Craig Golbesky, co-director of Valparaiso’s Chicago Street Theatre’s “The Sound of Music,” sees his production of the stage favorite as a reprieve of sorts for area theatergoers in the throes of the manic holiday season.
“You can actually lose yourself in it for a couple of hours and come out with a good feeling,” he said. “During this time of year, everyone is looking for something to make them feel better and stop the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and ‘I have to do this’ and ‘I have to go there.’ This will be a great family getaway, an escape from the everyday insanity that we have during Christmas.”
Opening today at Chicago Street and running through Dec. 16, “Music” tells the tale of the Von Trapp family – led by widower patriarch and military captain Georg and his seven children – whose lives are changed upon the arrival of Maria, who is charged with the responsibility of the childrens’ caretaker, in Austria in the late 1930s.
Penned by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Music” includes chestnuts such as “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and “Maria.” The musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, where it received a Tony Award for Best Musical, and has been revived to great acclaim on both sides of the pond in subsequent years.
Adapted for the big screen in 1965 and starring Julie Andrews as Maria, “Music” won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and held the title of highest grossing film of all time for more than a half-dozen years.
“It’s definitely timeless because there is always that story of families sticking together and making it through some sort of hard time,” said Golbesky, who is directing Chicago Street’s production of “Music”with Kristen Bruss. “There are so many timeless elements to the script, and with the music, you’re always going to leave humming a tune or two. Or in the case of ‘The Sound of Music,’ maybe you’ll leave singing even five or six.”
Christine Marilyn Parry from Crown Point stars as Maria in Chicago Street’s production of music, with Valparaiso’s Richard Castleton as the Captain. Six young Valparaiso thesps – Jessica Rodriguez, Daniel Barajas, Maddie Blaney, Jack Schwartz, Ruthann Marfoe and Isabel Blaney – and Westville’s Maddi Ames take on the roles of the seven von Trapp siblings.
Next up for Chicago Street Theatre is a production of the acclaimed drama “American Rex,” scheduled to open Feb. 1.
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