Sound of Music: a classic story played out in Bigfork
If Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were to write Sound of Music today, what would be the story line?
Watching the classic musical played out last week in Bigfork, I had to ponder what would be a new-age adaptation of the score.
Who would Maria, the lovelorn heroine of the Sound of Music, be in today’s translation? Perhaps a single mom searching for love and acceptance. And Georg Von Trapp, without a personal struggle to fight and a country to flee, what is to become of the single father who abandons his country (kids in tow) in defense of his beliefs?
The timeless love story of the Sound of Music is being played out on the stage of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse and it’s a show you should catch on your summer vacation.
The Thomson family has done a fine job of selecting actors this summer. There’s a consistent thread of quality woven through the plays I’ve seen this summer, and Sound of Music shines with the voices and acting from this year’s troupe.
Caleb Jernigan, as Georg Von Trapp, plays the staunch, stoic captain who, as head of the household, uses a whistle to call his children. It’s the first opportunity Maria takes to exert her power over Georg, who realizes maybe a gentler, kinder approach to child rearing might be appropriate.
Georg slowly falls under the spell of love with Maria, and is smitten by her presence. His voice warms into a rich baritone, carrying us through Edelweiss, that heart-wrenching love song he sings as he’s about to leave his beloved country to escape Nazi rule.
Many of the people in the audience at the show I attended were families, and the story of the strength of family is played out quite well in The Sound of Music. Playing a key role in that theme are the Von Trapp children. Nate Barrow, Bria Anderson, Olivia Martel, Emma Anderson, Chase Coggins and Emma Linn— all members of the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre — bring their roles to life. Emma Linn, as Gretl, and Chase Coggins, as Kurt, show us how much fun they’re having in their roles. They help make Sound of Music a pure joy to watch. All of this art taking place in downtown Bigfork makes me appreciate how lucky we are to live in an enchanted village on Flathead Lake.
We never know what happens to Maria, Georg and the kids after they escape the abbey’s cemetery and into those mountains they know so well.
But we do know that The Sound of Music is guaranteed to bring us a timeless story of love, honor, faith and loss. Somehow those themes always ring true, no matter the decade.