The Times

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: San Jacinto College Marketing Mother Abbess (Lois Howell) describes the safety of the mountains to Maria (Sarah Hames) and Gretl (Kendall Mosley) in a scene from The Sound of Music.

Media Credit: Gavie Valerio Jackie Brothers who plays Frau Zeller and Jeremy Graves who plays a guard of honor complete the final touches.

The theatre is alive with The Sound of Music as the drama and music departments present a production of this classic and much loved musical.

Based on a true story, The Sound of Music tells of the challenges the Von Trapp family endured while living in Austria just before the rise of the Nazi regime and escaping to Switzerland after Hitler's armies invaded.

Maria Rainer, the protagonist of the musical, takes the position as governess to the seven children of a retired naval captain when her superior at the convent questions her dedication as a nun and in taking her vows. While carrying out her duties with the children, Maria comes to love them and soon finds herself also falling in love with Captain Georg von Trapp.

Fearful she will complicate the captain's future marriage to a baroness, Maria flees to the convent but shortly becomes persuaded by the children to return to the Von Trapp home. Soon, the captain and Maria marry; however, this happiness diminishes quickly when they learn the Nazis wish to recruit Captain Von Trapp. His unwillingness to join ranks with them then sets the stage for their journey to freedom through the Swiss Alps.

Jerry Ivins, drama department chair and director of The Sound of Music, found interest in the production after having successfully directed it a number of years ago at a community theatre.

Ivins took the traditional approach to the show with very little changes to the setting of the story. Purely for set purposes, minor modifications, such as placing a scene indoors rather than outdoors, were made so as to be able to smoothly transition from scene to scene.

"We tried to incorporate in our design a minimal amount of scene changes so as to not have a lot of curtains opening and closing," Ivins said.

The stage divides into three locations for the production. With the help of area lighting, the audience sees that one side serves as Mother Abbess' office while the opposite side serves as Maria's bedroom. The middle of the stage displays the main set of the Von Trapp grand villa with two curved staircases, where most of the play takes place.

Curt Meyer, set designer and technical director for the theatre, wanted an ornate set. The most challenging part about building, he said, proved to be the staircases because of their intricacy. Overall, he appreciates the work that the students did in constructing the set.

"I'm most proud of the kids' work because they built it," Meyer said. "They built and painted it; they did a really great job."

When casting for the show, the Von Trapp family in particular, Ivins learned the task would be challenging.

"A show this size makes decisions a lot more difficult because of the 200 folks that auditioned, about 130 of them didn't get cast," Ivins said. "And that's tough because usually we cast almost every single person that crosses our door."

For those who auditioned, having strong singing abilities proved crucial in casting. Because the music of the production can in some ways be very operatic, Ivins said they had to have great vocal control and volume.

Ivins double cast the roles of the Von Trapp family so as to give more opportunity to those who auditioned to be in the play.

A unique aspect of this production, four of the nine Von Trapps are in actuality, family members.

Paul Busselberg, music department chair and choir professor at Central, plays Georg von Trapp while his wife Rebecca Pyper-Busselberg, an adjunct faculty member who teaches voice in the music department, plays Maria. Their children, Camilla and Caroline Busselberg, earned the roles of two of the children; Camilla acts as Louisa, and Caroline acts as Brigitta.

In addition to the need for strong vocal talents, Sound of Music would be nothing without the latter part of the title. For the music, students in the college's musical theatre course, taught by Karen Marsten, compose a 10-piece orchestra that plays along with the production.

One of the tougher features for production turned out to be costuming. Much research had to be conducted for the military uniforms and especially the nun costumes.

Richard Turner, costume designer and theatre generalist for the college, and Ivins discovered in their research that nuns' habits change depending on the sect and monastery. In that, they had to figure out what their dress looked like in the time period the musical takes place and at the Nonnberg Abbey where Maria stayed.

"What we thought was going to be easier costuming actually turned out to be one of the most difficult because everything had to be hand sewn and hand made, even down to the Nazi costumes," Ivins said.

The Sound of Music plays in Slocomb Auditorium through March 9 Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 or $13 for tickets bought two days in advance.

"We hope the audience gets a warm feeling," Ivins said about the show. "This play is very much about succeeding in very dark times when things seem to be all against you, and in that regard, it's a very powerful story."

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