SEATTLE — “The Sound of Music” is a story of refugees, a tale that is as powerful today as when it took the stage and screen 50 years ago, say Sequim’s Carol Swarbrick and Jim Dries, actors appearing now in the lavish production at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
With that famous almost-nun Maria, the gallant Capt. von Trapp and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score, “Sound” is a romp — and it’s inspired by real events: As Nazism spread into Austria in the late 1930s, the von Trapps fled to the United States, where they had the chance to begin a new life.
The story means much to Carol and Jim, who recently traveled to Europe and saw for themselves some of the places ravaged in World War II.
Now the couple, who have been working in theater together for many years, are thrilled to be part of the Seattle “Sound.”
Carol plays Sister Berthe, the mistress of the novices who sings, among other songs, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” Jim is a guest at a von Trapp family party, where Carol also appears.
This portrayal of Sister Berthe isn’t the first time Carol has put on a habit.
She had the role in “The Sound of Music” at the 5th Avenue a decade ago, as well as at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, Minn., some years back.
Oh, and she also played a nun on television’s “Murder, She Wrote” series during the early 1990s.
Immediacy
Today, Carol feels an intensity in this production, an immediacy beyond what people might recall from the 1965 movie with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
“It’s live, and it’s true,” Carol said of the show.
And as for the singing, well, this is not your typical Broadway-style fare.
The 5th Avenue brought in Joseph Crnko — the cast knows him as Joe — to teach the “nuns” how to sound.
“When we’re singing ‘A-men,’ for example, it’s not just the notes that change,” Carol said.
“It’s a spiritual lift,” Joe taught them.
It helps that Joe is director of the Seattle Symphony Chorale and the Northwest Boychoir.
It also helps that Sister Laura, a local nun, likewise came to work with Carol and her sisters of the stage, teaching them about life in an abbey.
Sister Berthe, you see, is not angry at young Maria for falling in love with Georg von Trapp.
Sister Berthe “is Maria’s advocate,” Carol said. And the nun’s path, it becomes clear, is not this woman’s path.
For Jim too, Maria’s story is a moving one. Kirsten deLohr Helland, who portrays her, “brings such freshness and joy to the role,” he said.
The Seattle actress plunges into her part with a particularly un-Julie Andrews gusto.
At one point during a run-through, tears came to Jim’s eyes, so moved was he by “The Sound of Music’s” message.
The show is no documentary; the facts of the von Trapps’ lives differ a bit from what happens on stage and screen.
A family’s love
Ultimately, however, “Sound” is about a family’s love and how it sustained Maria, Georg and their kids, as they relocated first to Pennsylvania and then to Vermont, where they established the Von Trapp Family Lodge.
The story is also about “the need to open your arms,” Jim said, “when people are having trouble.”
For tickets and more information, see www.5thavenue.org or phone 206-625-1900 or 888-5TH-4TIX.
Prices range from $20 for same-day children’s and student tickets to $29, $60, $100 and up, depending on seating.
Matinee and evening performances of “The Sound of Music” are slated through Jan. 3 — except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 — at the 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave. in Seattle.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
