The Sound of Music  

Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ, December 4, 2022

Reviewed by Chip Deffaa

To my surprise, my eyes welled up with tears several times while watching the Paper Mill Playhouse’s new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, which is running through January 1,2023. I would never have anticipated I could have been so moved by a production of a well-known musical that I have seen on stage so many times and in so many places over the years. I’ve caught assorted productions of The Sound of Music on Broadway, at Paper Mill, at Westchester Broadway, at Stage Door Manor, and so on. This production—fresh, spirited, sincere, well-staged, and well-sung—moved me as much as or more than any production of the show that I had ever seen.

I’ve been going to shows at Paper Mill since the 1970s. I was also very happily surprised to find that this is one of the most rewarding productions of any show that I’ve seen there.  It’s well-paced. The story telling is clear. It’s filled with life. Mark Hoebee, who is the artistic director of Paper Mill, has directed this production, and he’s given us much to love. 

This is a big production, with more than 30 actors on stage and 16 musicians (plus conductor Meghann Zervoulis Bate) in the pit. The score includes such famous numbers from the original production as “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” and “The Sound of Music,” as well as two numbers which were written for the 1965 film adaptation but have often been included in stage productions since then, “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good.” The show is attractively mounted, with a runway going around the orchestra pit from the main stage—I like that!—and Hoebee puts it to good use.

I’m not going to summarize the musical’s plot. I’m sure most people who are reading this review have, at some point, seen The Sound of Music on stage or on screen. (For 20 years, ABC-TV has made it a Christmas tradition to broadcast the popular film starring Julie Andrews; you can next catch the movie on ABC on December 18, 2022 at 7 pm Eastern Time.) 

The Sound of Music is a wonderfully open-hearted show. Some of my more cynical friends consider it old-fashioned. Well, it is sentimental—there is no irony in it—but it is honest sentiment, and, if you’re open to it, the show will touch you.

Hoebee clearly “gets” this show. He appreciates its strengths, and fully respecting the creators’ intentions, he lets the story tell itself with an appealing naturalness. If you trust the words and music, as Hoebee so clearly does, the show can work its magic. 

No attempt has been made to update the script (as is so often done these days with revivals of older musicals), nor is there any need to update the writing. Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who wrote the libretto in 1959, were consummate Broadway pros; they knew how to tell a story engagingly, with moral clarity and with great economy. So the text remains as it has long been. 

Hoebee has updated the production in one sense, though; and it works out very well. He has cast the show in a color-blind way, which no one would have thought of doing when it was first presented on Broadway in 1959. There are people of color in this production; that’s progress. (The characters in the original Broadway production—like the real-life Austrian individuals who inspired the show—were all white.) 

The actor Hoebee has cast to star as Maria, Ashley Blanchet, happens to be Black. She also happens to be absolutely wonderful in the role. I enjoyed her as much as I’ve enjoyed anyone I’ve ever seen play the role on stage. She has a full-bodied, warm, vibrant soprano that is just beautiful. She hits every note with ease, and she fits the role perfectly.

It’s easy for us to see why the seven von Trapp children fall in love her (and say she’s the best governess they’ve ever had). It’s easy to see why Captain Georg von Trapp, who’s so aloof at first, eventually falls in love with her, too. It’d because we, as audience members, are falling in love with her. Blanchet is not well-known yet. But in Blanchet, whom Hoebee previously picked to star in his production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Hoebee has found a star.

Graham Rowat certainly has good chemistry with Blanchet—almost too good a chemistry. (We get the feeling, almost immediately, that he and Maria would be a good match.) Still, the show would work better if von Trapp is played a little less likably in the early part; the more he comes across at first as a martinet who seems incapable of showing love to anyone, the more tension is created, and the greater is the emotional payoff when he finally falls for Maria.) He’s believable throughout, whether falling in love with Maria or taking an admirably principled stand against the Nazis.

The seven von Trapp kids in this production are great fun—wonderfully unaffected and unspoiled. Too often child actors in shows are working too hard at acting, or at trying to be cute; these kids, happily, seem like real kids.

I usually happen to know some performers in shows I see; it’s a small community, so I know a couple of the performers in this show. Full disclosure time: I’ve been lucky enough to have Analise Scarpaci, who plays Liesl von Trapp in this production, do some recording for me; so I may be a little biased in her favor. But, I love the way her voice just flows; she’s got such a lyrical quality. While she’s a veteran of three Broadway shows, I think her featured song in this show, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” fits her better; it suits her strengths better than anything she’s gotten to do on Broadway. I really liked hearing her on it. I think she adds a lot to the show. She’s young, but she is already a seasoned pro.

Gavin Lee found every laugh in his witty portrayal of Max Detweiler, and Emily Borromeo was effective as Elsa Schrader. Both created sympathetic characters. That’s one valid choice. I’ve also seen some other actors playing those roles make another valid choice, which is to play those characters not quite so likeably, to place a bit more emphasis on their opportunistic traits, on their self-serving willingness to go along with the Nazis. Personally, I think the latter choice—adding more touches of darkness—works better. It heightens the sense of danger facing the von Trapps. But I enjoyed the whole production so much, I don’t want to put too sharp a point on that criticism. 

The sound design for the production, I might add, was excellent; every word, whether spoken or sung, came through clearly. There were a few minor technical glitches on opening night, such as mikes cutting out for a moment, a time or two, but overall, this was a terrific opening night. 

What a wonderful production for the whole family Paper Mill is providing. It’s a terrific holiday offering, and to me, The Sound of Music feels more timely than ever.