Maria is a postulant in a convent in Austria, where she poses something of a quandary. She embodies the spirit of kindness, celebration, wonder and joy i.e. the essential and best qualities of Christianity, or any believer in a ubiquitous, loving divinity. Her sisters and the Mother Abbess recognize this, yet worry her comportment leaves something to be desired. Though dedicated and earnest, perhaps the finer points of piety and reserve elude her. When Mother Abbess sends Maria to be the governess for the Von Trapp family, she is heartbroken. Mother assures her she has done nothing wrong, but this will give her the opportunity to evaluate her choices in a larger world.
When Maria arrives, she is greeted by the housekeeper, the butler, and seven children. Their father, Captain von Trapp, uses his naval experience to maintain an orderly household. All are summoned by an ear piercing whistle. The children are required to line up by age, they cannot play or sing, but they do march every afternoon. Aghast these kids don’t know what a song is, Maria teaches them the basics, then takes the deep dive, sharing goofy, delightful, heart nurturing folk songs. Maria is truly a whirlwind, asserting herself and not afraid to tell the Captain how beleaguered and desperate his children are for his approval and affection. All of this in the context of opulence, privilege and the encroaching threat of the Nazi regime.
Composed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, written by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, The Sound of Music, is a captivating, swoony, playful, endearing (and sometimes solemn) account of Maria’s odyssey, as she reaches a turning point. I was familiar with the musical, but surprised how profoundly moved I was by this production. Everything felt spontaneous, fresh, intuitive, as if hearing these songs for the first time. It seems this story of Mari, a nun, struggling with her identity, yet presented in more or less secular terms, has the power to convey warmth and genuine elation. The tingles and helpless chuckles and unexpected tears come. I felt some nuanced epiphany, that I hadn’t grasped before.
The Sound of Music finds the miraculous in the everyday (white dresses with blue satin sashes, jam and bread, packages tied up with strings) but it’s also about character. The Captain isn’t a curmudgeon, he’s lost and grieving. Liesl isn’t a delinquent, she’s dealing with her first grown up feelings. Maria isn’t a rebel, she’s discovering her own, unique expression of grace and kindness, in the big, often hostile world.
Director Kevin Moriarty has orchestrated a cast that’s poised, authentic, involved and avid. None of the blocking, or lines, or gestures, feel forced or cringeworthy. Tiffany Solano, as Maria, is never spunky or vapid or (ugh!) sassy. Rather her energy, her belief in the rightness of caring, her effusive, sublime demeanor come from a place of humanity.
This staging is aimed at adults, but utterly there for children,too. In the midst of the show, I looked over and saw a lad, no bigger than a minute, sitting in his dad’s lap, tucked up. He was small, yet his eyes were so big. I think Mr. Moriarty, like the father, has given us this space, gentle and safe, where can witness the palpable yes of what being alive means. And of course, we are that boy, quietly in awe.
The Dallas Theatre Center presents The Sound of Music, playing March -26th -April 24th, 2022. Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, 2400 Flora Street, Dallas, Texas 75201. 214-522-8499.