THE SOUND OF MUSIC
(1979)
This was the first of four occasions on which I have Directed this show. “The Sound Of Music” is what many believe to be the world’s most well-known musical. It is certainly one of the most popular .... as we were to find out during this performance run. We actually achieved what we thought would be the impossible... selling out every seat in the over 500 seat auditorium and adding an SRO sign (Standing Room Only) to the theatre doors.
What a thrill it was when we announced to the cast that we were SOLD OUT!!! This landmark event took place on Apri 20th. The original “Full House “ sign. made by Stage Manager Herb Duplissea, is still in existence... hanging on the wall in my office in my house in B.C.
Over 100 cast, musicians, stage crew and behind the scenes personnel helped put the production together ... their many hours of preparations were worth it as the show drew many accolades. This production saw us add some Elementary School children to the cast as they played the younger Von Trapp children ... it was the first of many such cast requirements. It was the actor W.C. Fields who said “never work with animals or children” ... we’ve now done the children part of it...the other part was still to come... we managed to survive and it wasn’t so bad after all!!!
One of the countless theatre stories I often tell is about a night of panic and mayhem in the green room/dressing room......we were using the Home Ec. room in the old SSHS as a dressing room/green room....Miss Lynda Coffey who was our costume designer, maker and wardrobe manager in numerous SSHS productions, constructed a “curtain” or wall out of assorted materials such as green garbage bags to string across the Home Ec. room thus separating the “Girls’ section” of the room from the “Boys’ section”. During one of the most complicated and difficult costume change sequences in the play, and with the green room full of actors in various stages of costume change, the curtain collapsed amid the screams and chaos on each side of the curtain.....I’ve never seen so many actors scrambling for cover so quickly!
The program cover design was the work of Mrs. Jill Bromley (SSHS Library Assistant) …. the design was to be used again some 30 years later when I directed the show for the fourth time (this time in Abbotsford, B.C.) … Jill's original "black and white" design was colourized or the 2009 production….. here it is:
