Westlake hills come alive with high school production

PLAY REVIEW /// ‘The Sound of Music’



DO-RE-MI—Sean Sabonjian as Capt. Von Trapp, left and Claudia Bertagna as Maria in “The Sound of Music” at Westlake High School’s recent production. Courtesy of Elisa Griffin

DO-RE-MI—Sean Sabonjian as Capt. Von Trapp, left and Claudia Bertagna as Maria in “The Sound of Music” at Westlake High School’s recent production. Courtesy of Elisa Griffin

Last month, as the scent of roast turkey permeated most Conejo Valley homes, the delicacy of the day over at Westlake High School was schnitzel with noodles—a key ingredient in the song “My Favorite Things,” a highlight of Broadway’s venerable musical “The Sound of Music.” The school’s theater, choir, orchestra and band departments combined for the first time to present a live musical based on that popular production—presented over two weekends at the Carpenter Family Theatre.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s final collaboration, the well-known true story about Austria’s Von Trapp Family Singers and their escape from Nazi oppression just after the 1938 Anschluss, when Austria was incorporated into Nazi Germany.

With this production, Westlake High joins other local high schools, including Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Agoura and Calabasas, in presenting live musical theater. And although they have a way to go to match the excellence of programs at the latter locations, director Elisa Griffin, vocal director Amy Rolniak and orchestra leader Liz Blake have done a fine job assembling a cast and student-run crew in creating choreography, sets and music preparation for the show.

Leading the cast with a solid performance is Claudia Bertagna, an 11th grader performing in her 15th musical, who plays the central role of Maria Rainer, the postulant who lands a temporary summer job supervising the seven children of widowed Austrian submarine captain Georg von Trapp. Bertagna has a contagious smile and shining countenance that is perfect for the role, and she breezes through the musical with ease, charming her young charges and the audience alike.

Sean Sabonjian, a senior, plays patriarch von Trapp with appropriate grimness, reflecting the emotional damage caused by the death of his wife, which resulted in his reverting to his military background in running his household with rigid discipline. When Maria instills the “sound of music” in the children, von Trapp softens, and the result is the love story that has charmed audiences for more than a half century.

The roles of six of the seven von Trapp children were double cast, with Megan Zide (alternating with Emma Meckfessel) as Liesl, the eldest daughter, who sings the charming “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” with telegram delivery boy Rolf (Tyler Marquis). Andres Cabrera gives a lively, over-the-top performance as the flamboyant Max Detweiler, the captain’s friend and organizer of the annual Kaltzberg Music Festival.

Cabrera and Emma Hoehn (as von Trapp’s aristocratic fiancee, Elsa Schraeder) make a fine pair on two lively songs that never made it to the popular 1965 film version of the musical: the whimsical “How Can Love Survive” and the cynical “No Way to Stop It.” As the Mother Abbess, Abigail Maurer provides a strong vocal presence on the show’s anthemic “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”

Although the backdrop of the musical is Nazi-occupied Austria, director Griffin chose to eliminate the use of the swastika, which was displayed on Germany’s flag and military uniforms.

Westlake isn’t the first school to attempt to avoid offending audiences by eliminating the notorious symbol. Last December, New York’s LaGuardia High School caused controversy by banning its use on props and uniforms used in their version of the musical. In replicating this practice, however, Griffin is doing more harm than good, trivializing the horrors the swastika continues to represent.

Some schools continue to use it in productions of the musical, but also lecture students about Nazi atrocities, prohibit photos of actors wearing the swastika and keep props under lock and key between performances. In whitewashing this essential element of the show,

Westlake High is not only doing a disservice to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, but also erasing history for the sake of political correctness, a disturbing trend that should be profoundly discouraged.