One of America's most beloved musicals is coming to the Leelanau Peninsula starting tonight.

THE CHARCTER Maria Rainer (center) is surrounded by (from left) Tyler Porter, Sophia Mosher, Marissa Hammond, Ella Bruining, Joey Vanderbosch, Amalie Wack and Kaitlin Lutz.

“The Sound of Music is a great family musical. One of the best for many people,” said orchestra director Doug Scripps of Northport.

Scripps is a retired college professor of music from Alma College who volunteers his time to help many musical events in and around Northport.

“The story takes place in Austria, the capital of which is Vienna – a city I’m in love with. The orchestra that we’ll be using in this production is what is known as a standard Viennese orchestra of a hundred years ago, which means we’ll use less percussion with more focus on woodwinds. All of the string parts will be played on a keyboard.”

Maria Rainer is played by Micha Elizabeth Thomas.

Scripps said he was pleased with how rehearsals for the musical have gone.
“The professionalism and musicality of the people in this entire company are outstanding. This is just a

great bunch to work with.”
He said he would be putting the biggest orchestra he could fit in the pit for The Sound of Music – about 20 musicians. Scripps will also lead a pre-overture bell choir, which will ring from various locations in and around the auditorium.

“The bells will ring out several secular Austrian songs, which I think many people will recognize,” said Scripps.

The orchestra conductor even offers a challenge to audience members:“The first person who can identify all of the bell songs to me I will personally take out to dinner,” he said.

The musical, by Rodgers and Hammerstein, broke all box office records and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 1959-60.

The story of the von Trapp family and their escape from Austria just prior to World War II will be brought to life in the intimate and acoustically outstanding Northport Community Arts Center theatre. The Northport production is a presentation with a full cast, live orchestra, professional direction, costuming, set design, lighting and sound.

Robert Klump, a professional theatre director now residing in Massachusetts, will guide the production. His wife, Jan Klump, is music director.

The couple estimates that they, and many others, have been putting in 6-10 hours daily for several weeks, in order to perfect their production.

“We are living and breathing The Sound of Music,” said Robert Klump, who retired as an acting teacher on the East coast several years ago.

The couple now travels to various locations around the country and world to teach in their respective fields – for him, theatre; for her, vocal performance.

“This is a difficult production to get up and running in such a short time, but we’re doing it, and it’s going to be beautiful,” said Robert.

The Klumps have visited the area before, due to their friendship with Judie and Curt Leece of Northport. The Leeces passed on the Klumps’ name and recommended them to direct the play when they heard that NACC was planning the musical.

“We have been staying at the Nielsen Farm, between Northport and Leland,” said Jan Klump. “Living in a little cottage on the edge of a cherry orchard is a whole new experience for us, and we’ve loved it. We were surprised to be awaked one night at about midnight by a cherry sprayer.”

Although they haven’t had much time to enjoy the sights and attractions of Leelanau County as of yet due to their busy rehearsal schedule, the Klumps plan to take a breather during the week between performances.

“We know this is a beautiful area, which is one of the reasons we agreed to do the production. We hope to be able to relax and enjoy it a little in a few weeks,” said Jan.

Meanwhile, the Klumps’ leadership and experience with The Sound of Music is lending confidence and guidance to the many community members involved in the production. They have been involved in over 20 productions of the musical over the years.

“We are just amazed at how many volunteers there are around here. You just say the word, and you have a crew of any kind willing to show up and do great work. What a fabulous community this is,” said Jan.

“It’s a huge production,” said Northport Community Arts Center executive director Norma Nieve, requiring some 70 volunteers from the community. “Thanks to all the volunteers, or this wouldn’t be possible. The set crew is showing up early in the morning and working long into the afternoon.”

The production crew includes assistant director Robin Stoll, choreographer Micha Elizabeth Thomas, set designer Curt Leece, costumer Sue Hanson, assistant music director Ann Bloomquist, and stage manager/production manager Janet Crane.

Here is a list of cast members for the upcoming performance of The Sound of Music:
• Maria Rainer (Micha Elizabeth Thomas)
• The Mother Abbess (Billie Thompson)
• Sister Berthe (Catherine Paolacci)
• Sister Margaretta (Judie Leece)
• Sister Sophia (Joan Post Brown)
• Capt. Georg von Trapp (Alan Woods)
• Franz (Bob Walker)
• Frau Schmidt (Hillary Porter)
• Liesl (Sophia Mosher)
• Friedrich (Joey Vanderbosch)
• Louisa (Kaitlin Lutz)
• Kurt (Tyler Porter)
• Brigitta (Marissa Hammond)
• Marta (Ella Bruining)
• Gretl (Amalie Wack)
• Rolf Gruber (Nolan Racich)
• Elsa Schraeder (Ayriel Mawby)
• Ursula (Taffy Walker)
• Max Detweiler (Dan Bruining)
• Herr Zeller (Malcolm Morley)
• Baron Eberfeld (Bill Wells)
• Baroness Elberfeld (Lisa Drummond)
• New Postulant (Sharon Hall)
Nuns and Postulants
• Julia Brabenac
• Joan Grown
• Mary Day Davis
• Sharon Hall
• Gayle Harlow
• Judie Leece
• Anna Mikowski
• Catherine Paolacci
• Bette Puschel
• Sarah Shoemaker
• Helen Wells
• Betsy Wilson Jean Young
• Sandee Brown
• Donna Allington
Understudies
• Marta and Gretl (Maddy Porter)
• Mother Abbess (Jean Young)

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