Hello again all, since my last post not much really has happened of such significance due to work taking most of my time up, however, last weekend I took a break with my missus as we managed to get hold of some extremely hard to get tickets to go and see The Sound of Music on London’s West End on it’s official opening weekend.

Considering I’m not as huge a musical fan as my missus, I have decided to hand over to her for this blog posting, as I’m sure what I have got to say about the musical simply wont do it justice in her eyes So without further ado I hand over to Rachel for her opinion on the performance.

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The “AMAZING” Sound of Music starring the winner of “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria” Connie Fisher

Alex and I had the opportunity to go to London on the 17th November to watch Connie Fisher (Maria Rainer) and Alexander Hanson (Captain Georg Von Trapp) star in this superb musical. From start to finish it was a pure joy to watch.

The scenery was complimentary to the show and used extremely well throughout. I won’t spoil it for anybody who is planning on going to see the show, but the opening scene is brilliant! The Sound of Music is my favourite musical and I voted for Connie several times to win during the BBC 1 show. When she won, I HAD to go and watch this at the London Palladium. I was a little nervous at first before it started as I love the film so much starring Julie Andrews that I didn’t want them to change it too much or even worse ruin it. However when the curtain went up and Connie started to sing and move around the stage, all my doubts had gone. Connie definitely suits the role extremely well for the part of Maria. Andrew Lloyd Webber definitely solved the problem

Before the show started there were a number of setbacks that could have delayed the show from starting on the date of release which was the 15th November. The role of Captain Von Trapp was originally meant to be played by Simon Shepherd but left on even terms as he didn’t suit the role well. He was replaced by Alexander Hanson who had just NINE days to fit into the role of the Captain. However he is a man of stiff-necked naval rectitude who slowly melts under the benign influence of Maria and does it well. There was also the problem of the understudy of Maria, Emma Williams dropped out after the BBC 1 show finished as Connie wanted to perform all eight shows a week and wanted to prove to critics that she could do it.

There are seven children that star in this musical and each one of them deserves their role. There was Dora Gee who played five year old Gretl, who at the age of six has an amazing voice and confidence to sing and act in front of a large audience. This is Dora’s first acting job, but I can’t see it being her last. Emily Lane plays six year old, nearly seven year old Marta who at seven herself plays the role extremely well. This is also her first professional role. Olivia Gould plays Brigitta really well. She adds humour to the role and has a lovely voice. This is her west end debut. The role of Kurt was played by Michael Parsons a twelve year old who has starred in the film “That Summer Day”. Michael is a fantastic actor and a great singer who can indeed hit the high soprano note in the well known song, “So Long Farewell”. Louisa was played by thirteen year old Christine Tucker who is no novice to the stage as she has also played the role of Jemima in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also at the London Palladium. Thirteen year old Joe Cooper played the role of Friedrich who has also performed in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a sewer kid and has starred in the role of Gavroche in Les Miserables. Sophie Bould has an amazing voice and she plays sixteen year old Liesl she has starred in a number of theatre roles and has also appeared in the hospital drama “Holby City”. All the children are a delight to watch and in parts I felt myself tear up.

Operatic singer Lesley Garrett singer takes on the role of the Mother Abbess. She certainly has the voice for the part. During “Climb Every Mountain” she made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. She also sings “Raindrops on Roses” which is a fantastic performance by both Lesley and Connie which is performed later on by Connie and the children.

There are a few new songs they have added to the script which I enjoyed, Ian Gelder and Lauren Ward (Max and the baroness) also sing which shows a softer side to them. The way that the Baroness is portrayed in the theatre version is a lot different to how she is seen in the film. In the film she is portrayed as being somebody who dislikes children and can’t wait to send them off to boarding school. However in the theatre version she gets along fine with the children, and they seemed to like her. The reason the captain doesn’t marry her is because she believed that Captain Von Trapp should accept the regime from the Germans instead of fighting it. However both versions made perfect sense.

I love going to the theatre to watch musicals, I have seen quite a few now in London, Manchester and in New York . My top five favourite musicals on the stage are:-

1. The Sound Of Music
2. The Producers
3. My Fair Lady
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. Grease

I definitely recommend that if you like musicals you have to get tickets to watch all of these shows, especially the sound of music. My mum also loves musicals so for Mother’s day I have bought another 2 tickets to take her to see it.

Connie was the one that suited the role best compared to the others in the tv show “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria.” However I wish the other’s luck with whatever they decide to do in their future and it all works out for them.

I wish all the best to Connie and hope that she’s in the theatre business for a long time as she thoroughly deserves it.

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Well there you go, a better review then I could have written and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend as well, shame about the week that followed it I hope you all enjoyed the review, and I have to back Rachel up on her words, even though I don’t follow musicals half as much as she does, this is definitely one to watch

So that’s it for this post, but no doubt you’ll hear from me again soon, now don’t go demanding Rachel writes instead of me each week… I try my best lol Take care for now and will be back soon.