Sound of Music gets a new outing at Town Hall Theatre

The much-loved show, The Sound of Music will be performed at the Town Hall Theatre from August 14-18 in a new staging by Twin Productions.

This iconic musical that has been around for decades remains very popular, says Sean Power of Twin Productions about the decision to stage it now. He and his twin brother Brian are co-directing the musical which contains such well-known melodies as My Favourite Things, Edelweiss, Climb Every Mountain, Doe-re-mi, The Lonely Goatherd and more.

The Sound of Music, based on the real-life happenings of the Von Trapp family, tells the story of a woman, Maria, who leaves an Austrian convent to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval captain. Maria falls in love with the stern captain and she changes the family’s life, but then the Von Trapps are forced to flee as the Nazis take over Austria.

The original Broadway musical was made into a five-time Oscar winning film and is a regular favourite on television every Christmas.

However, the rights for the stage musical have been out of circulation for a while, due to the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2006 BBC TV talent show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria – featuring Galway’s Aoife Mulholland – which documented the search for an undiscovered talent to play Maria in a West End production of the musical, which ran at London’s Palladium before touring the UK and Ireland. That ongoing process meant it was off limits to non-professional companies, Sean explains. So, it’s been a while since there was a production in Galway.

The cast for the Town Hall includes a mix of young people from the brothers’ theatrical training school, the Power Academy, and professional performers who will take on the adult roles.

The role of Maria, made famous by Julie Andrews in the film version, will be played by Caoimhe Donnellan. She was a member of the Power Academy when she was a youngster and has subsequently been involved with the Galway Musical Society, the Patrician Musical Society and the Renmore Pantomime.