You know what to expect from The Sound of Music (nuns, Nazis, Do-Re-Mi) – but Nikolai Foster’s richly entertaining revival honours its serious intent. The real-life story of the Von Trapp family’s flight from occupied Austria may contain lashings of melody and a prickle-eyed love story – but it also becomes a tale of personal loss, political integrity and the healing power of music.
This was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s final musical together – Hammerstein, the lyricist, died just months after the opening in 1959 – and the tunes don’t hang about. The title song launches a first half driven by Maria’s dreams and desires, especially her love for the widowed Captain von Trapp. Molly Lynch’s tremendous Maria, scrambling through pools and over rocks on Michael Taylor’s mountain set, has rambunctious vim – more pagan than pious. Endearingly full-throttle, she launches into her numbers with a guitar hero flourish.
