Cinnamon Life together with Broadway Asia International brought the 1965 American musical, ‘The Sound of Music’ to Sri Lank last week to perform for the first time ever for the whole of South Asia. The production done by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian’s The Really Useful Group was well received by all those who came to watch and here are some of the comments made by them!
Day 1 – 14th February 2018
Favourite Actor or Actress
Mother Abbess
Favourite song from the Musical
Climb Every Mountain
Thoughts on the performance
Gave us goosebumps throughout the play, and the urge to clap after every song!
Day 2 – 15the February 2018
Favourite Actor or Actress
Maria
Favourite song from the Musical
Lonely Goatherd
Thoughts on the performance
The scene of the concert where the family sings at the competition was heartfelt and the sets took us back in time.
Day 3 – 16th February 2018
Favourite Actor or Actress
Apart from Maria, its Mother Abbess
Favourite song from the Musical
Do-Re-Mi
Thoughts on the performance
The children had confidence and carried themselves professionally so they made Sri Lanka proud!
Day 4 – 17th February 2018
Favourite Actor or Actress
Captain Von Trapp
Favourite song from the Musical
So Long, Farewell
Thoughts on the performance
The sets were really amazing, how they change from the Abby to the ballroom areas to create the right mood
Day 5 – 18th February 2018
Favourite Actor or Actress
The Baroness, Elsa Schraeder
Favourite song from the Musical
The Sound of Music
Thoughts on the performance
The sets were beautiful and with the orchestra, the emotions and feelings are rightly created.
Ishan de Lanerolle
Just would like to thank Cinnamon life and all the sponsors for bringing this production down. From the sets to the lights, acting and singing with a live orchestra, it was a wonderful experience. I loved Mother Abbess! It's difficult to pick one scene or song as all of it was good but if I had to pick a scene, then it would be the opening act with the hills creating a 3D visual like it's almost on a TV screen and it was like Maria stepping out of it. Quite magical seeing something like actual grass on stage. And also excellent set changes!
Danu Innasithamby 
Apart from Maria, my favourite character from the performance has to be Mother Abbess. I thought the way she sang Climb Every Mountain was amazing. She brought out the emotions. The boy who played Kurt’s characters is the one I remember the most of all the kids. So proud of Sri Lankan children and their performance. They have learnt something they can never unlearn. They have learnt how to be professional at a very young age and that is amazing.
Indu Dharmasena
The sets were fantastic but if the local sponsors gave the same kind of support to Sri Lankan productions as they did for this then we could also have done even better. It was a production that was good because the money was there to enhance the performance. The local theatre industry cannot carry out a professional play of this standard since we have other jobs and we do theatre in the meantime, but this also makes our performances more natural. The performances here were a bit mechanical maybe because they do this as a job every day.Considering their individual performances, they miles away from Jehan Aloysius. I was also little disappointed with the lighting. There were times we wanted to see the expressions but it killed the story because we couldn’t.
Ruchini Weerawardena
She reminded me of Julie Andrews and she looked like her from afar. I enjoyed the play so much since I know all the songs by heart. It’s hard to choose one song in particular since I liked all the songs ever since I was a kid. The boy who played Kurt was my favourite because he was more expressive than in the movie, at the beginning he seems to be attached to Maria more than the others and that was appealing!
Shanuki de Alwis
To be honest I was a little underwhelmed with the production because I expected it to be on par with Broadway/West End, whereas I felt it under-delivered on the magic and impact I was looking forward to, for the money I spent on my ticket. Mother Abbess stood out as the best in the cast. The local kids were all excellent. I wasn’t very impressed with the foreign cast, as, besides technically great voices, there was no chemistry in their performance. If I was to compare against local productions, I think it overpromised and under-delivered. Surprising, as I’ve seen some amazing productions overseas.
