is "Bo Duke"? Updated On: 7/31/06 at 02:09 AM

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 3:04am

Was this production based on the stage musical or the film musical? I ask this because if it was based on the film, I may have misunderstood Rolf's final scene all my life. I really thought he didn't let the family escape at all. I swear I remember him calling out to his fellow officers and revealing the whereabouts of the Von Trapp family which made for a heartbreaking scene. Am I going crazy? Have I misinterpreted Rolf's final scene in the movie all these years?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 3:07am

This was the original stage musical.

In this he finds the family, calls the officer and holds a gun to Captain Von Trapp. Then Lisel stands in front of him, and he looks at her for a minute then says, NEVERMIND THEIR IS NOBODY HERE, and runs off.

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 3:12am

Awww thanks Neddyfrank2. Interesting. It must be one of the few times when Hollywood did the opposite of softening an ending. I guess the fact that they did the stage musical means Rachel got to sing then?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 3:18am

Yes she did, like I said in my review above, she was the stand out of the show. She was AMAZING in How Can Love Survive and No Way To Stop It. I can't say enough good things about her. After last night, I have listened to How Can Love Survive 16 times!

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 8:12am

Wow, you make me so jealous that I didn't get to see this. I'm so glad that you did, though. Rachel is a vocal and acting goddess. She can do anything - anything. When, oh when, is she going to get that Tony role?

Maybe a lot of Hollywood folks were in the audience and will be beating down her door to get her into movies and TV. Heck, I could see her on a Desperate Housewives type of show. She'd be amazing.

Here's a link to the Daily Breeze review out of Ventura County. He LOVED Melissa Errico. The LA Times review was also positive. A link to that one is posted here on BWW - check out the news section.

The staging sounds - interesting. Do you folks who saw it think it worked? One of my complaints about the several staged productions I have seen (community and regional) is that the sets never captured the beauty and expanse of the mountains.

Thoughts?

lc


Daily Breeze Review

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 8:27am

I was there last night, too. Wow, lots of BWWers, and most of us who were there probably aren't even from California!

Anyway, I'm obviously biased, but I thought Melissa was absolutely wonderful as Maria. However, the star of the evening was Rachel York, who was simply delicious as Elsa. Everyone was wonderful with the exception of Ms. Nixon, who seemed to be having pitch problems. Still, it was definitely worth a trip to California. Hopefully we won't have to wait long before we see Melissa (and Rachel) in a full-fledged production

[MCfan2]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 12:07pm

Let us know if anyone comes across pictures of the cast in costume -- I'd love to see them! Thanks.

[GClef2]

Posted: 7/31/06 at 1:11pm

I love Rachel York