Signature’s ‘Sound of Music’ wastes chance to dig deeper

For all the legions of fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," there are equal numbers who loathe the 1959 musical. It's easy to see why.

The book has an irresistible hook -- about a warm, loving, unpretentious woman who melts the heart of a stern, unhappy man. But its realistic plot is hindered by characters stuck in layers of nauseating sweetness. The secret, I think, is to play against the material and fight hard to make the characters real people.

Signature Productions' current mounting supplies some great singing voices. (When has it not?) But the inevitable tears come dutifully and unimaginatively.

Director Leslie Fotheringham and actress Rebecca Kaufman work hard at making the lead character, the postulant Maria, as charming as any sane man can take. She makes Snow White seem like Medea. Why? Maria is such an independent spirit, such a fighter, that you know she must pump hot blood. When she falls in love with the unsmiling captain -- he's never smiled, see, since he lost his wife years ago -- you're surprised, because Kaufman's Maria doesn't express the ability for physical passion. She seems too much of a prissy Girl Scout to know how to kiss a man.

Alex Cheney fakes the role of Captain Von Trapp. You don't believe he has an illustrious naval career behind him, nor do you believe that he is used to giving commands.

Luckily, minor roles are rich in discoveries. Melissa Riezler makes for a cold, educated, proper Elsa who almost steals Maria's fella. Steve McMillian brings an intriguing sense of indifference to family friend Max, a man who does his best to always be on the winning side. Mary Beth Zentner as the Mother Abbess, Maria's superior, gives both the first and second act curtain a rousing finish with her "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." (What a great final stage picture Fotheringham's come up with!) And Fotheringham's direction of the captain's seven children is well-scaled. They come across as kids, instead of love-me love-me actors.

If you're a big fan of this script, I have a feeling you'll be a fan of this production. I think, though, there's something much more three-dimensional to be gotten here than Signature's "Brady Bunch" nonsense.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.