Back in March (yes, I’m that behind on blogging), I took the opportunity to attend a play at The Columbian Theater in Wamego. I always liked The Sound of Music as a movie (most of it anyway), and I was interested to see how well it would translate to the stage. Plus, a co-worker’s daughter was playing one of the Von Trapp children, so it gave me a good excuse to show some support.
I didn’t take any pictures because I wasn’t entirely sure of the picture policy, so all I have for this outing is narration.
I arrived early to scope out the seats and get comfortable, a plan that altered due to sound check. Even though I arrived early, I still couldn’t go right in, so I waited in the lobby where I talked to a woman who was attending her first play ever to see her daughter act in this production.
Once inside the theater, the woman who sat next to me visited with me about the Columbian and mentioned some other theaters in the area that I might like to look into. She also showed me the trick of unhooking the seats to make things more comfortable so we weren’t all huddled together. I was pretty stoked at having scored a front row seat. J didn’t want to join me (he’s not a SoM fan), so I think I got bumped into one of those single chairs that are sometimes hard for theaters to fill. I will say the chairs with arms are a bit narrow for bigger butts like mine, but they do alternate with ones that have no arms. Next time I go, I’m going to look into getting mine changed for a roomier sitting space.
I’m not sure if this is a “me” thing or if other people experience it, but good live productions make me tear up. I attribute this to the ambience of the play: the anticipation of the crowd, the voices of the singers, and the atmosphere of live theater. The general vibe elicits emotion in me.
I really enjoyed this production. The cast was good and the singing was great. The woman playing Mother Superior had one of those emotion-inducing voices, and during intermission, I spoke with two women in the elevator about it. They, like me, welled up during “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.” I never even did that during the movie.
Most of the love story was removed from the play, something I believe was done to save time. It felt like there was a bigger focus on the children, which was good. However, I believe anyone who hasn’t seen the movie would be a little confused at what there was of the romantic storyline. The cast for the Von Trapp children was spot on, even to the point where some of the actors resembled the children from the movie. I love watching talented actors on stage, and it’s so cool to see young ones with that level of talent.
It was a fun first trip to the Columbian. There’s definitely a good chance I’ll go see another show there, and who knows? Maybe I can even drag J along with me to see the next one.
The Romance Factor 