Ghs

As our humble history and tradition goes here at Gloucester High School, The Sound of Music takes the stage as this year’s spring musical production. The show opened up on Thursday, May 2nd, to a packed and overwhelming amazed audience, as well as golden performances from cast members all around. The show will continue its run with a show on Friday, May 3rd, at 7:00, and two showings on Saturday, May 4th, at 2:00 and 7:00. Adult tickets are $10 and kids get in for $7.

Many remember The Sound of Music as the film starring astounding performances from Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. Whether the viewer be a nostalgic fan of the classic film or somebody who’s never heard of singing hills and female deer, the Gloucester High School renditioning of The Sound of Music has something for everybody.

“I don’t usually like musicals because of the overly campy feel to them,” said Maverick Garcia, a behind-the-scenes tech worker. “But I enjoy The Sound of Music for its more mature tones. The threats in this play feel real.”

Notable performances include Juniors Farren Winter and Bayleigh Albert as Maria, who both do a fantastic job in bringing that motherly energy to her character as a governess. Sophomores Devonte Garcia and Alec Daniel bring sophistication and impeccable style to their role as Captain Von Trapp, a strict naval captain with a heart of gold and a deep, bronze voice. Junior Zachary Hendrix commands the stage with his loud, barking Nazi persona.

It is clear after the first night that the GHS Theater Department has taken The Sound of Music and made it truly their own. The cast exerts fun and bright energy with an evident chemistry from months upon months of rehearsals and time spent together. Whether it be the trio of sassy nuns or the ominously in-character Nazi buddies, the performances are genuine and full of heart.

Afterall, it only makes sense. Many cast members are friends and fellow veterans to the show business. For Juniors Hailey Williams (Liesl) and Kenny Carter (Rolf), this certainly isn’t their first rodeo. Together, they display their experience in their fields of expertise in the duet piece, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”.

With Nazis, nuns, and motherless children, the plot of The Sound of Music actually isn’t too much of a far cry from last year’s The Seussical, despite the lack of those vibrant, neon colors and courageous Whos. It is common in both tales, the victims of oppressive regimes and the conflict that stems from obligation to an unfair political ideology.

Many cast members of this year’s musical also took part in last year’s The Seussical, which is plausibly the reason that our play this year feels so familiar, like something of our own, like a GHS Play. But at the same time, for every returning cast member, there are also the many missing cast members who either graduated or chose not to return.

Whatever it may be, The Sound of Music brings a familiar, hometown appeal to the stage, but also manages to bring something totally new and original. It truly feels our own.

With such talent and such a show on display, it’d be absolutely criminal, absolutely Nazi, to not see Our Sound of Music.