The Sound of Music – Grand Theatre, Leeds

Edward Bennett and Katie Bird in The Sound of Music at the Grand Theatre, Leeds. Picture: Tristram Kenton

The Sound of Music continues at the Grand Theatre, Leeds until 1 August 2026.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

For a brief moment, as the second half resumed of this much-loved musical, it was possible to imagine the sound we could hear from the audience was that of a vigorous ripple of applause. In fact it was the effect of dozens and dozens of paper fans furiously generating as much air as the combined will could achieve. Battery hand fans are at a premium. No surprise in a 148-year-old air-condition-free Grade II theatre.

So it was considerable testament to this Opera North production that a pretty full house was prepared to endure two and a half hours of evening heat wave to see it. The songs of course are etched into popular memory. Even as Maria (Katie Bird) soars into the opening number, one can sense the faint murmurs from audience members itching to sing along.

There’s been plenty of controversy over that kind of thing elsewhere, and this adoring audience isn’t about to do the talented cast’s job for it. The hugely respected Opera North doesn’t need any help, thank you, as the company delivers a tightly orchestrated and memorable production, stuffed with classic Rodgers and Hammerstein songs.

The story has a fairy tale feel, woven around the romance between Maria and the domestically authoritarian Captain von Trapp, whose young family is commanded by a ship’s whistle like a corp of naval cadets. Sent to the often absent von Trapp’s home as a governess, Maria, almost despite herself, infuses the children with her own sense of fun and  mischief.

When she flees the home, fearing she, a young noviciate, is falling for Captain von Trapp, it is the Abbess (Katherine Broderick) who changes her mind. A stirring performance of ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’ inspires Maria to follow her heart. The martinet stubbornness of von Trapp is soon melting under the glow of Maria’s influence on his children and his own affections.

The dark side to the fairy tale is that the Nazis are in the process of annexing Austria and demanding absolute loyalty to the Third Reich. The Captain must decide whether to bow to the Nazi invaders or flee.

The children’s singing and dancing is a treat throughout and director Nikolai Foster keeps the story moving briskly along while allowing the 20-odd songs sufficient breathing space.

The Sound of Music was the last musical by the Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership, concluding a canon in which they forged a new musicals formula – one much more narrative-driven. But still with the compelling songs.

Here’s where the power of Edward Bennett (Captain von Trapp) serves the libretto so well. Non-professional operatically he may be but his strong baritone-like voice is not diminished by the voices around him. Particularly moving is his – and the songwriters’ final song in the show – ‘Edelweiss’.

As he virtually shouts the lyrics, “Bless my homeland forever”, it’s plain that it’s not a homeland envisioned by the phalanx of uniformed Nazi officers lined up behind him. He’s shortly to reveal, it’s his beloved Austria he’s thinking of as he plots secretly to whisk his seven children and new bride Maria over the border to freedom.

Set and costume designer Michael Taylor, lighting designer Mark Henderson and sound designer Sebastian Frost have created a superbly constructed set which manages to encompass an atmospheric mountain background, stepped descent to the von Trapp estate, an (apparent) waterfall and the stylish family home, all with the least obtrusive scene changing.

Mike Mckay