Junior Olivia Whicheloe, playing Maria Rainer, sings “Do-Re-Mi” with the von Trapp children, played by (L-R) Anya Rothman, sophormore Sara Madison Gildersleeve-Price, Sarah Beiter, freshman Doug Kulow, junior Stephanie Owen, Landon Duval and freshman Annalise Livingston. “I like ‘Do-Rei-Mi.’ It’s her first real moment alone with the kids,” Whicheloe said. “It’s her way of saying ‘hi’ and ‘this is who I am’ and I’m not going to change who I am. I want to see what I can do to change you to make you happier.”

Sounding Confident

Musical Shows Rewards of Hard Work

E. Edwards, Staff Reporter

May 16, 2014

“There won’t be a single dry eye in the house,” junior Joey Wharton predicted about that weekend’s performances of The Sound of Music.

Based on a true story, The Sound of Music tells the story of young nun, Maria, who goes to work for Captain Von Trapp as a governess to his seven children. Maria teaches the children to sing while romance blossoms between she and the Captain; meanwhile, the Nazis are beginning to seize control of Austria and wish to enlist Captain Von Trapp. The musical highlights love, patriotism and bravery.

The Sound of Music made its way to the Albemarle stage and it’s a performance that had been much anticipated drama department-wide, despite snow days and the practice days lost with the drama trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Mobile, Alabama. Delays or not, Ms. Cunningham’s excitement remained the same.

“We’ve had about three weeks of lost time,” Cunningham said, “Two weeks from snow days and one from SETC.” While these days may have shown some difficulty toward play production, those putting on the show are still confident in performance.

“I’ve tinkered and toyed with doing this musical for about 25 years,” Cunningham continued.

While the director’s enthusiasm is key, excitement from the players is equally as important. The actors are determined to make this performance a good one.

“We do a lot of things to prepare ourselves, like we’ll watch the movie adaptation to get an idea, and we’ll just sit and get in the mindset of our characters,” junior Joey Wharton explained.

While participation in this show may sound exciting, it does come with consequences.

“It adds a lot of stress,” Wharton said, “It can be really difficult to keep up academics.” However, teachers are often forgiving of the students’ situations.

“You just have to set time aside to do your work,” elaborated Olivia Whicheloe, “Late nights are part of schedule—you get into a routine. Your body becomes immune to staying up until 1, but I love it too much to not do it.”

“It can only really affect your education if you allow it to, though,” junior Aaron Hoffman added on, “It’s a little more work, you just have to be smart about it.”

Nonetheless, despite stress and delays and whatever obstacles may prove difficult for play participants, it somehow made up for everything in the end.