Few musicals appeal to kids as much as "The Sound of Music," the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1959 classic that includes such standards as "My Favorite Things" and "Do-Re-Mi." Kids ranging in age from Gretl to Liesl have long loved the 1965 Julie Andrews film, but this fall students at the Sacred Heart School for the Arts (SHSA) bring your family the opportunity to see this story live on stage.
Forty young thespians from Sacred Heart Academy, Sacred Heart Model School, Trinity, and St. Xavier will perform "The Sound of Music" beginning October 25 through November 3. Part of what makes this musical so pleasing to families is the cast—even the youngest of theatergoers will sit wide-eyed when they recognize their own age groups represented on stage by the young actors who portray the seven Von Trapp children.
If you haven't yet taken your family to see a live stage production of a play or musical, this young cast coupled with the I-know-by-heart playful songs (there aren't too many long, slow "downers" in this score) would be a terrific introduction. My kindergartner recently attended her first field trip to the theater. Listening to her re-tell the story in her own excited words to her younger sister not only made my heart swell, but it reinforced to me the importance of exposing young minds to the live arts. Their perspectives are so fresh, and like sponges, they soak up the small details—the music during the prologue, a quick costume change, the colors of the set—that we grown-ups take for granted.
"The Sound of Music" performances are October 25 and November 2 at 9:30 am; October 26, 27, and November 2, 3 at 7:00 pm; and October 28 and November 3 at 2:00 pm. To purchase tickets (ranging $4-$10), visit www.showtix4u.com. Performances are at the Ursuline Arts Center, 3113 Lexington Road, Building 5, on the Ursuline Campus. For more information call 897-1816.
Photo: courtesy of Shutterstock/Losevsky
