Meet the Perth children who will be performing as the von Trapp children in the Sound of Music.
The popular musical is coming to Perth soon and local performers were needed to fill the roles of the many Von Trapp children. After an extensive casting process the young Perth performers who take on the roles of Friedrich, Kurt, Louisa, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl.
Amy Lehpamer, who plays Maria in the production announced the 12 Perth children who have been cast in the local season.
There will be two different casts alternating in the roles of the six youngest von Trapp children during the Perth season.
Playing Friedrich will be Sebastian Coe (11 years old from Mt Pleasant) and Sebastian Cruse (13, Willagee). Playing Louisa will be Bianca Thomas (15, Shelley) who will share the role with twin sister Maddison. Playing Kurt will be Thomas Denver (12, Shelley) and Austin Matthews (11, Winthrop).
Playing Brigitta will be Saoirse Gerrish (11, Woodbridge) and Remy Hanson (12, Alfred Cove). Playing Marta will be Ava Sharp (10, Seville Grove) and Claudia Drinkwater (11, Doubleview) and playing Gretl will be Luca Priolo (6, Geraldton) and Taisen Carlino (8, Woodvale).
Over 800 local performers auditioned for the roles.
The London Palladium production of ‘The Sound of Music’ will play at Perth’s Crown Theatre from 14 September.
Starring alongside Amy Lehpamer (Once, The Rocky Horror Show) as Maria Rainer will be Cameron Daddo (Legally Blonde, Big River) as Captain Georg von Trapp.
Marina Prior (Mary Poppins, The Secret Garden) will play Baroness Schraeder, Lorraine Bayly (Calendar Girls, The Sullivans) takes on the role of Frau Schmidt and David James (Playschool, Avenue Q) is Max Detweiler.
This acclaimed production of the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein musical premiered in 2006 at the home of West End musical theatre, the London Palladium, where it celebrated a record-breaking 954 performances seen by well over 2 million people, before going on to enjoy sell-out seasons internationally.
Inspired by the lives of the actual von Trapp family, ‘The Sound of Music’ tells the uplifting story of Maria, a fun-loving governess who changes the lives of the widowed Captain von Trapp and his seven children by re-introducing them to music, culminating in the family’s escape from the Nazis across the mountains from Austria.
It features an unforgettable score that includes some of the most famous songs ever performed on stage, including ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Edelweiss’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’, ‘Sixteen Going On Seventeen’, ‘The Lonely Goatherd’, ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’ and the title song, ‘The Sound of Music’.
The musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1959 to record-breaking advance ticket sales, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show opened in London in 1961 and became the longest-running American musical of its generation.
The 1965 Hollywood film, which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and quickly became the highest grossing film in history. Even today ‘The Sound of Music’ remains the most successful movie musical of all time.
The original Australian stage production opened at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in 1961 and ran for three years with a cast headed by the talented Australian soprano June Bronhill. Later Australian productions starred Julie Anthony and Lisa McCune as Maria. A local Perth production was staged two years ago.
‘The Sound of Music is at Crown Theatre from 14 Spetember, tickets are available from Ticketmaster
