MOUNT VERNON — MTVarts’s latest production, “The Sound of Music,” portrays a musical family in the 1930s Austrian Alps — but behind the scenes, several of Mount Vernon’s real-life musical families contributed to the show.
Steve Herbst, who plays Capt. Georg von Trapp, sings alongside the seven actors cast as his children, but also alongside two of his sons who are a part of the ensemble.
“There are a lot of families that are in this show,” Herbst said. “It really is the embodiment of community theater.”
Multiple generations of Trey Swallow’s family are in the show. Swallow, who plays Adm. von Schreiber, shared the stage with his son, wife and mother-in-law.
“My wife, you may be able to pick her out, is eight months pregnant at this point, so it truly is a big family affair for us, even for the one that’s not born yet,” Swallow said.
Similarly, Jeffrey Scott, who plays Herr Zeller, shared the stage with his wife, daughter and son. Scott is also the executive director of the Knox County Foundation.
MTVarts, with a cast of 47, returned to the Memorial Theater stage July 10 for a 7-show run following canceled seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had planned to perform “The Sound of Music” in its 2020 season.
Artistic director of MTVarts Bruce Jacklin said when the organization began planning its return in the spring of 2021, it was a given for the heartwarming story of “The Sound of Music” to be the first story told.
The cast has been rehearsing multiple days per week since April.
Abigail Tayse, who plays the lead Maria Rainer, has been doing theater since she was about eight years old, she said. Throughout the pandemic she had done voice lessons via Zoom, but she said nothing compares to live theater.
“What a dream after that past year and a half to actually be in a theater again,” Tayse said.
Thor Collard, who plays Max Detweiler, teared up as he reflected on returning to the stage.
“I was getting ready to go on stage the first time for the first night Saturday, and I was like this,” Collard said, pointing to his teary eyes. “And I was slapping myself in the face because I can’t go on like that. It was just such an emotional ride to have not had that for so long.
“It may not seem very long — a year and a half or so — but you didn’t know if it was ever going to end.”
While Collard and Tayse have performed with MTVarts for several years, other actors graced the stage with MTVarts for the first time, including Mackenzie Leland, who plays the eldest of the von Trapp children — Liesl.
“The show itself means a lot to me,” Leland said. “It was the first live musical I ever saw when I was seven years old.”
The youngest cast member is around that very age, Gwen Brady, who plays the youngest von Trapp child — Gretl von Trapp.
The cast encompasses a range of ages as well as new and old faces to the Memorial Theater. “The Sound of Music” will be performed through July 18 — Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
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