Splendid Match Thara Cooper Brings A Wealth Of Talent, Beauty To Role Of Maria In A Delightful ‘Sound Of Music’

“The Sound of Music” Spokane Theatrical Company, Sunday afternoon, The Met

About this time last year, I was still wondering why someone wouldn’t get smart and cast Thara Cooper in the lead of a big musical.

Since then, plenty of directors have gotten smart, but none of them quite as smart as Troy Nickerson. Here in this professional production by the Spokane Theatrical Company, Nickerson has cast Cooper in what may be her perfect role: the irrepressible singing postulant, Maria.

To say that Cooper is an effective Maria is like saying that Julie Andrews was an adequate one. Cooper fulfills all of the demands of this role, and more.

She sings like an angel. She has infectious high spirits. She has an unaffected grace and beauty. She delivers her lines with sensitivity and nuance.

And beyond that, she does what Andrews did in the movie, and what many lesser Marias could not: She makes the audience fall in love with her.

With that accomplished, it seems only natural when the von Trapp children and Capt. von Trapp himself fall in love with her, too.

With a Maria that can pull off that feat, the production can’t help but soar.

The rest of this cast is also of higher-than-average quality. Kent Kimball makes a strong Capt. von Trapp, and his deep-voiced version of “Edelweiss” is one of the show’s emotional high points.

Susan Windham, as the Reverend Mother, provides the show’s musical climax with “Climb Every Mountain,” of nearly window-shattering proportions.

And the von Trapp children are naturally delightful, from biggest to littlest: Vanessa Liptak, Matt Rose, Betsy Johnson, Colton Corothers, Mikelle Young, Maryellen Cooley and Clare Cooley. The two Cooleys, who play Marta and Gretl, are especially winning.

The staging and choreography, by Nickerson, are relatively straightforward. The wedding scene is a visual high point. The production values are fairly modest, as they must be on a stage with The Met’s limitations, but Peter Hardie’s interchangeable set pieces are ingenious and professional.

Music director Carol Miyamoto does an exemplary job with the music, which consists of twin pianos and a percussionist set in the first few rows of the main floor.

As for the show itself, it delivers exactly what you expect from “The Sound of Music”: a bit of sugar, a lot of syrup, but with an undeniable romantic power and so much kid appeal that it would be churlish to be cynical about it.