THEATER REVIEW : ‘Music’ Still Has a Few Favorite Things

Just when the jaded might be ready to retire “The Sound of Music” to the chestnut heap, along comes a production that reminds us why this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic reproduces like gremlins on the regional theater circuit.

The Starlight Musical Theatre, which presents “The Sound of Music” (for the fifth time!) through July 16 at the Starlight Bowl, doesn’t do anything fancy or innovative with the material. It just presents the goods in a well-nigh irresistible fashion. And what goods.

“The Sound of Music” is a true story of bravery and love, set in Austria against the threatening backdrop of World War II. It features music that includes “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss” and “Climb Every Mountain.” Lighting a fire under the whole proceedings is a fresh and charming performance by Sarah Tattersall as Maria, the aspiring nun who becomes a governess to a widower with seven children, and ends up marrying the whole kit and caboodle.

And kudos to the seven children, the six youngest of whom range in age from 5 to 13, who are not just content to bask in her glow (Chad Johnson, Danielle Decker, Bevin Kenan, Nathan Wing Bush, Aspen Shena Miller and adorable, tiny Jessica Megan Kloor). They toss in more than a few sparks of their own.

Which is not to say that this “Sound of Music” is sheer perfection by any means. The airplanes still roar overhead on their descent to nearby Lindbergh Field and the players seem a bit less certain than in previous years about when to freeze frame and when to play through the noise.

Ron Husmann provides a strong voice as Captain von Trapp (a repeat of the role he played here seven years ago), but his demeanor is more of a bourgeois burgher than of an icily disciplined military man who slowly melts under the influence of the woman who brings music and laughter back into his life.

If not for Tara’s colorful costumes there would be little visual relief from Robert Randolph’s drab and flimsy sets, which look all the more anemic in the early evening when the brightness of the sky cancels out Barbara Du Bois’ attempts at lighting.

And while one of Director Darryl Ferrera’s strengths is the way he keeps the action moving at a brisk clip that doesn’t belabor the obvious, he could afford to linger at select moments of tension: when Maria and von Trapp realize they are in love and when the family, in flight from the officers of the Third Reich, are discovered by an old beau (now turned Nazi) of one of the von Trapp girls.

Another good touch that could have been expanded on was having a Nazi officer patrol the aisles, waiting to pick up the von Trapp family after a concert performance. If there were more Nazis, creating a greater sense of the audience and the family being surrounded, the climax might have been correspondingly intense.

Still the show takes wing thanks to one of its best casts of singers and actors Starlight has ever assembled. The quality shows in the sweet voices of the nuns, a cappella and with the orchestra, smoothly conducted by Lloyd Cooper, in the stylishness of Patti Goodwin (one of Starlight’s past Marias) as Elsa Schraeder, the woman who courts and loses the Baron, and in Andrew Boyer as the chillingly amusing Max Detweiler, the conscienceless survivor who will cozy up to anyone.

Devon Yates, the seventh member of the von Trapp clan, and Gavin Glennon are similarly affecting as the young lovers whose love for each other dissolves on opposite sides of the political fence.

“The Sound of Music” has no shortage of cliches weighing it down. For those who doubt that the course of love does run smooth even if you are willing to “climb every mountain,” you can join Ebenezer Scrooge with a cry of “Bah, humbug!” during the uplifting choruses.

But for those unafraid of a large dollop of sentimentality on their strudel, there is truth under the excess.

“THE SOUND OF MUSIC”

Music by Richard Rodgers; lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse; suggested by “The Trapp Family Singers” by Maria Augusta Trapp. Director is Darryl Ferrera. Conductor is Lloyd Cooper. Sets by Robert Randolph. Lighting by Barbara Du Bois. Sound by Bill Lewis. Costumes by Tara. With Ron Husmann, Sarah Tattersall, Carolyn Kimball, Andrew Boyer, Patti Goodwin, Devon Yates, Gavin Glennon, Leann Sandel, Jacqueline Giles, Patti Milligan, David Cohen, Anne Krill, Chad Johnson, Danielle Decker, Nathan Wing Bush, Bevin Kenan, Aspen Shena Miller, Jessica Megan Kloor, Lori Palmer, Von Schauer, Alan Willy, Tricia Dawe and Duane Daniels. At 8 p.m. through Sunday and from July 4-9 and July 13-16 at the Starlight Bowl, in Balboa Park, San Diego. Tickets range from $13-22. For further information, call (619) 544-7827.