Paragon Music Theatre

Lexington's Only Musical Theatre Company

Visit “Gallery”
to enjoy newly posted photos
from The Sound of Music

Gallery photos courtesy of Brooke Conner
B’s Photography
www.beesphotography.net

The Long – Awaited Show Announcement

CLUES for Paragon’s May 2011 show:

Subtitled “A Musical Fable,” ***** romanticizes life in musical theater’s earliest roots:  vaudeville and burlesque. A quick search online will provide a thorough summary of the plot, characters, and score.  Particularly noteworthy, however, is the list of creators for this show:

Book by Arthur Laurents

Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Orchestrations by Sid Ramin (who just finished West Side Story) and Robert Gintzler (Bye Bye Birdie)
Dance Arrangements by John Kander (of Kander and Ebb) and Betty Walberg
Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Produced by David Merrick (!!) and Leland Hayward

One has to wonder if a team of this caliber were to be compiled today, of whom would it consist?  Do we have this many geniuses capable of producing such intricate, sophisticated, and savvy musical theatre?  Or does ***** stand out as a true gem?

The overture to ***** is considered to be the best in all Broadway history, and the credit must go to the orchestrators, who by this point were working at the top of their game.  They turned the “sound of [Broadway] music” away from Rodgers and Hammerstein and instead entered the bold and brassy world of jazz!  Listen to the first 30 seconds of the overture, and see if it inspires you.

***** provides us with fun, multi-dimensional characters who all want something desperately… and that provides the show with an immense dramatic drive yielding one of the most heartfelt, truthful musicals of all time.  Stir in what many consider to be the finest Broadway score ever written, and you get one rousing show that is as humorous as the best musical comedy ever written and as dramatic as anything in grand opera.  ”May we entertain you!”

Can you guess the show????Scroll down to find the answer.

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Review: ‘Sound of Music’ sets new standards

Paragon Music Theatre’s production is a ‘magical evening’

By Candace Chaney Contributing theater critic

The Von Trapp Family Singers played by Addyson Bell, Audrey Zahn, Sophia Cooper, Caroline Keegan, Henry Zahn, Kurtis Brown, Lisa Braswell, Sydney Steele and Tom Hayward, perform at the Saltzberg Festival. Paragon Music Theatre presents “The Sound of Music” at the Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short St. in Lexington, Ky., June 30-Aug. 8, 2010. This photo was taken at a dress rehearsal July 29, 2010. Photo by Rich Copley | staff
Maria (Sydney Steele) and Capt. Von Trapp (Tom Hayward) realize they’re in love singing “Something Good.” Paragon Music Theatre presents “The Sound of Music” at the Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short St. in Lexington, Ky., June 30-Aug. 8, 2010. This photo was taken at a dress rehearsal July 29, 2010. Photo by Rich Copley | staff

Every now and then audiences experience a truly magical evening of theater – the kind that inspires spontaneous standing ovations from people who don’t “like” plays, the kind that sends you home with songs and daydreams in your head.

Paragon Music Theatre’s current production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music is one of those experiences.

A stunning tour de force of musical and artistic accomplishment, Paragon’s The Sound of Music, which continues through Aug. 8, is by far the most professionally wrought and personally enjoyable musical that I have seen in Central Kentucky.

At the heart of the production’s appeal is, of course, Maria Rainer, the nun turned governess turned wife whose music and kind heart changes the lives of seven Austrian children and their father just before the Third Reich annexes Austria in 1938.

Sydney Steele is impeccable in the lead role. Her vocal prowess is a technical feat in its own right, easily soaring to the top of the Opera House rafters. But it is her warmth and interpretive delivery that links the artistic elements of the plot together with graceful aplomb. Anybody with a good voice can sing Maria’s songs, but it takes a special kind of performer to “become” Maria in an all-encompassing way as Steele does.

While Steele’s performance sets the tone and pacing for the entire show, it does not stand out in the sense that it competes with fellow performers, and that’s a good thing.

Tom Hayward, as Captain von Trapp, Jacob Karnes as his friend Max Detweiler, and Lisa Braswell as the eldest von Trapp daughter, Liesel, all turn in accomplished vocal and acting performances. Then, there are the gorgeous harmonies of all the von Trapp children (the children are double cast, and a new group will perform Aug. 6-8) and the haunting choral music of the nunnery. Cyndi Ackley, playing Mother Abbess , brought down the house in Act I’s closing number Climb Every Mountain.

Technical elements further exceeded expectations. There are a lot more bells and whistles at the Opera House than other local venues and designers have taken full advantage of that to potent effect. Willy Todd Picket’s set and lighting design manages to convey the expansiveness of the Alps concurrently with the intimacy of the von Trapp’s home and the quiet sacredness of the abbey. And design and stage direction come together in the climactic Saltzberg Festival scene to make the imminent threat of the Nazi regime feel all-too real in the Opera House.

Anita Shirar’s costuming could be a metaphor for the entire show, with rich attention to exquisite detail. Frau Schraeder’s ball gown, for instance, glimmered with lush embroidery and Maria’s wedding gown would make many a bride covet its elegance.

Sound-wise, the acoustics of the Opera House fully embraced Ryan Shirar’s musical direction of the orchestra. It is a welcome relief to never have to strain to hear the music, instead letting the sound wash through you as the plot gently carries you with it.

Artistic Director Robyn Peterman-Zahn deserves considerable praise for orchestrating the artistic elements to work in elegant concert with Shirar’s musical direction. In less-than-stellar musicals, moving the plot can take a back seat, functioning as mere connective filler while the ensemble gears up for another clunky and obvious “number.” Not so here. Even if some cast members consider themselves singers first by nature, Peterman-Zahn has made them actors. We can see their characters’ feelings, and when they are moved into a musical number, it seems like a natural emotional outgrowth of the action, adding another layer of elegant sophistication to the show’s achievements.

Bravo, Paragon, for raising the standard of excellence in Central Kentucky theater. You won me over long before the wildly celebratory curtain call that brought the audience to its feet.

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PARAGON’S MAY 2011 SHOW WILL BE… GYPSY.

We hope to see you for auditions!  Check back here for more details.

Posted 3 months, 1 week ago at 5:13 pm.