Shirani Jayawickrema
The little ones were very sweet and they did Sri Lanka proudly. A long time ago my mother took part in a Sound of Music play and because of that, I have always liked all the songs in the play. I sang along to whatever the lyrics I remembered from those days. Maria and Mother Abbes was the best performances for me other than obviously for the kids
Deena Omar Pinto 
Climb every mountain was spectacular on both the times it was perfumed. I felt that was the highlight of the show for me since the song was so powerful and emotional and it brought back childhood memories as I was a fan of the show since I was six. All the children are very special and shockingly perfect. They were equally on par with the international cast so I found that there was nothing lacking in them. They were brilliant!
Soundarie David 
I’m glad that Sri Lankan audiences got an opportunity to witness an international production. Sri Lanka is full of talent and as you know there many local productions. So this is a good experience for us to take our productions one level higher in terms of finesse. My personal favourite in terms of the songs is Climb Every Mountain so I enjoyed it very much. One of my kids are in the play, the youngest and they all did a great job!
Ramzi Rahaman
It was great because! I have seen the film for this long time ago what but when I heard about the play I booked a ticket as soon as possible. What was amazing was that the children were great, can’t believe that in a short span of time they were able to perform to that level. It’s not easy doing a show and managing what goes behind it, usually, it takes weeks or months, just to choose the correct people for the characters..
The changes of costumes happened quickly and those changes were lovely and it was simply great. Maria was great, in the way she sang and moved. I loved her bridal, wish I could have done that for her. The costumes kept with the story and it added to their presence on stage.
Shalini Devarajan, Mother of Tashiyana who plays Brigitta in the play 
The whole thing was really amazing especially since my daughter was acting in it. We were not told of anything of the preparations so it was a surprise to see a performance of this scale. Can’t really pick one but loved the ending with the background of the mountains, it was emotional. My favourite part also was the part where the kids harmonize for ‘The Hills are alive..’. Obviously, Maria was amazing throughout the play.
Udara Mendis 
The last scene where they sing together as a family was the highlight of the show for me. And the kids were the best performers of the show and Gretl in particular because she was cute and adorable. Maria did a great job as well. I have been to many plays so this was a dream coming true. I was ten when I watched the movie so I was singing along to the songs especially Do-Re-Mi.
Suren Wijeyratne 
The whole show was very nice and was a professional production. The cast and the kids especially was great. All the sense were equally captivating so can’t choose one in particular and all the songs were entertaining. Captain Von Trapp, Maria and Mother Abbess were highlights of the show. The kids were outstanding as well!
Ravin Weerakoon 
Overall it was a very impressive show. I love the how the movie and the play are different in how expressive it is and how they got the audience involved. It brought back childhood memories. When the scene of the wedding and the last scenes were acted, I was sad it was ending. Love all the songs. The lead actress, Maria was the best throughout the show and the children performed like they were not from here but those who had international theatre exposure.
Gamya Wijayadasa 
Honestly, end to end it was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t pick a moment that I could call a highlight. Climb Every Mountain my favourite song from the play and also ‘Hills are alive..’ Maria and Mother Abbess have such touching voices and it was a wonderful experience to watch them perform. The kids were definitely a highlight since it was heartening to know that we do have such talent and really urge people and companies to really back these kids and productions like this.
Ovandi Rajaguru 
Maria was definitely the highlight of the show because she was amazing. The script was a little bit different from the movie but I thought everyone was amazing especially the kids so it was nice to see. Apart from the two characters, the kids were the next best in terms of talent. Edelweiss was the best song for me in the play and also Do-Re-Mi is my favourite!
Joey Jacob
Maria Rainer is best of all the characters because of how she sounds. The production was amazing with the great vocals. My favourite song is Climb Every Mountain and Mother Abbess was off the charts. We got goosebumps when she hit those high notes. The boy playing Kurt was very pretty talented, overall the kids were talented but he, in particular, looked like he excited and wanting to give a good performance.
By Melanie Senanayake
Photos by Pradeep Dilrukshana
0 Comments