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The Sound of Music has been my favorite movie for years and years. So, of course when it came to a local theater during the Christmas season two years ago, I was thrilled and immediately bought tickets. Unfortunately, the stage production, at least the Seattle stage production, was quite a disappointment.

To recap, the Sound of Music is the story of a nun named Maria who is sent to be a governess to the seven children of a wealthy military man in Austria during the second world war. The nuns at the abbey have sent Maria away because she has become a disruption. Maria faithfully believes in God, but she's just not cut out to live the life of a nun.

During Maria's time with the Von Trapp family, she has a very strong influence on the children, as well as their father. They also have a strong influence on her, one that makes her uncomfortable. Maria is falling in love with this family, and it causes her serious inner conflict. I don't need to continue, as I am sure most everyone knows how the story ends. If you are like me, you have loved watching the movie, hearing the music, admiring the beautiful scenery and the rich history. I wish the play could have conveyed some of the wonder the movie did, but it didn't.

The first thing that bothered me was that there were new songs added. There are some things that just should not be tampered with, and The Sound of Music is one of them. I don't think there were any more than one or two songs added, but it's a classic and it didn't need anything new.

I also was bothered by the fact that some of the original songs were put in different places. For example, My Favorite Things was not sang in the bedroom during the storm. Another example of "don't mess with a good thing".

The acting and singing in the play was good but nothing compared to the beautiful performances in the movie. No one can match Julie Andrews in singing talent, I couldn't get her performance out of my head when watching the new stage version.

Maybe I shouldn't have seen the play, because I don't know that I could have possibly enjoyed it, no matter how good the cast was and no matter how much I loved the new songs. I expected the play to be as magical as the movie and it wasn't. I should have tried harder not to compare, but maybe I was doomed from the start.

Learn more about this author, Debbie N.
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