Patrick Cassidy Leads Reagle Music Theatre's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, 8/5-14

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston concludes its 43rd consecutive summer season August 5-14 with one of the most inspiring true stories ever set to music, "The Sound of Music." Starring stage and screen idol Patrick Cassidy as Captain von Trapp and Broadway luminary Sarah Pfisterer as Maria, "The Sound of Music" is being brought back by popular demand, voted by Reagle audiences as one of their all-time "favorite things."

Patrick Cassidy (Broadway's "42nd Street," "Aida," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Leader of the Pack," "The Pirates of Penzance") possesses The Combined musical theater talents of his late father, Jack Cassidy, and his world-famous mother, Shirley Jones. He originated the role of the Balladeer in Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" at Playwrights Horizons, and he recently recreated the role of Frank Butler opposite Patti LuPone in "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Ravinia Theatre Festival in Chicago. He toured nationally in 2000 and again in 2006 as Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and won the National Broadway Theater Award for Best Actor in a Touring Musical as Radames in "Aida" in 2002.

In Los Angeles Cassidy has played Bobby in "Company" with Carol Burnett, co-starred with Jason Alexander at Reprise! Musical Theatre in "I Love My Wife," and won the Garland Award for Best Actor in a Musical for "Threepenny Opera," also at Reprise! He has starred in "Carousel," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Camelot" regionally, and he has earned rave reviews for playing the fast-talking, woman-charming salesman Harold Hill in several concert versions of "The Music Man." His most notable performance of this iconic character was in an all-star production with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, the acclaimed concert also featured Shirley Jones (Marian in the original movie version) as Mrs. Paroo.

Sarah Pfisterer (Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera," "Show Boat") is a Reagle favorite who has starred here in "Beauty and the Beast," "Carousel," "The Music Man," "My Fair Lady," "The Will Rogers Follies," "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music." She has earned five IRNE (Independent Reviewers New England) Award nominations and has won twice for "Carousel" and "The Sound of Music." Off-Broadway Pfisterer starred as Anna Smith in "Meet Me in St. Louis," and when the national tour of "Phantom" played in Chicago she was nominated for the prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award. A Metropolitan Opera semi-finalist, Pfisterer has starred as the tragic romantic heroine Christine Daaé in more than 1000 performances of "Phantom" on Broadway and nationwide.

"The Sound of Music" made its Broadway debut in 1959, winning seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. It ran for 1443 performances and later made Hollywood history by becoming the most popular movie musical ever made. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, when it was released in 1965 and made an international star out of Julie Andrews.

The final collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, "The Sound of Music" has become the world's most beloved musical by capturing the enduring love and unshakable faith that brought high-spirited postulant-turned-governess Maria Rainer, Captain von Trapp, and his seven musically gifted children together to survive and escape the Nazi occupation of Austria. Songs like "My Favorite Things," "Do, Re, Mi," "Sixteen, Going on Seventeen," "Climb Every Mountain," "Edelweiss," and the jubilantly soaring title number express all the beauty, romance, joy and drama of this remarkable family's journey.

The Reagle cast also features Susan Scannell as Elsa Schraeder; Rick Sherburne as Max Detweiller; Jenny Lynn Stewart as the Mother Abbess; Gillian Gordon as Liesl; and James Forbes Sheehan as Rolf. The Von Trapp children are Andrew Purdy, Friedrich; IsaBelle Miller, Louisa; Troy Costa, Kurt; Victoria Blanchard, Brigitta; NatAlie Hall, Marta; and Emma Schaufus, Gretl. Supporting players include Linda Lodi (Frau Schmidt), Margaret Felice (Sister Berte), Angela Richardson (Sister Margaretta), Connell Benn (Sister Sophia), Brad Walters (Franz), Tim Lawton (Herr Zeller), and Jim Kopycinski (Admiral Von Schreiber). An additional 25 singers and dancers fill out the ensemble supported by a full, live pit orchestra.

L.A. Drama Critics Circle and Ovation Award-winning director, choreographer and designer Larry Sousa (Broadway's upcoming "Merry Go Round" starring Florence Henderson) directs, and IRNE Award-winning choreographer Susan Chebookjian stages. IRNE Award winners Daniel Rodriguez and Jeffrey Leonard serve as Music Director and Conductor, respectively.

"The Sound of Music" runs August 5-14. Tickets are $35 to $57; $25 for youths 5-18. Senior citizen discount is $2. Group and student rush discounts are also offered. Tickets are available online at www.reaglemusictheatre.org, by calling 781-891-5600, or in person at the Box Office at the Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham, Mass. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and performance days 9 a.m. till curtain.

 

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