the hills are alive!

As a kid, there were two movies that i loved more than anything. Annie and The Sound of Music. the VHS tapes were watched and rewound. watched and rewound. lather, rinse, repeat. on a daily basis. i knew them both backwards and forwards. and spent much of my time reciting lines and acting out scenes. i even carried around tapes of the soundtracks and played them on my brown fisher price tape recorder. i remember, as a kid, fast-forwarding through the scene at the end, behind the church. it was way too scary.

When Emily was born, she was exposed to both these movies right from day one. she was soothed to the sounds of Rogers and Hammerstein. she knew the names of the Von Trapp children, in order, before she was 2.

my husband, who had three sisters of his own, and two daughters, and a wife, HAD NEVER SEEN IT. not even once.

i was thrilled beyond belief when our Mirvish subscription included tickets to see the Toronto production of The Sound of Music, featuring Elicia MacKenzie, the winner of CBC’s How  Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, the reality casting call show to choose the next Maria.

in a word, she was amazing. i mean, obviously, no Maria will ever hold a candle to Julie Andrews for me. she IS Maria, but Elicia MacKenzie was completely believable. she won the role, and she won my heart. Even Burke Moses, trying to fill the role of Christopher Plummer’s Captain Von Trapp, was great, even if he did sound a little used car salesman-like.

oh captain, my captain.

the children were divine. the sets were stunning.

i will admit to feeling slightly unsettled when, during the Salzburg festival scene, the entire theater was filled with swastika-covered canners and a canopy that covered the entire audience. the move was bold, sure, but certainly effective. (but, had i had my little fast-forward button, i may opted to use it)

The hills are certainly still alive with the sound of music! and i can’t wait to take Emily to see it. i just hope there are still tickets on sale.