Review by Luke Graham

Wimborne Musical Theatre Society’s latest show is a brilliant performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic ‘The Sound of Music’.

The society has been performing for over 50 years and that heritage was on display in this very professional production.

Set against the backdrop of 1930s Nazi-occupied Austria, ‘The Sound of Music’ tells the story of Maria Rainer, a free-spirited young woman whose aspiration to become a nun is derailed when she takes the job of governess to the seven von Trapp children.

Lauren Ferger-Andrews is excellent in the iconic role of Maria, made famous by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film. Lauren portrays Maria as mischievous and cheeky, and her singing was wonderful.

David Cooper was brilliant as Captain von Trapp. He had an incredibly stage presence and perfectly captured the Captain’s transformation from the stern and distant authority figure to the softer, more loving father.

Selina Rumbold was also amazing as the Mother Abbess. Her performance of ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’ at the end of Act One was powerful and moving.

All seven von Trapp children charmed the audience with their singing, dancing and acting, especially the youngest members of the cast. None seemed intimidated by the large audience who attended the opening night. A very professional bunch.

In fact, the whole cast was exceptional. Well done to director Duncan Trew, musical director and conductor Alastair Hume and choreographer Jenny Jalie for managing this huge cast.

There were some technical issues with mics and scene changes which will hopefully be ironed out in future performances, and the scenery was rather minimalist (perhaps necessary with so many scene changes), but I was impressed by the large backdrop painting of the Salzburg mountains and valley.

The show is dedicated to Sylvia Walpole, who was chairman of the society for 25 years but sadly passed away in February this year.

Reviewed by Andrea Pellegrini

Set in Austria, the beloved story of The Sound Of Music follows the story of Maria, a girl who is failing miserably at becoming a nun, who is sent to look after the Von Trapp children and become their governess whilst falling in love with their father. A fictional account of a true story. Brought to life in the movie of the same name by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The show opens with the Nuns of Nonnberg Abbey singing ‘Preludium’ with absolute perfection. The harmonies were amazing and I can honestly say I had goosebumps. The nuns did tremendously with all their numbers. All with wonderful vocals, particularly Selina Rumbold playing Mother Abbess, she was a joy to watch, her rendition of ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’ was just beautiful. ‘Maria’ was another stand out from the nuns with lovely vocals from Linda Robbins, Pam Mizon and Jemma Cable.

Special mention to The Band who were fabulous, such a joy to watch a musical with live music!

In this evening’s performance we had the children from the blue team, who were all wonderful. They sang and danced beautifully, all with great expression and showing off the personalities in their characters. They really lit up the stage and gave such impressive performances, well done to all!

Rosie Nye, playing the eldest Von Trapp child, Liesl, shone with such beautiful vocals, her relationship with James Bourner (Rolf Gruber) worked really well and I enjoyed their duet.

David Cooper was perfect in his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp and it was lovely to see his character soften as the story unfolded. Such stage presence and a lovely rich singing voice to boot.

Lauren Ferger-Andrews played Maria in quite a cheeky way which accentuated the sternness of Von Trapp, which worked really well. Her vocals were absolutely stunning and she captivated the audience in every number.

Julie Gower really bought some fun and comedy to her role of Elsa Schrader, great stage presence from her.

Everyone involved in the show should be really proud of themselves, I came away with such a heartwarming feeling and wanting to watch the film again!

The musical numbers, including all the favourites, ‘Maria’, ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Do Re Mi’, ‘So Long Farewell’, were all sung to perfection, lovers of The Sound Of Music will not be disappointed!

My only bug bears were some mic and sound issues, which will hopefully be ironed out for the next performances, and the set was a little more basic than I expected, but given there were a lot of scene changes I do understand that this would have been difficult to get around.

All in all, a great production and wonderful performances from all involved.

This evening’s show was packed out! Hopefully you can get a ticket, you won’t be disappointed!