To coincide with the 89th birthday of the much-loved Dame Julie Andrews DBE, Pitlochry Festival Theatre has today announced the full cast for its exciting forthcoming production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical The Sound of Music.
Set to lead the production will be Kirsty Findlay as Maria Rainer, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role along with the 2016 cast of the National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre production of Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour. She has been wowing sold out audiences in Pitlochry’s Summer Season with her performance as Carole King in the Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, as well as appearing in the musical Footloose and Frances Poet’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Her other theatre work includes Islander: A New Musical (Southwark Playhouse/Helen Milne Productions), A Mother’s Song (Macrobert Arts Centre and KT Producing).
Playing alongside Kirsty Findlay will be Ali Watt (The Grand Old Opera House Hotel, Traverse Theatre and The Stamping Ground, Eden Court/Raw Material) as Captain Georg von Trapp; Christian Edwards (Cyrano De Bergerac, Northern Broadsides and All I See Is You, Octagon Theatre, UK, and Australia tour. Christian also gloriously created the infamous satirical character West End Producer – whom he played anonymously in the public eye for over 14 years) as Max Detweiler; Hannah Baker (A Force To Be Reckoned With, Mikron Theatre) as Elsa Schraeder; Angela Caesar (The Wizard of Oz, The Watermill Theatre and Caroline or Change, Playhouse Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre) as Frau Schmidt/Sister Berthe and Sally Cheng (The Wizard of Oz, The Watermill Theatre and Twelfth Night, Regent’s Park Open Theatre) as Liesl von Trapp.
Joining them will be Lee Drage (All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare in the Square) as Franz; opera singer Kate Milner – Evans (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Leeds Playhouse No.1 National Tour and Showboat, Crucible Sheffield/New London Theatre) as Mother Abbess; Elliot Gooch (Sister Act, UK and Ireland tour and Treasure Island, Barn Theatre) as Rolf Gruber; Matthew James Hinchliffe (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Amelie, both West End) as Herr Zeller; Ellen Lawford (A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Christmas Carol UK tour, Quantum Theatre) as Baroness Elberfeld/ Sister Sophia; Lydia Barton Lovett (A Christmas Carol and Treasure Island, Pleasure Dome Theatre Company) as Sister Margaretta; Jack Ward (A Streetcar Named Desire and The Secret Garden, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) as Admiral Von Schreiber/ Baron Elberfeld and Trudy Ward (Sunshine on Leith and Gypsy, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) as Ursula/Fraulein Schweiger/Postulant. All other roles will be played by the cast.
The roles of the von Trapp children will be shared by Benjamin Barenco, Isla MacGregor, Ross Martin, Ailsa Marx, Lily McSherry, Joseph Miranda, Theo Miranda, Millie Nicolson, Tanvi Reddy, Leva Stewart, Martha Swain, and Callie Wilson.
Inspired by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp and with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, the piece is set in 1930s Austria where a nun becomes a governess to seven children.
Featuring a treasure trove of cherished songs, including Climb Ev’ry Mountain, The Sound of Music, My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi, and Sixteen Going on Seventeen, The Sound of Music won the hearts of audiences worldwide, earning five Tony Awards and five Oscars in the much-loved 1965 film version featuring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
The Sound of Music will be the final production for Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman, before she takes up the role of Artistic Director at Sheffield Theatres.
The Sound of Music will play at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 15 November to 22 December 2024.
For tickets and further information for The Sound of Music contact the box office on 01796 484626 or online at www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
