On November 20th at 7:30 pm started the productions of Manhasset High School’s The Sound of Music. For those unfamiliar with the storyline, The Sound of Music takes place during World War II about a nun named Maria. She stands out from the other nuns in the abbey because she likes to sing and has more of a childish personality. She is moved from the abbey to work as a governess for Captain Georg von Trapp, an Austro-Hungarian Navy widower. She is to take care of his 7 children. Captain von Trapp travels a lot and never sees his children. The children always try to get rid of their governess so they can see their father. The children at first are not pleased about having another governess, but when she connects her love of music with carrying for the children they fall in love with her just as quickly as she fell in love with them. After she has taken care of them for a long time, she leaves and returns to the abbey because she is confused. The captain has made her feel something she has never felt and it surges her with fear. Maria is in love from Captain von Trapp. Mother Abbess, tells her to follow her dreams and go back to the von Trapp family. In the second act of the show, Maria and the Captain confess their love for each other and get married. Maria officially becomes the mother of the children she has taken care of for so long. The children were thrilled for Maria to marry their father. Soon after they are wed, the German army asks for Captain von Trapp to be a part of the army. The von Trapp family is Austrian and does not want to be a part of the Nazi reign, so he wishes to escape. The von Trapp family with their wonderful singing skills preform for the Nazi’s and wins first prize in an entertainment competition, but when their name is called for their prize, they are no where to be found. They had escaped over the mountains.

Starring Zoe Vincoff (Maria Rainer), Alex Baranello (Captain Georg von Trapp), Rose Rutkovsky (Mother Abbess), Vincent Caliendo and Alex Schwartz (Rolf Gruber/Admiral von Schreiber), Jack Eletto and Thomas Moschitta (Max Detweiler/Baron Elberfield), Kat Turzo and Kate Brady (Elsa Schraeder), and all the von Trapp children including Bridget Blaney (Liesl), 7th grader Ryan Connors (Friedrich), Kristina DiCarlo (Louisa), 7th grader James Brodie (Kurt), Elizabeth Rutkovsky (Brigitta), 6th grader Kelly Torborg (Marta) and 5th grader Sophia Kekllas and 3rd grader Helen Murphy (Gretl). Along with all the parts mentioned before, the show included an extremely talented cast of nuns including Mother Abbess (Rose Rutkovsky), Sister Berthe (Regan Lavin), Sister Margaretta (Emily Cruz) and Sister Sophia (Isabel Vigliotii and Caroline Rose Kenlon). The other operatic and fabulous nuns include, Alex Bowman, Kate Brady, Amanda Capra, Penny Dasi-Sutton, Julia Ellinghaus, Elizabeth Guariglia, Ariadne Katsifas, Amanda Naccarato, Lauren Schwartz, Jacqueline Siffer, Gabriella Tranchina, Jena Weitman, Jennie Whalen, Kimmie Brogan, Maddie Connor, Erin Love and Anna Sabo. Kevin McAleer( Franz), Ursula (Kristina Rubertone) and Gabriella Tranchina (Frau Schmidt) also made appearances on stage as the housekeepers. There was also the frightening, yet fabulous, cast of Nazis including Herr Zeller (Jack Wesson), Philip Barsky and Oswaldo Herrera as Nazi officers. And of course no show could be complete with out  the fantastic crew: Chris Benedetti, Kellyann Bock, Emma Carr, Jessica and Natalia Farrell-Ortiz, Irene Mamagakis, Michelle Marcisak, Brian Murray, Jai Nanda, Nicole Rinaldi, Michaela Ryan, Rachel Sloan, Adam Smotkin, Troy Beattie, Brigid Ferris, Chryssie Michael, Briana Yarrington, Katie Barnes, Cat Jones,  Brian Suga, Jack Sullivan, Aaron Tomlinson, Michelle Wong and the talented Orchestra: Rachel Chang, Julien Cheng, Samantha Madonna, Typher Yom, Ryan Wu, Michele Cerbone, Caroline Shyr, Jeff Torborg, Adonia Low, Christine Yoo, Joshua He, Lily D’Ariano, Raymond Huffman, Sung Won Seo, Joseph Capodicasa, David Van Boxel, Jeffrey Chin, Byran Morrissey, Brian Murray, Mrs. Sandi Baskin and Mr. Randy Knudsen. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in the production–we couldn’t have done it without you!

“The Sound of Music” broke all school records and sold out 3 out of 4 nights. Quoted by several watchers, “This show is the best high school show ever done!”, the Manhasset High School production was definitely a success. But the road to success was a long one: the entire production took over 12 weeks for the sets to be built, costumes to be made, actors and actresses to memorize lines and block scenes. Every single cast and crew member worked extremely hard, starting from the summer to make this show what it was. Parents of the kids came to help out and some adults looking for experience helped with the sets. But most importantly, Mr. Fessler, who put every ounce of effort he had into making this show one of Manhasset’s best. If you didn’t come out to see the show, purchase the Sound of Music DVD and “So long, farewell”