By Elizabeth Brannon
Marcus High School presented The Sound of Music Jan. 31-Feb. 3; and, if you didn’t attend, you missed a wonderful show and production.
For a lot of people, the movie, The Sound of Music, plays annually at family gatherings– not just in Texas, but around the globe. Many of us can sing every note and every word of every song from the show and have been able to do so since the movie premiered in 1965.
In addition to seeing the movie more than a few dozen times, I’ve seen stage productions as well, so I wondered how our high school would present this well-known and much-loved musical.
I was beyond amazed at the quality of the voices on stage. From the charming and solid elementary and middle school performers, to the gloriously talented high school performers, the show had no weak-links and the actors carried the story convincingly.
The nuns were particularly entertaining and the audience seemed to love all their appearances on stage. The biggest take-away for me was the talent of all these singers and actors … so young and so much to offer to the arts and to the community.
One of the things I appreciated about this production was the reason Captain Von Trapp and Elsa went their separate ways. In this production, it was clearly about political issues and loyalties.
In the movie, their break-up is attributed to Von Trapp falling in love with Maria. I felt this production was more true to the situation in 1939; and, I respected Marcus for presenting a more correct and thought-provoking scenario than Hollywood did.
I had seen something on Facebook about Savannah De Crow, the high school junior who played Maria. The FB article suggested Broadway needed to make way for Savannah and I agree!
Savannah comes from a long line of musical singers, performers and entertainers, so her talents are not a surprise. But Savannah is one of those who should be called “gifted,” not just “talented.” Her voice is mature, lovely and a welcome sound every time she sings. Bravo!
There were 133+ students presenting the show– on stage, in the orchestra pit and back stage. The musicians were great. Apparently the reason the show started late was microphone problems, but nothing got in the way of enjoying the show.
The movie version has placed the Alps and spectacular scenery and mansions in our minds, so it’s a new show when there aren’t the natural beauties of Austria and the grand scale of the outdoors to entertain.
It means the sets have to be more clever and manageable in order to stage this show. Kudos to the scenery artists, stage crew and technicians who brought this show to life. It was well done and they successfully created scenes with minimal props and backdrops. The technical crew did their job– to make sure the show went on as planned and was an artistic and entertaining success.
All in all, this was a great way to spend an afternoon; enjoying the many talents of our young residents and seeing the handiwork of the educators we’re lucky to have in Flower Mound. We’ve already mentioned that the LISD Arts Programs are known state-wide for artistic excellence and this production made it easy to understand the accolades LISD gets.
As the schools in Flower Mound/LISD offer art events– from band, to orchestra, theater, dance, drill team, writing and fine arts exhibits– it would be terrific for arts-conscious residents to attend and support these programs on a regular basis.
It’s not always easy to know when the events are happening; and, you have to look around to find out. [Editor: the websites for each school’s Fine Arts webpage will have a Calendar of Events listings to preview.]
But who knows? You may find supporting the arts programs in our LISD schools will become one of your favorite things.
Elizabeth Brannon serves on the Flower Mound Cultural Arts Commission.
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