Every year in the Thomas Worthington theater department, there is a mainstage musical in the Hottenroth Auditorium. The Hottenroth has been the stage for all of the shows this year because of the black box theatre being rebuilt, but mainstage musicals have always been there. This year, the musical is The Sound of Music. The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is about a nun postulant being sent to a rich man’s house to be the governess of his seven kids.
Charlotte Larson is the star, as she plays Maria, the postulant. Larson, a senior, played the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical: The Musical last year. The ensemble of The Sound of Music is mostly the nuns Larson’s character lived with, including four big roles. Marina McCreary plays Mother Abbas. She was George Reed in 1776, a musical two years ago and Big Mary in Stage Door last December. Carleigh Traverse, Mars Scott, and Angelina Milanov play the other main nuns. Of all the kids Larson’s character is the governess of, Louisa is the third oldest. Louisa is played by Sam Witherspoon, who played Tony in Stage Door. The rich man, Captain Von Trapp, played by Chase Kucinski, has a rich friend, Baroness Elsa, played by Mollie Geiger. The Captain’s relative, Max is played by Griffin Mykel, a junior new to the theater department. Lastly, the Von Trapp’s housekeeper, Frau Schmidt, is played by Kate Garret, who was the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.
Some actors knew the musical well before rehearsals and others didn’t. Amelia Hudson, a postulant, has “watched [the movie] several times,” while another postulant, Charlie Knape, hasn’t seen it. Despite different levels of knowledge of the movie, the cast has enjoyed being in the show. McCreary said the nuns’ Latin singing “has really grown on [her]” and has enjoyed “being the wise old lady around.” Witherspoon thinks Louisa fits her because “she’s a silly little prankster.” Mykel also thinks Max is like him because he’s “eccentric, which [Mykel thinks] is a part of [himself that he] really likes to play out.” While the actors have different favorite parts of the show, several said their favorite was the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.”
The Sound of Music will be performed on February sixteenth through eighteenth in the Hottenroth. The shows on the sixteenth and seventeenth will be at seven thirty pm and the show on the eighteenth will be at two pm. Tickets can be bought now.
