Theater review

Tom Titus

After nearly 40 years, there are few surprises left in “The Sound of

Music,” except perhaps that this final collaboration of Richard Rodgers

and Oscar Hammerstein II has aged so gracefully.

In the superlative touring production now at the Orange County Performing

Arts Center, headlined by Richard Chamberlain, the fact-based story -- of

a young woman who leaves a convent to become the governess of an Austrian

captain’s brood and instead becomes his baroness as World War II erupts

all around them -- has rarely been in better hands.

Backed by Heidi Ettinger’s magnificent backdrops highlighting the

Austrian Alps, the “Sound of Music” truly climbs every mountain in the

areas of musicality, dramatic interpretation and pure, solid

entertainment, splendidly staged by Susan H. Schulman. No matter how many

times you’ve experienced it, this show will bring a lump to your throat.

Often accused of being an acceptable sugar substitute, “The Sound of

Music” does indeed revel in the cuteness of the seven children in Maria’s

charge. But this element does not preclude the deadly serious business of

the Nazi encroachment, and the presence of three giant swastikas at the

music festival offers a jarring note of reality.

While Chamberlain is the “name” star, the production’s true centerpiece

is Meg Tolin’s winning performance as Maria.

She brings music back to the captain’s home and defrosts his hardened

heart.

Tolin -- who’s a ringer for another perky, blond, Meg Ryan -- is simply

enchanting, with the vocal pipes of a spirited nightingale. She conveys

the fresh, energetic quality her character must possess, while bringing a

convincing inner agony to her life-changing decision.

As the militaristic head of the Von Trapp household, Chamberlain casts a

particularly authoritarian shadow, making his conversion to humanity that

much more effective.

Since he could be home collecting Social Security, his liaison with the

twentysomething Tolin does make Hollywood pair Michael Douglas and

Catherine Zeta-Jones seem like contemporaries by comparison. Yet their

romance is rendered credible by Chamberlain’s boyish approach to the

romance and well-preserved physical appearance.

The Mother Abbess role demands a world-class singing voice to scale the

peaks of “Climb Every Mountain,” which closes both acts. And Jeanne

Lehman scores mightily in this department, as well as in her ability to

express the kindly wisdom of this rather fearsome nun. Sylvia Rhyne’s

sympathetic Sister Margeretta is equally well-presented.

The plum roles of showman Max Detweiler and wealthy widow Elsa Schraeder,

who’s set her cap for the captain, are particularly well-interpreted by

Drew Eshelman and Rachel de Benedet. Eshelman manages to espouse

accommodation to the Nazi regime without losing empathy, while de Benedet

projects a polished aloofness with the children that might have sealed

her fate even without Maria’s presence or the convenient political

differences that divide them.

The children, of course, swipe a significant portion of the show, with

Kate Reinders’ blossoming young-woman Liesl a natural charmer. Tracy

Alison Walsh stands out in the usually submerged part of the intuitive

Louisa, while tiny Madeline Martin is a hit as the precious youngest

child, Gretl.

The Nazi intrusion is effectively represented by Ben Sheaffer’s teenage

messenger -- who joins Reinders in a delightfully dizzying rendition of

“Sixteen Going on Seventeen” -- and Robert Stoeckle, chilling as a

no-nonsense German high official.

Tad Ingram and Joy Franz lend solid support as the household staff, the

latter resembling Cloris Leachman’s demented domestic in “Young

Frankenstein.”

“The Sound of Music” is an enduring favorite in America’s musical theater

annals, and the touring production at The Center is one that Rodgers and

Hammerstein would look down on from above with pride and approval.

It has, wisely, been booked for two weeks rather than the customary one

and should provide new generations with the sheer joy of this timeless

love story, anchored as it is in grim reality.

“The Sound of Music”* WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and

8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays until April 2

* WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

* COST: $18 to $52

* CALL: (714) 740-7878--------