Pres musical was a credit to all

THE Presentation College, Currylea, annual musical has for many years been a delightful addition to the show season in Tuam. Something of a little sister to the productions with more resources not to mention male actors, it always has an atmosphere of fun, held together with a great deal of dedication and a gung-ho attitude. Presented this year was The Sound of Music, which I was very much looking forward to, having a long history of this particular show and its association with the school. It was the first 'opera' I attended, first as a five-year-old member of the primary school audience, who are treated to matinée performances before the nightly run, second as a member of the main audience when my grandparents took me to see it again, I having enjoyed it so much. Moreover, I debuted as Kurt von Trapp when it was last given an outing at the school (I'm not telling you how many years ago that was), so unfortunately for Emma Martyn, who was playing the role on Thursday night, sharing it with Alisha Garvey on the others, I had my eye firmly placed on her. It was fortunate then that she, and indeed the other Von Trapp children did such a good job, singing very admirably and impressing me greatly with their acting. Maria, as played by Lisa St John, must have been singing on the hills for a little too long, as her voice went early on in the night (sadly, for what I did hear of it convinced me that she is in possession of a lovely instrument), but in staying with the 'keep calm and carry on' spirit of the Pres girls, the others sang her parts convincingly. Lisa appeared very calm and collected despite this mishap, staying in character and playing a naive but increasingly self-assured Maria with great skill, and I must commend her on that. I might even go as far as to say that it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, in that the children and Maria really showed a familial connection that might not otherwise have been there. The children's group songs were lovely, the sometimes complicated harmonies being sung to a tee-doh! The role of Captain von Trapp was taken on by an extremely competent Stephanie Campion, who sang well but acted with particular aplomb. It is sometimes easy to slip out of character once your lines have been said, but Stephanie had a great reactionary face and really held her own in quite a trying part. So too did Emily McNamara, who played Elsa Schrader with a light touch that had a harder edge when faced with the suspicion of Maria. Jade Costello had the best lines as Max Detweiler and delivered them very well. The duet between Elsa and Max, and a later song featuring the same pair as well as Captain von Trapp were the ones that stuck in my head for a few days, despite not being the more familiar songs, having not been featured in the film. A great deal of praise must go to Aine Neenan in the role of Mother Abbess â€â€ she had such stage presence and completely convinced as the imposing yet kind Reverend Mother. Her rendition of Climb Every Mountain, with the addition of beautiful harmony from the chorus, was one of the highlights of the show. The chorus was very good, all the roles played with a lack of self-consciousness. The four nuns conveyed their respective characters with just the right amount of humour, and sang a very enjoyable rendition of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria that had the audience nodding their heads and tapping their toes in appreciation. The supporting parts of Rolf, Franz and Frau Schmidt were competently taken on by Chloe Donnellan, Heather Doyle and Edel Greaney, showing a maturity beyond their years. The dancing chorus was very cute and coordinated, a whole host of rag doll puppets that came out for a handful of numbers and added a touch of the surreal to proceedings, a funny little wink to the audience. The school orchestra, led by Una McGinty, was fantastic, setting the tone brilliantly with the overture at the beginning and accompanying the singers with great skill throughout the show. Ronan Lardner did a fine job directing, really making use of the stage which was brought to life by Karena Ryan with the assistance of Eugene Finnegan and a quartet of talented fifth year students. The costumes, make-up and props were all sourced and applied wonderfully and to great effect. I must add that the stage crew seemed very professional, moving almost choreographically amongst each other during the scene changes. A lot of effort was put into the success of the musical, with the whole school, staff, students and parents alike, pulling together to make it the show that it was â€â€ entertaining, good humoured and a credit to all involved. I exited humming So Long, Farewell, with a heart lighter than it was when I entered. â€â€ Aoife Burke