Auditorium again filled with The Sound of Music
photo by mia wurster
The wait is finally over! St. Joseph High School's production of The Sound of Music is set to happen November 19th and 20th. Showtimes are 7pm Friday and 2pm and 7pm on Saturday. You can pre-purchase tickets online for five dollars, via sjmusical.ludus.com; you can find this link in SJ Musical Boosters bio on Instagram.
The Sound of Music tells the tale of the Von Trapp family trying to flee Germany to avoid recruitment into the Nazi party. Students and performers are very excited for this show after not having a school production the past year and a half, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last musical was Beauty and the Beast, put on in the fall of 2019. The only returning cast members are the Juniors and Seniors. There are a lot of new faces coming to the stage, including new director Ms. Cassidy Vangilder. Ms. Vangilder is a new teacher to St. Joseph, she teaches 8th and 10th grade English. When offered the opportunity, Ms. Vangilder was very excited to direct and fortunate to have the help and support of choir teacher and former musical director, Mrs. Elizabeth Gray-Roll. Auditions started back in September, and rehearsals started shortly after on September 15th.
“I want the audience to know that these students have worked so hard. The cast members have put in countless hours in and out of rehearsal to perfect their roles. The stage crew members are always finding a way to help out, whatever the task may be. Our pit orchestra, conducted by Mr. Burke Lokey, have been practicing their parts too,” Ms. Vangilder said.
Hannah Bogner, 12 is playing main character Maria Rainer. This will not be Hannah’s first musical. She was also in SJHS’s productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Beauty and the Beast, as well as a number of non-school related productions.
Hannah expressed that this musical will be different from the others because the performers will be wearing masks during their performance. As performers, actors use a lot of facial expressions, and with most of their face obstructed, they really have to rely on body language. Nonetheless, Hannah is excited to become Maria once hitting the stage.
“Maria's optimistic personality is something that I think we all need right now while in the midst of a pandemic,” Hannah said.
One thing Hannah thinks people should know about the musical before seeing it is that, “it’s a true story. While the story has been slightly altered, everything that happens to the Von Trapp family is accurate, so be sure to keep that in mind as you're watching!”
To see what everyone will be talking about this November, get tickets for The Sound of Music now!