The Sound of Music Coming to Straughn Stage

MANSFIELD, PA-Mansfield University will bring the hills alive with The Sound of Music March 1-4 at Straughn Hall.
This year’s spring musical is an all-time family favorite by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II that first ran on Broadway in 1959, winning many awards including best musical. The MU production celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the movie, which won five Oscars.
The story set in 1930’s Austria revolves around Maria, a young woman attempting to become a nun, who is sent by the Abbess to be governess of Navy captain Georg Von Trapp’s seven unruly children. When Maria arrives, she is initially met with the same hostility as the past governesses the children have run off, but her kindness, understanding, and sense of fun soon win her a place in their hearts. The backdrop of the Nazi invasion of Austria adds tension as the Captain, an anti-Fascist who has been called back to duty by the Nazis, must figure out how to escape the country with his family.
Directed and designed by Mike Crum, the sets and action will take audience members to the Alps with snowcapped peaks and lederhosen. Musical Direction is provided by Sheryl Monkelien (cast and orchestra) with assistance from Peggy Dettwiler, both of the Mansfield Music Department.
Monkelien, who selects the musicals, has long loved The Sound of Music, though this is the first time she has worked on it.
“The movie opened when I was in elementary school and played at a local theatre for 102 weeks,” Monkelien said. “I think I saw it then at least 18 times as well as seeing may stage productions of the show. It was the first album that I ever received, and my sisters and I would act out the show with our Barbie dolls while singing all the songs.”
An auditioned group of women, under Dettwiler’s musical direction, will play the Nun’s Chorus. Members of this ensemble, plus other women from the Concert Choir, will go on to perform as the Nun’s Chorus in a production of the play at Carnegie Hall.
As a result of their winning first place in the 2011 International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales last July, the women of the Concert Choir were invited to perform in a concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 24.
"Most groups have to pay dearly for an opportunity to sing in Carnegie, and usually they are part of a massed ensemble,” Dettwiler said. “To think that we are being sponsored and are the only ensemble featured as the Nun's Chorus is truly an honor.”
The primary cast consists of 26 actors, six of whom are students at local elementary and secondary schools and play the youngest children. They are Dawson Hilfiger and Emerson York (8th grade at Mansfield Junior High), Isaac VanLoon) 7th grade at New Covenant Academy, Mansfield), Elianna Fry (5th grade at Trinity Lutheran, Wellsboro), Abbye Cavanaugh (2nd grade in Don Gill Elementary, Wellsboro) and Katie Burke (1st grade at Trinity Lutheran).
The rest of the cast includes MU students: Danielle Montgomery (Lockport, NY), Amanda Coughenour (Hyndman, PA), Heather Sitek (Erie, PA), Kim Bemis (Binghamton, NY), Arielle Book (Hummelstown, PA), Derek Gracey (Robertsdale, PA) Matt McGahey (Fort Washington, PA), Beth Bentley (Prattsburgh, PA), Ian MacDonald (Owego, NY), Sarah Taylor (Danville, PA), Arlene Boruchowitz (Trumansburg, NY), Jarrod Miller (Reading, PA), Kevin Malmrose (Troy, PA), Katie Cormier (Syracuse, NY), Zack Minnier (Williamsport, PA) Rebecca Martz (Middletown, PA) Rose Boone (Bethel, PA), Joseph Izzo (Rochester, NY) and Daniela DiBenedetto (Harleysville, PA).
Performances will be Thursday, March 1, Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $6 for children ages 12 years and under. They can be purchased online at mansfield.edu/theatre/performances/the-sound-of-music/ or at the door. MU students with valid ID will be admitted free.
The production is funded in part through Student Activities fees. For more information call (570) 662-4712.