Barry Williams (a.k.a. Greg Brady) as Captain von Trapp? A non-Equity production at Broadway Series prices? At first glance, Troika Entertainment's current tour of the 1998 Broadway revival of "The Sound of Music" arouses misgivings. Once the nuns fill the abbey with their singing, and then the exuberant Jennifer Avery tumbles onto the stage as Maria for the title song, the show has surpassed doubt and landed on its own feet. The production is polished, from the children's singing to the swift scene changes, and it's a pleasure to hear Rodgers and Hammerstein's music performed with a live orchestra.
Although the production has a solid cast of singers (many of them recent graduates of training programs), much of the show's success stems from Avery's performance as the postulant who becomes a governess to seven unruly children and then wife to a naval captain. Avery puts her B.F.A. in musical theatre and M.F.A. in acting to good use on her first national tour. Her confident singing is matched by comfortable acting. Her Maria is headstrong and playful, not afraid to speak her mind, especially to the Captain, whose bark and bite soften from her presence. Jumping on the bed during the "Favorite Things" thunderstorm, she's a fun governess. Dancing the laendler with the Captain, she transforms from girlish mentor to lovestruck young woman. Although much of this behavior might be expected, Avery makes Maria a joyful discovery, so much so that you want her to marry the Captain, even though you already know she will.
Playing off Avery's enthusiasm is Williams's stern Captain Georg von Trapp. The mature character dissolves most thoughts of the teenaged big brother from "The Brady Bunch". You can take Williams seriously when he orders the Captain's little troops around, a disciplinarian rather than a dad. And even as he warms to Maria's music, he remains firm in his convictions to support his native Austria rather than honor Nazi Germany. Williams balances the two sides of von Trapp, which makes both the love story and the social-historical lesson effective. His singing voice is smooth, and he's a suave figure in tails as he twirls Avery in the folk dance.
The young actors playing the von Trapp children dance as easily and as well as they sing. Their mechanical choreography for "So Long, Farewell" is a treat to watch. Their depressed demeanors when Maria has left them without explanation reveal the difference the governess has made. Less charming is Joe Dodd's impresario, Max Detweiler, who overemphasizes his character's phony attitude of always performing. Brittany Pixton's Elsa Schraeder is a cool, if not icy, contrast to Maria and plays off von Trapp's adult nature. Particularly noteworthy among the nuns is Emily K. Herring as the Mother Abbess, who leads a gorgeous "Hallelujah" for the royal spectacle of Maria and the Captain's wedding.
Heidi Ettinger's set whisks us from the archways of the abbey to the high mountains and the elegant stone terrace, with French doors, of the von Trapp home. The changes keep the show moving at a cinematic pace. The unfurling of a huge red drape imprinted with three Nazi insignia, a backdrop for the family's festival appearance before their escape from occupied Austria, is shockingly effective.
"The Sound of Music" is getting a lot of publicity for its Cincinnati stop at the Aronoff Center, and elsewhere on its tour of small cities, because of a union controversy. According to the producers, they couldn't arrange with Actors' Equity Association to pay union scale or to have a special contract to allow Equity member Williams to appear in the show. (They were able to secure contracts with the musicians' and stagehands' unions, among others.) Without a star, the tour might not sell. So Williams revoked his membership and performs without Equity privileges (although his compensation has not been disclosed). Local Equity actors picketed opening night, handing out leaflets asking if the audience is getting their money's worth for the Broadway Series ticket and calling Greg Brady a scab. They also asked that patrons support theatres in the region that do operate under Equity contracts. This is not a clearcut issue. The cast deserves the benefits of union protection and pay for their work, but Equity also should not make it more difficult for producers to provide opportunities for theatre artists to do their jobs.