After many weeks of preparation, ‘The Sound of Music’ had its opening weekend. The play began on Friday, November 10 and ended on Sunday, November 12.
The Sound of Music is a musical film based on the true story of the von Trapp family.
The show is set in the late 1930s when Austria was under threat from the Nazis. The story follows Maria, a young Austrian woman, who becomes a governess for the von Trapp family and introduces music to the family.
Music Director Julie Parrish said, “I would say I feel like the show met my expectations. One thing that I wish had gone a little differently or better would be that I wish we had a larger audience. It wasn’t that the audience was small, but compared to Elf, it was a bit smaller.”
This was the first year that Mrs. Parrish didn’t bring in outside people for the pit orchestra. The pit orchestra was completely filled by JC students and staff including Mrs. Parrish, Band Director Casey Novak, and Rock Band Director Gregory Russell.
Mrs. Parrish said, “The pit orchestra exceeded my expectations. This was the first time in a very, very long time, or ever, that I didn’t have community musicians brought into the pit. The pit was entirely students, and they did a really good job, and I was really proud of them.”
Senior Maria Araujo portrayed Liesl, the eldest daughter of Georg von Trapp. Liesl is a teenager who is discovering love for the first time while also handling life at home.
Maria said, “I think my favorite scene was ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’ because it truly showed my character’s personality and how when she fell in love, she fell hard. I also really enjoyed being able to dance in the show, especially since it’s not a dance-filled show. Finally, this scene was also my favorite because I was able to share the stage with one of my talented friends, Dom, which made the scene itself a lot more fun for me.”
Throughout the preparation, there were many people helping the students along the way, including Director Larry Hensley. Mr. Hensley said they faced some challenges such as “many scheduling conflicts with actors [which] prevented us at times from staying on schedule and advancing with the completion of the production.”
Mr. Hensley said, “I chose The Sound of Music due to its popularity and being known very well by many people of all ages. The Sound of Music is also considered a musical classic, and I felt it was important to introduce this great piece to our student actors.”
Freshman Sarajane Roarty played the lead role of Fraulein Maria. She said that to prepare for the show, she went to her voice teacher. “I did the warm-ups that I always do with her.”
A lot of Sarajane’s scenes involved the children actors from outside of JC. “My favorite scene was ‘Do Re Mi’ because of the kids. They were my favorite part of the show.”
“Personally, I was only stressed with starting at a new school, but everyone was so welcoming and kind, so the transition was easy,” she commented.