Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has announced its new season, which will feature a new stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird and a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.
Artistic director Timothy Sheader will take the reins to direct To Kill A Mockingbird, which has been adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel.
Harper Lee's story of a court case in the US marred by racism won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and is widely regarded as a classic of American literature. The production runs at the Open Air from 16 May to 15 June 2013.
It's followed, from 25 July to 7 September 2013, by a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's much-loved musical The Sound of Music - the first time one of the legendary writing team's musicals has been staged at the Open Air.
The Sound of Music premiered on Broadway in 1959, when it won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show first opened in London in 1961 and its last London revival was in 2006 when it starred How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? winner Connie Fisher as Maria - the role immortalised on screen in 1965 by Julie Andrews.
Two more shows will also be announced in the autumn - one of which has been rumoured to be Cats - to complete the Open Air season.
Booking for To Kill A Mockingbird and The Sound of Music opens to members on 9 October 2012 and the public on 20 November 2012. The theatre has pledged to continue to provide over 700 preview tickets for £10 to those aged 18-25.
My immediate reaction was that it is too soon after the recent Palladium Revival/UK Tour, but they must have their reasons.
I am not a fan of "Sound of Music". Just never have been. I would much rather they do another R & H show. In fact, "Oklahoma!" springs to mind. I can see that doing very well out in the open.
Given their usual system of alternating commercial revivals (Hello Dolly, Crazy for You) with more artsy, deeper pieces (Into the woods, Ragtime), this is likely to fall into the first category, so hopefully no Nazi war camp setting (although, with the amount of sound of music's there have been, that actually sounds interesting to me...)
I'm not a great fan of The Sound Of Music - and the uncomfortable nature of the seating at Regents Park has always put me off going to see anything there. But the presence of Michael Xavier is enough to make me very tempted to see this.
I also loved Charlotte Wakefield in Spring Awakening and think she could prove to be an inspired choice for the role of Maria. (And the rest of the cast looks really great too.)
The season opens today with 'To Kill A Mockingbird', looks like it the weather is going to be fine, although it may be little chilly, but nothing a coat won't cure.
A lot of people don't buy a ticket until the day of the performance as they want to see if the weather is going to be good.
There is something magical about seeing a performance in the park, where can you see a production and have a skein of geese fly overhead or a helicopter land, you sit there and the sun departs in the east and the lights start to blaze in the west.
Did you think Christopher Plummer was about 80 years too young in the film? He was about the same age then as Xavier is now. In fact he may have been a tad younger than Xavier. Seems perfectly reasonable casting.
Id guest he had been cast as the Captain as he has been growing a beard lately and has worked there previous. As much as I dislike the venue I think its great casting, the Captain just needs to be older than Maria, he doesnt need to be an old man. The Maria they have cast is young and Michael is 36 this year.
Still think he's boyish, too young looking... Doesn't matter about what age he actually is - it's all about playing age and how the actor looks... For the most recent London revival, the Captain, Alexander Hanson definitely was age appropriate and he's 52 now. And that revival was in 2006. I definitely think, mid-40s is appropriate for Captain. Xavier is far too young and roguish looking IMO. Curly was fine, and the Wolf, and Cornelius Hackl, but to jump straight to playing the Captain is a bit of a stretch... I can't imagine him pulling off the stern, strict Captain at the start of the show somehow. Plummer was 35 playing the role, but felt and looked older. Just my opinion anyway, hey ho, I'm sure he'll be fine in the role.
He is aging well granted, and thats why i suspect he has grown the beard. The first time i saw him with the beard i thought Von Trapp, he had to be growing it for the role. He has stature and a firmness to him, I can believe him as a sea captain, more so than i bought him as a cowboy
Michael is a superb actor so will prove more than up to the task of acting the role. I also think he and Charlotte are a perfect match. And he has one of the best voices in the West End. The only shame is that von Trapp does not sing enough to show off his awesome vocals!
I don't know if Captain Von Trapp is an "awesome vocals" kind of role, I think it's more of a "proper singing" kind of role. In addition to which, Von Trapp definitely would not have a beard.
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Posted: 8/15/12 at 10:09am