Website:  CBC Maria and Sound of Music

Date:  June 22, 2008

Location:  CBC

The audience line-up was all the way through the CBC building, despite advanced online email seat reservations.  To watch the top 10 contenders for the popular role of Maria, the wholesome governess who took care of the Von Trapp children of the Captain in the Sound of Music, was something to look forward to.  There was a lot of waiting for tickets on the guest list, then onwards to the seats facing the bright stage set up to look like the entrance stairway of the Von Trapp mansion.  The hosts introduced the 3 judges and the Marias two by two, each singing a hit song.  Unfortunately, all of them were wearing fancy gowns and singing songs that were out of character with that of Maria -- the dutiful, pleasant, cheery governess who loved children and possibly secretly their father, the Captain.  It was difficult to imagine most of these aspiring performers in the role of Maria, while singing songs like 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' or 'The Preacher Man', dressed in fancy gowns, and acting sexy or glamorous!  Unless they were maybe auditioning for the role of the Baroness instead?  If they were asked to sing songs from the Sound of Music, like 'My Favourite Things', 'Sound of Music', 'Do Re Mi' and 'Lonely Goatherd', and dressed in the conventional simple attire of a nanny, it would have been much easier to choose the right candidate!  But the crowd cheered and clapped anyway, thoroughly enjoying each singer take her turn on stage.  The judges tried to give advice or compliments to show what they thought of the one song act.  Out of all 10, the closest one to Maria in character and song, was Marisa; she sang a song about 'no one taking her man away' and this made me think of the secret personal admiration Maria had for Captain Von Trapp, underneath the professional relationship.  If there were more children in the audience, then they would have been good judges of character as the movie version, where Maria's biggest appeal was her love and care for the Von Trapp children who attached themselves to her, almost like that of children to their own mother.  Maybe this style of audition was deliberate to see who NOT to pick, because most everyone acted completely opposite to the character of Maria!  Marisa was the only one who came close to remaining true to Maria's character, loving and devoted to the Captain and his children.

Refer to Sound of Music