Holiday show reviews: The Sound of Music, Narnia, Shrek, Hallmark(ish) Parody

“I know I will hear what I’ve heard before...”

This lyric from the title song of The Sound of Music (Rating: ✭✭✭✭) sums up what you’ll likely be thinking going into this lovely revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. But, as with all classics, at least when they’re thoughtfully remounted, you’ll be hearing — and seeing, feeling and thinking — many things anew.

Certainly there’s comforting familiarity in the story of postulant Maria (Cayleigh Capaldi), who’s assigned to become a governess to the seven children of widower Captain von Trapp (Kevin Earley) before joining the order of nuns at Salzburg’s Nonnberg Abbey. The setting is Austria in 1938, on the eve of the Nazi annexation.

But director Jack O’Brien ensures that the cast brings a spontaneity to their performances that makes the show feel... if not exactly new, then at least fresh.

I hadn’t seen a stage production in a while, and so it was interesting to watch how the perennial pick-me-up song “My Favorite Things” first arrives in an early scene between the Mother Abbess (Christiane Noll) and Maria, with the former trying to remember the lyrics and writing them down for future use. It’s so catchy that when it’s reprised at the beginning of the second act, it makes complete dramatic sense.

It’s also understandable how “I Have Confidence in Me” — written for the film, after Hammerstein’s death — wouldn’t really fit in the stage musical. It’s essentially a song to get Maria from the abbey to the von Trapp residence. And while the ending of the first half of the film makes dramatic sense, there’s nothing like the Mother Abbess’ act one closer, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” magnificently sung by Noll, to bring down the curtain.

Two songs cut from the film add lots of layers to the characters of impresario Max Detweiler (Nicholas Rodriguez), and husband-hunting Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Kate Loprest). Given the current moment we’re in right now, the pair’s act two number with von Trapp, “No Way to Stop It,” about compromising one’s politics for survival, hits with incredible force.

O’Brien’s production is marvellous. I appreciate how he shrinks the playing area in certain scenes, suggesting the intimacy of the Mother Abbess’ room by blocking it off in a stage right corner. Douglas W. Schmidt’s wonderful scenic design efficiently gives you different perspectives on the von Trapp home, the magnificent alps seen through windows in some scenes. (I love how we get two perspectives on one room, as if the set has rotated.)

Projections have come so far in the last decade or so. A scene in the second act works so effectively because of the forced perspective from the projections, which include shafts of light from stained glass windows that really do seem like shafts of light.

Of course, The Sound of Music would be nothing without, well, the sound of music, and this first-rate cast brings the songs to life with commitment and grace. The kids, each one distinct, are cute and characterful but never cloying; Rodriguez, who’s got the Captain in his repertoire as well, exudes charisma and snaky charm (plus the requisite gay coding subtly build into the role); and Earley manages to breathe life into his principled Captain and make some of the quickest emotional turnarounds in the show believable.

Capaldi, who has played Céline Dion in the fiendishly difficult Titanique, soars vocally in each number; she connects to each character, and has the requisite gravitas to go from Maria the flibbertigibbet to Maria the woman.

The Sound of Music continues at the Princess of Wales Theatre (300 King West) until Jan. 4. Ticket details here

A ship-shape Shrek

Wicked’s Elphaba isn’t the only musical theatre protagonist who discovers it’s not easy being green. There’s also the oversized ogre who’s currently scaring up enjoyment at Young People’s Theatre in an all-ages-approved version of Shrek The Musical (Rating: ✭✭✭✭).

Like all YPT holiday shows, this production — based on both the DreamWorks film and the William Stieg picture book that inspired it about a solitary green monster who finds community and love — clocks in at about 90 intermissionless minutes.

Because of that, some songs by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire have been cut — including the show’s big banger of an act one closer, as well as the catchy “I'm a Believer” from the animated film. But what remains is an entertaining look at embracing one’s originality, as set forth in the show’s anthemic number about letting your freak flag fly.

It takes a while for the plot about the eponymous ogre (Trevor Patt), his lively sidekick Donkey (Joema Frith), his possible love interest Princess Fiona (Ellen Denny) and his main rival, the height-challenged Lord Farquaad (Michael Therriault), to get cooking.

But once it does it never lets up, especially when framed by William Layton’s riotously coloured set, which extends out onto the walls of the theatre itself. Joyce Padua’s costumes are inspired, suggesting iconic characters like the Three Little Pigs and the Gingerbread Man without being needlessly literal.

The way Lord Farquaad’s stature comes across will make kids of all ages smile, especially when he has to mount his horse. Therriault, who played Willy Wonka this time last year at YPT, relishes his nasty role, kneepads be damned, while other standouts include Frith (great pipes), Denny and Tat Austrie as an eye-popping fiery dragon.

Shrek The Musical continues at Young People’s Theatre (165 Front East) until Dec. 30. Ticket details here

Bad Hats’ Narnia doesn’t quite roar

I love how Bad Hats Theatre has kind of reinvented the all-ages family musical with their inventive spins on beloved stories like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.

Narnia (Rating: ✭✭✭), their new musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s classic take The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe doesn’t quite work as well as those other two. While Landon Doak’s songs are varied and imaginative, and some of the performances are great, director Fiona Sauder’s adaptation feels choppy, repetitive and a little unclear about what era the show takes place in.

I’ve always enjoyed the company’s DIY aesthetic. This time around, there are some stunning design elements and costumes (both by Shannon Lea Doyle), but less imagination at work in bringing them to life theatrically.

For my full review of the show, which continues at Soulpepper’s Young Centre until Dec. 28, click here.

Holiday send-up

If you’ve already had your fill of seasonal made-for-TV romantic comedies, you’ll definitely enjoy The Unauthorized Hallmark(ish) Parody Musical (Rating: ✭✭✭✭), which recently opened at the Royal Cinema and runs until early January.

Not to be confused with Predictable Holiday Rom-com: The Musical, which enjoyed a short run last month, this very funny 90-minute show is written by Bonnie Milligan, Tim Drucker and Joel Waggoner, whose combined credits include Kimberly Akimbo, School of Rock and Trixi & Katya LIVE.

Big city career woman Holly (Alexandra Clementi) is working on a Big Merger at a Big Bank when she gets a call from her ailing mother from her Small Town.

Holly decides to pass the merger details onto a colleague and fly home for Christmas, where she can spend time with her sick mother, who by the way also runs 12 small businesses, most of which are failing.

Soon she’s running into her hot (but dumb) ex-boyfriend, getting involved in a cookie competition and wondering whether she should give up her hectic urban existence for a simpler rural one. They don’t leave one seasonal rom-com cliché unturned.

The songs are clever and insanely catchy; if a cast album were available, I would listen to the opening number, which establishes the silly plot, every year. The performers, with straight faces and big belty voices, deliver songs with titles like “It Feels Like Christmas Because It’s Literally Christmas.”

The composers know their musicals — I spotted riffs on Into the Woods and Hairspray, but I’m sure there were many others.

My one issue with the production — directed by Drucker — is that there’s an over-reliance on video projections to create quick visual backdrops, and in the Royal, which isn’t normally a venue for live theatre, they don’t quite work.

But the performers and creators know what they’re doing, and they approach the material with the irreverence it deserves. While the cast is terrific, special mention should go to Luke Witt, who plays at least half a dozen characters — including an office worker who learns Mandarin to pull off the Big Merger — with campy, scene-stealing aplomb.

The Unauthorized Hallmark(ish) Parody Musical continues at the Royal Cinema (608 College) until Jan. 4. Ticket details here