A classic musical will soon be taking the stage at Linden Christian School.
Every two years, the school puts on a musical and this year, the performance is The Sound of Music.
The story follows “A family built on love and music who are facing some of the challenges of the political situation in the 1940s in Austria, and those two elements come together,” says Matt Janzen, the musical's director.
Sarah Fast portrays Maria, and Grant Lyons plays Captain Von Trapp.
While theatre is new to Grant, he is looking forward to getting some experience. “I just wanted to try things out and to get some acting experience under my belt, but also grow in community with my peers because I've been at the school for quite a while, but I only know a close knit handful of friends, so I just thought it would be a good way to get out of my comfort zone and I love people.”
As Grant prepares to play one of the leads, he is excited for the responsibility. “It's really fun, especially since it's my first time and I don't know everything that's going on and I'm still figuring things out. So it's just a lot of experimentation both at home and in rehearsal.”
On the other side, Sarah has always had a soft spot for theatre. “I've been involved in theatre since I was around seven years old, and so it's always been my happy place. I love it so, so much and I just find so much fulfillment through that.”
She adds that getting to spend time with the cast has been a blast. “Having such a wonderful cast that I can grow in my character, even being Maria and Captain von Trapp. Getting to know Grant better through that has been so much fun too.”
When opening night comes, Sarah is excited to bring the classic show to life. "It's such a priceless musical that's been around for so long, and so many people have a connection to it. I'm so excited to get to bring that to light and just put a smile on people's faces."
Grant is excited to show off the hard work, not just from him, but from his peers too. "I'm looking forward to showing both my peers and the people in the audience not only what I can do, but what the youth of today can do when we put our heads together and work towards a common goal."
The hard work from the entire cast has not gone unnoticed by the director. "The kids have been working incredibly hard. We had an eight-hour rehearsal on Saturday, and it's been such an incredible experience to watch them grow in responsibility, building community, and taking on the characters they've been assigned."
While Janzen has had a front row seat, he knows he couldn't do this on his own. "My first job is as an English teacher, and so, like Grant said, this is a step outside my comfort zone. I'm certainly not doing it on my own. We've got an excellent team of people, along with Kim Neufeld, our choir director, and Jen Sewick, our choreographer. We're putting together something that's so much bigger than all of us."
This is Janzen's second musical he's done after watching and wondering if he could be involved. "I've always sort of watched from the sidelines and wondered if that's something that I could get involved with. The opportunity arose a couple of years ago to jump in, and it was a really positive experience. Now, it's been 25 years since we did our first musical, which was The Sound of Music."
He says bringing it back was an easy decision. "We made the decision to bring it [The Sound of Music] back and present it to a whole new generation with an entirely new generation of cast. And so it's been a really easy decision to get back into it."
While Linden Christian School's adaptation will be similar to the classic story, Janzen says there will be some differences. "We're pretty close to the movie, but it's got its own unique flavour."
The Sound of Music runs May 7 to 9 at 7 p.m. each night at Linden Christian School, 877 Wilkes Avenue. Tickets are selling fast and can be purchased here for $20.