Connie triumphs as Maria in Sound of Music
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
SIR ANDREW Lloyd Webber has proved his critics wrong, even though the casting of Connie Fisher in the coveted role of Maria Von Trapp in his revival of Rodger and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, couldn’t have been more controversial.
The ‘unknown’ 23-year old beat nine other finalists in BBC’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, the first reality TV show of its kind and the result of Lloyd Webber’s failure to secure Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson for the role made famous by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film.
But Connie (as millions of TV viewers came to know her) has wowed critics.
“She’s as natural and unsugared and wholesome as one of those pots of vegan yoghurt. Just listening to her makes you feel healthy”, writes Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail; while Paul Taylor of The Independent declares she is “enchantingly fresh and ardent and she sings with a voice that can range from piping purity to soft tenderness”.
In fact, he goes so far as to say: “The only people likely to be less than jubilant about this latest addition to the West End’s miracle season of musicals are the producers of other top-notch shows. In their offices this morning there’ll not be the sound of music, but the sound of moaning.”
Only Sheridan Morley of the Daily Express has expressed reservations about Fisher’s performance, describing it as “totally lacking in warmth or a sense of comedy…. precisely how she wins over the hearts of the seven Von Trapp children and then their autocratic father remains something of a mystery.”
However, a leading theatre website would disagree, having observed that “Fisher displays the comic timing of a seasoned professional”.
Praise too, goes to Lesley Garrett as the Mother Abbess, whose performance Taylor describes as “phenomenal”; while Benedict Nightingale of The Times compliments Alexander Hanson’s “sound” portrayal of Captain Von Trapp, doubly gratifying no doubt, in view of Hanson’s precipitant appearance as the stiff-necked ex-naval officer.
Taylor also praises Arlene Phillips’ “knock-out choreography” and Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph applauds Jeremy Sams’ “opulent production”.
Though obviously not to everyone’s taste – Morley for instance, considers The Sound of Music “the most schmalzily objectionable of all Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic collaborations” – Lloyd Webber and David Ian’s new production has nevertheless been given a resounding thumbs-up by critics.
So to sum it up, who better than Spencer: “Its decent wholesome values, its celebration of the family, its unembarrassed portrayal of devout Christian faith and its vision of good outwitting the evil of fascism all seem exceptionally welcome in these troubled, cynical times.”