The hills are alive with music in the Okanagan

One of the most recognizable titles in the musical world has taken the stage at the Kelowna Community Theatre.

The Kelowna Actors Studio’s (KAS) latest production, The Sound of Music, is based off the 1959 musical written by the famous team of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The story takes place in Austria just before World War II, and centers around Maria Rainer, a nun in training who’s sent to act as the governess to the seven children of retired navy Captain Georg von Trapp.

Julia Laurenne Chambers plays the titular role of Maria Rainer. It was made famous by Julie Andrews in the 1965 movie adaptation. Chambers told Kelowna10 that Andrews is someone she greatly admires and said the role is one her all-time favourites.

“She’s such a hero of mine and I love the story,” she said. “I learn something from every role I do and I’m super grateful for everything I’ve been able to do. I’ve never felt so much myself in a role. I feel I‘m just playing an extension of myself. She’s just so fun, determined.”

She said themes of hope and love paired weaved within music help glue the story together.

Chambers has been with KAS since she was 15, and currently studies at New York University (NYU) in the Tisch School of the Arts. She said her post-secondary experience has helped her immensely and she is thrilled to be back at what she describes as her second home.

“I feel lucky to get to come back to my hometown and to get to work with the Kelowna Actors Studio. It’s my second home,” she said. “To get to take what I learned in New York and bring it back to the stage and perform here, that’s a super special opportunity.”

With The Sound of Music containing a deep and iconic repertoire of songs, Chambers is eager to take them on.

“The Sound of Music. It’s the classic Julie Andrews spinning in the mountain’s song. I love getting to sing Do-Re-Mi with the kids because they’re the sweetest. They’re doing such a great job,” she said. “And The Lonely Goat Herd is fun. It’s like a five-kilometer run of yodeling.”

Among the seven von Trapp children are Liesl, played by Gracelynn Sali, and Kurt, played by Eli Wiberg.

Sali also serves as the resident choreographer with KAS, and said she enjoys playing such a notable role.

“I love Liesl because she’s caught in between being a child, being treated like a child, but wanting to be an adult and fall in love and do all those things you get to do when you grow up,” she said. “It’s so great to walk around Kelowna and to tell people I play Liesl [in The Sound of Music]. It’s an amazing story and it’s great that it’s still so relevant in this year.”

Wiberg, in his first mainstage show, said there are some great elements about Kurt that make him a unique character.

“He’s sensitive. He just wants his father to like him and love him. Throughout the show he does and has that playful side with Kurt, and I think that’s cool,” he said.

The show runs until Aug. 13.