Do-Re-Mi: JCT brings iconic 'The Sound of Music' to stage

Jul. 27—Gracie Kitchell gathered her younger co-stars together in a huddle Tuesday night with a smile on her face.

It wasn't the first time she gave the her young "The Sound of Music" cast members a little onstage direction, also with a smile.

That warmth and happiness radiated from her as she hopped into bed and waited for the sound of thunder to echo from the McHale speakers. She greeted each young cast member with that smile as they fled their own offstage bed for Kitchell's, seeking comfort.

Gracie Kitchell was meant for the role of Maria Von Trapp.

The recent Logansport High School graduate, in her final Junior Civic Theater performance, will attend the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in the fall. She called "The Sound of Music" one of her favorite shows of all time.

"Maria is a dream role for me," she said. "My two dream roles have always been Donna from 'Momma Mia' and Maria in 'The Sound of Music.' I've never played a role like this before. She's so childish but in the best way possible. I've been able to play free-spirited women like Donna, but Maria takes it to a whole new level."

Kitchell played Donna in the Logansport High School production of "Mamma Mia" last fall.

A talented cast of young adults from across Cass County will join Kitchell on the McHale Performing Arts Center stage, 1 Berry Lane, this weekend as the Junior Civic Theater brings "The Sound of Music" to life.

Showtimes are Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 7:30 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 4 p.m.

The younger members of the Logansport Junior Civic Theater will perform "Winnie the Pooh" before each showing, starting at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets for an individual showing of "The Sound of Music" cost $10 and $6 for "Winnie the Pooh." A ticket package for both shows costs $12.

The hills are alive

Kitchell, Finley Gay and Kelsey Thomas are bringing some extra preparation to their performances this weekend.

In June, the trio were on a European tour with the Indiana Ambassadors of Music. Their trip included a stop in Austria, where they saw locations used in the 1965 "The Sound of Music" film.

"It was fantastic getting to see everything," said Gay, a senior at Logansport High School who plays Captain Von Trapp. "Nothing on the internet does it justice until you are actually there seeing it."

He called the experience surreal, saying he woke up constantly and had to remind himself that he was in a different continent.

"('The Sound of Music') was almost always on my mind and I would start panicking sometimes," he said. "We have an entire show to do when I get home. But I think it has really come together. It's been a hectic summer but a really unforgettable one."

Thomas, a Logansport senior who plays Mother Abbess, said she was very lucky to see so many "Sound of Music" locations and learn the history behind the musical during the summer trip.

"I feel like it has better prepared me and given me a better understanding of the show," she said.

Dan McDonald, one of the show's directors, said it was a bit of a challenge starting rehearsals with three key cast members away, but the trio caught up very quickly when they returned to Logansport.

A history teacher at Pioneer High School, he said he had talked about the experiences his actors had overseas quite a bit.

One particular stop on their tour that moved them all was visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where the Nazis killed over 32,000 prisoners during the Holocaust.

"I can't even find the right word to describe it," Kitchell said. "It was a very educational experience. Seeing it in person is so much different from what you learn about. They have monuments and memorials honoring the people who died at the camps. Everything there ... you could drop a pin there and everyone would hear it."

The haunting silence at the camp moved Gay and Thomas as well.

Gay said he spent so much time studying each exhibit within the camp that he only managed to see half of it in the allotted time they had for a tour.

"There was so much to tell," he said. "It's a heart-wrenching moment, being there."

The only sound he recalled was feet walking over gravel.

Thomas called the experience very somber and it made enjoying the remainder of her day after the tour difficult, due to the weight of what happened there.

"There is almost this heaviness," she said. "Almost like I could feel the history of the horrible things that had happened there. Even the people on the trip who were the most goofiest and didn't take things very seriously, everybody was under the same impression that this was very solemn ground. It was wonderful to be able to go and see such a huge part of history, but it was also incredibly sad. I shed a few tears, definitely."

Thomas said having the experience from the European tour made "The Sound of Music" so much more real to her once she got on stage.

"Sometimes being in shows, it seems like an entire work of fiction," she said. "A lot of shows are. Obviously, this show isn't the exact story of the Von Trapp family. But it just makes it so much more real and a lot of the more emotional scenes in the show hit me so much more harder knowing that this actually happened and I have seen where it happened."

Gay said he felt pressure bringing Captain Von Trapp to the stage, despite how much he identified with the man.

"(Captain Von Trapp), his ideals align very much with mine to where it's easy for me to portray my hatred of the Nazi party," said Gay. "Physically seeing the results of the Holocaust in that concentration camp has sort of given me perspective on how my character would act and how he was trying to prevent these things. I definitely want to embody who he was all the time."

"Climb Ev'ry Mountain"

The story of "The Sound of Music" is one of the most well known in the world, said director Chris Pearcy. While it's a love story, it's also a tale of standing up to evil: the Nazis.

The directors and cast made the decision to not give that evil visual representation during this weekend's performances.

"It's no secret in the show who the German soldiers represent," Pearcy said. "I didn't feel this need to hit the audience over the head with it."

Pearcy said they debated historical accuracy versus the modern world. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 38% increase in white supremacist propaganda actions from 2021 to 2022. Antisemitic propaganda also increased during that time from over 300 incidents in 2021 to over 800 in 2022.

On July 15, a right-wing hate group entered a Jewish community in Toledo, Ohio, carrying a swastika flag. This was after they protested a peaceful LGTBQ event.

"We discussed it with the kids," said Pearcy. "We discussed what they were comfortable with. We spoke to JCT about what they were comfortable with. We kind of found our middle ground."

McDonald said a large part of that decision came to protecting the cast on social media. The directors worried about someone taking a picture and misrepresenting cast members online.

"Especially with the environment we are in today," McDonald said.

The decision is ultimately understandable, but seeing Captain Von Trapp rip apart a Nazi flag onstage would certainly be cathartic for many.

Voices raised in song

McDonald called "The Sound of Music" one of the most amazing musicals ever written, noting it was the last musical Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote together.

Learning they would get to portray the iconic characters from the play was overwhelming for many of the cast members.

"Especially to be playing Mother Abbess," Thomas said. "It's such a singing-heavy role with such beautiful songs. I was so, so happy."

Thomas warned potential audience members not to walk into the play expecting a cute performance by high school kids. She said the cast has given it their all to bring the show to life.

"The work that everyone has put into their character and the world we have built on stage, it is truly something to behold," she said.

McDonald said the actual history of the Von Trapp family wasn't quite as dramatic as portrayed in the musical, but he said the play reflects the real decisions they made to escape the Nazis.

The Von Trapps eventually ended their journey in Vermont.

"It's part of such an important period of time," Gay said. "Most people have seen or heard the tale of 'The Sound of Music' but I think seeing it and experiencing it for yourself on stage in its original format is really important and is something everybody should go and see."