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First
Time’s a Charm:
The Sound of Music fills the
historic Grange Theater in the first production by the new Hood River
Valley Playhouse
Photos
by Esther Smith
Joyous Von Trapp children rush to their
previously emotionless father after he joins with them in song. From
left are Brigham Webster (Kurt, hidden), Cayenne Ellis (Brigitta),
Alex Jubitz (Friedrich), Lauryn Despain (Gretl), April Sampson (Liesl),
Devyn Landry (Louisa), Andre Young (Capt. Von Trapp), and Emma Vance
(Marta). |
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By ESTHER SMITH
News staff writer
July 5, 2006
Eighteen months ago three local women
set out to create a “legacy of uplifting experiences in theater” to
the valley, and with the debut Friday evening of their first
production, “The Sound of Music,” they have succeeded so far.
NeCole Webster, Cara Vance and Katherine Arbon, co-founders of the new
Hood River Valley Playhouse, have taken a 100-year-old grange building
and somehow managed to transform it into a believable setting for the
story of the Von Trapp family, made famous by the 1959 Broadway and
1965 movie musicals.
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Suggested by “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers”
PLAY DATES
July 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 & 15
Pine Grove Grange
Curtain rises at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets ($15 adult, $10 children 5-12)
available at Waucoma Bookstore.
To do this, they had to extend the stage, create dressing rooms, bring
in sound and lighting experts, and find a way to keep the uninsulated
building comfortable in the July heat — which they did, with window
air-conditioning units.
With impressive voice talents and acting, creative set design — which
often embraces the audience right into the scene — and live musical
accompaniment, the maiden production of the Hood River Valley
Playhouse is indeed an uplifting experience.
Sisters in the Abbey sing “(How do you
solve a problem like) Maria.” From left are Heather Burns (Sister
Margaretta), Melanie Chapman (Sister Sophia), Cloris Mullins (the
Mother Abbess), and Rachel Weatherly (Sister Berthe).
Most of the familiar songs from the movie are included in this
production, including The Sound of Music, Maria, I Have Confidence, Do
Re Mi, My Favorite Things, Edelweiss, Climb Every Mountain, and
others.
While most of the action is upstairs in the theater, there is also
much to see downstairs. On display are artifacts of the period, such
as a Nazi flag captured on D-Day and a program from the Broadway
production that is signed by Mary Martin; and Austrian costumes. Each
of the actors has a biography on display, and a little history of the
grange building is available.
Maria (Amber Brennan) hands the whistle
she was
given back to the Captain (Young), saying it was
not for humans.
The play will run July 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14, 15, with the curtain rising
at 7:30.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 5-12 (children
younger than 5 will not be admitted), and are available at Waucoma
Bookstore in Hood River and Klindt’s Booksellers in The Dalles.
Proceeds will benefit the Children’s Orthodontic Fund of the
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital Foundation and the restoration
of the historic grange building. |
