Leeds Grand Theatre – until 1st August 2026
Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood
5*****
The Sound of Music has come to the Leeds Grand Theatre, courtesy of Opera North. Opera North is reviving the Curve Production which premiered in November 2025. The Sound of Music is one of the most popular musicals to be staged along with its reputed and lovable 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The Sound of Music is musically and lyrically engineered by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II on the premise of Maria Augusta Trapp’s The Story of the Trapp Family Singers and the book adaptation by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse.
Under the original and revival directions of Nikolai Foster and Ollie Khurshid, The Sound of Music, set in 1938 in Austria, comes alive on stage with excellent portrayals of Maria Rainer by Katie Bird and of Captain Georg von Trapp by Edward Bennett. They and the rest of the cast put in a phenomenal performance which one feels engaged from the beginning when Maria begins her governess role and to the end when the von Trapp family leave Austria because of the Annexation by Nazi Germany.
The production certainly isn’t replicating the 1965 infamous and popular film or an opera but this production brings its intimate and theatrical touches which are usually associated with live theatre. The touches are noticeable particularly with the build up to the Annexation and there is close up staging of each scene gradually unravelling the overall plot.
It is such a thoroughly thought-out production courtesy of the creative team including the choreography by both Ebony Molina and Dale White; the staging and costumes by Michael Taylor; the lighting by Mark Henderson; and the soundscapes by Sebastian Frost. The familiar musical numbers are well performed by the cast under the musical direction by Oliver Rundell and the Opera North Orchestra.
There is something for everyone in The Sound of Music and the musical numbers fit in the appropriate emotive situations; particularly the moving Edelweiss towards end of the Second Act, and is sung by Captain von Trapp (Bennett) who knowingly that he will be leaving Austria that very evening, and his emotions are shown and felt towards his homeland. The human spirit certainly shines through all the numbers including The Sound of Music and Climb E’vry Mountain.
This production of The Sound of Music is certainly a show stopping success and is received victoriously by members of the audience. Congratulations and well done to the cast and creative team for putting on such an unmissable production!