The Sound of Music Drowns out A Very Nasty Past

Walter Kerr snappishly wrote of “The Sound of Music,” that “it suffers from little children.” Indeed it does. But those little children are drawing their every cousin, every uncle, every friend, every voice and tap and acting teacher, every parent and grandparent and every even modestly interested acquaintance of those above to Rhinebeck’s Performing Arts Center, filling the entire house for last Sunday’s matinee. Now, New York City theater critic Kerr is not alone in slighting this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about a failed novitiate shaken by sexual awakening (you can love a man and God too, the Mother Abbess coos); an Austrian baron whose wife died, leaving him seven children; and a sketchy vision of the Anschluss in which Germany annexed Austria in 1938 and made every one there heil Hitler. But it opened on Broadway in 1959 with Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel and a lot of happy reviews. It’s certainly not for everyone, though. I happened to sit next to a gentleman, a fellow devoted to this musical and, incidentally, to “Schindler’s List,” whose wife of many years refused to join him. “Refused,” he said. And my mate, a faithful, ever tolerant, theatergoer, declined to accompany me. And there’s good reason for that. At the heart of this musical is a dizzying trivialization of Hitler and the Holocaust. But first, the show. It opens with nuns, bells, low lights, Latin chants and a pretty nice rendition of an early tryptic of the Madonna. It’s not long, however, before Maria (Emily Woolever) is singing that “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” Instead of chanting. So she’s in trouble. Something about being a free spirit and not ready for convent life. How about a spell of secular life as the governess of seven children in a nearby castle? In no time, Maria loves the children, the children love Maria, the baron, Captain Georg von Trapp (Matt Woolever) who is supposed to love corporate powerhouse Elsa Schraeder (Emily DePew) discovers he loves Maria instead. And matters go a bit awry. But not in any way that will unsettle the audience. Which is one problem with this show. At no time is there the slightest wrinkle of worry. Even when the famously dour Lou Trapani appears as Herr Zeller with a swastika on his sleeve and orders everyone to act like a Nazi, we know full well that the baron, an Austrian patriot, will not comply, that the children will have yet another opportunity to sing “Do Re Mi,” that the family will flee to the abbey where they will not be betrayed by a young friend, and the von Trapps will all escape into the night to tell their story to generations of happy theatergoers. So all is well, allowing the nuns to congregate once again for a final stab at “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.” All sweet and nicely accomplished: the children are adorable; the pacing, fine; DJ Salisbury, who is directing TriArts’ season opener, “42nd Street,” was consulted on the choreography; and a load of cash went into costumes, sets and musicians. But the show’s unswerving aim to turn a catastrophic event of the 20th century into honeyed musical theater, is just plain disturbing. “The Sound of Music” plays at The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck through June 26. For tickets and information, call 845-876-3080 or go to www.centerforperformingarts.org.