As you can see, many Abington Heights students wanted to become involved with ‘the Sound of Music’ production.
The children of the Von Trapp family are played by students from Abington Heights High School, with the youngest family members on loan from other schools in the district. Shown on the floor are, at left, Sadie Myfanwy Sespico (Gretl) and on the floor at right, Emily McCurrin (Marta). Sitting on the couch are, from left: Abby Theony (Brigitta), Kellan Tomachick (Kurt), Gabi Snyder (Louisa). Standing are Jack Neher (Friedrich), and Ana Butovich (Liesel).
In ‘The Sound of Music’ Maria (played by Aniyah Mendez) will help the widower Captain Georg Von Trapp (Cayd Sespico) bring music back into his life and learn to love again.
Shown from left in the Abington Heights production of ‘The Sound of Music’ are, from left: John Roman Vachino (Max Detweiler), Aniyah Mendez (Maria Rainer), Delia Davis (Ursula, the family maid), and Cayd Sespico (Captain Georg Van Trapp).
“I was beyond thrilled. Tears of joy,” Aniyah Mendez said, remembering the day she found out she would have the role of Maria in the Abington Heights High School production of “The Sound of Music.”
“I can relate to Maria,” she continued. “I feel like I’m playing myself.”
The character of Maria Rainer, who becomes Maria Von Trapp, is endearing to many people who have seen her in stage musicals, like the one set for April 11-13 at Abington Heights, or in the 1965 movie version that starred Julie Andrews.
“I think people like how much music is her thing, and how she uses it to cheer other people up,” Aniyah said
When Maria leaves the convent where she had been in training to become a nun and accepts a job as governess to seven young siblings, Aniyah added, “she sees these kids need music, they need joy, they need to act like real children.”
If they’re not acting “like real children” when Maria first encounters Liesel, Friedrich, Louisa, Brigitta, Marta, Kurt and Gretel, that likely is because of the way their father, Georg, treats them.
“At first he’s very strict,” said Cayd Sespico, who plays Captain Georg Von Trapp. “He’s a Naval officer and he treats his kids as if they’re in the military …. He lost his wife, too, and he cut off that (joyful, music-loving) part of himself. He changes throughout the play.”
While Captain Von Trapp can come across as stern and formal in the early scenes, family friend Max Detweiler is anything but.
“He’s a lot of fun,” said John Roman Vachino, who plays Max. “He’s getting up to mischief and he’s nosy. But in the end he does help the Von Trapps. He sets up the family to sing at a festival and while they’re singing they’re exiting.”
In this pivotal part of the plot, the Von Trapp family is desperately trying to leave their beloved homeland of Austria, to get away from the Nazis who want Captain Von Trapp to be part of their military forces.
“Max prolongs a really long speech so they have time to escape,” John Roman said.
While that may sound familiar to audience members who have seen “The Sound of Music” movie, there are other parts of the stage musical that differ from the film.
In the stage musical, for example, audiences will hear Max sing a duet with the captain’s fiancee, Elsa, played by Siena Bossi,
“We’re kind of a dynamic duo,” John Roman said, noting that in past productions he and Siena have portrayed the villainous Rooster and Miss Hannigan in “Annie” as well as the title characters in “Beauty and the Beast.”
Another difference between film and stage is the timing of the song “The Lonely Goatherd,” which is one of Aniyah Mendez’s favourites. Instead of singing it as part of a marionette show as in the movie, Maria and the children sing it when they all end up clustered together in Maria’s bedroom, comforting each other during a thunderstorm.
The evening of the thunderstorm also is when oldest Von Trapp daughter Liesel sings and dances out in a gazebo with delivery boy Rolf.
“It’s a very interesting dynamic,” said Logan Kerrigan, who plays Rolf. “They start out as two kids hopelessly in love, and even though he’s just a year older he’s had to grow up faster. He’s becoming a soldier for the Third Reich. He knows the dark realities of the world.”
Liesel, portrayed by Ana Butovich, is Logan’s partner in that scene, joining him for “a super fun, great active dance. The whole number revolves around a bench. We’re sitting on it. We’re jumping onto it. We’re jumping off it.”
“I guarantee people are going to love it,” Logan said of the young lovers’ big number, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.”
Other songs that people likely will love include “Do Re Mi,” “Climb Every Mountain,” “My Favorite Things,” and the title song “The Sound of Music.”
“I love the music,” said Aiden Covell, who plays cello for the production. “It’s very upbeat, very fun to play and very well written by Rodgers & Hammerstein, some of the greatest composers.”
Aiden is part of the pit orchestra, where a mix of students and professional adult musicians from the community all play together.
Director Michael Boylan, who teaches social studies and government at Abington Heights, is delighted to see how hard the cast and crew are working, and how well the rehearsals are progressing.
“We have a very strong cast and crew,” he said, adding the woman who played Brigitta in the movie sent a message wishing the Abington Heights students luck.
“The music is so well known,” Boylan said, “and the story itself is a good story about overcoming loss, love of country and love of family.”
Boylan, in his fifth year of directing high school plays, is also pleased to be using digital images as backdrops for the action. “You are literally looking at a picture of the Alps, or the church, or inside the house.”
Bringing the show to the stage in addition to director Michael Boylan are Allison Covell, producer; Olivia Campbell and Dana Boylan, musical directors; Michael Lesnesky, pit conductor; Cathy Johnson and Heather Bluhm, props & costume directors, and Christina Sohns-Williams, choreographer.
Show times are 7 p.m. April 11; 7 p.m. April 12 and 2 p.m. April 13. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets are on sale in the high school’s main office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. Tickets will also be sold at the door before each show.
