Theatre in the Park "Sound of Music" review by KConfidential

The Sound of Mediocrity

Rating: 3

The Sound of Music

The Theatre in the Park

It was with great anticipation that I attended "The Sound of Music" at Theatre in the Park.  Not only was this the first show of the 2011 season, it was the inaugural show of newly appointed artistic director, Tim Blair. It also was the first time director Nathan Norcross returned to the TITP stage after his notorious corruption of "Beauty and the Beast," oft referred to as one of the worst shows in TITP history.

Norcross' version of "Sound of Music" can only be described as mediocre. There was nothing special about this retelling, for which I'm sure hundreds of TITP patrons are greatful. This seemed to be a "Sound of Music" without a clue; a recapitulation of nothing new. However, I think the songs were out of order? Is this my own bias based on the film or the way the musical was originally staged?

An overly obtuse unit set serves as the Von Trapp mansion, which looks as stately as a double wide.  Indeed, the sets are an atrocious parody of what one thinks the largest community theatre in the country should be capable of producing. The new institution of the orchestra backstage led to many lethargic tempos and the monitors projecting the conductor were simply distracting to those sitting on the periphery. The production only used the added downstage space once in the production; therefore, why did the orchestra need to be backstage?


read the review at KC Stage