Ensemble Arts Philly and the Shubert Organization present The Sound of Music

The production represents a rarity these days: a lavish, no-expense-spared bespoke national tour. No Broadway engagement has yet been announced, with road dates scheduled throughout the country well into 2027. The producers haven’t skimped on talent or spectacle, though, engaging Tony-winning director Jack O’Brien to deliver a fresh take on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved story.

Transported to Austria

The scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt takes your breath away, transporting the audience to the verdant Austrian countryside circa 1938. Schmidt smartly uses painted flats—lifelike and picturesque at once—to evoke the landscape, which not only lends a naturalistic air to the proceedings, but no doubt makes the production easy to move from city to city. Jane Greenwood’s costumes capture character with ease, from Maria’s whimsy to Captain Von Trapp’s rigidity and the innocence of the family’s children. Natasha Katz’s lighting heightens every scene, with special poignance when sunbeams penetrate the cloistered walls of Maria’s abbey.

Capaldi, making her national tour debut, moves effortlessly from a shimmering legit soprano in the title number to the gutsy chest tones of “The Lonely Goatherd”, complete with a lovely yodel. She and Kevin Earley’s Captain Von Trapp make the pair’s budding romance feel natural and inevitable at once, and Earley delivers the gradual dropping of the Captain’s guard with genuine pathos. The large ensemble is notable for brilliant singing (Ariana Ferch’s lovely Liesl) and spirited acting (Kate Loprest makes Baroness Schraeder more sympathetic and dimensional than usual), and the children are, to a kid, delightful. Broadway veteran Christiane Noll is a warm and loving Mother Abbess, though her high notes have hardened somewhat with time.

A principled stand endures

Despite its wholesomeness, The Sound of Music has never been a simple diversion. Rodgers and Hammerstein took seriously the subjects of democracy and fascism—South Pacific won them a Pulitzer Prize, after all—and this musical embeds the worthwhile message of fighting against oppression, even when it feels like you’re alone in taking a principled stand. Earley’s performance portrays Captain Von Trapp often as an island unto himself, the sole man who won’t bend to the anschluss, and that position feels ever relevant today.

O’Brien’s direction doesn’t underline the material’s subtext or beat the audience over the head with the show’s clear stance. In a way, the message seems all the more striking when presented simply, alongside the songs we’ve had memorized since childhood. When Captain Von Trapp calmly but definitively ends his association with Baroness Schraeder, disappointed by her willingness to collaborate, the finality is chilling. When Nazi flags drop from the ceiling, they don’t necessarily elicit shock. The musical presents a choice, and it shows how people react in its wake. It’s a subtle, powerful reminder that even art that feels quaint can carry serious implications.

The Sound of Music runs in Philly only through Sunday, April 5. Go and enjoy. Remember why you fell in love with this piece in the first place. And remind yourself, too, of the musical’s meaning. There is always a choice, and there is always a path forward.

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