Photo by Joan Marcus

Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) welcomes the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music, playing a limited engagement which began tonight, Dec. 8, and lasts until Dec. 20. Performances will take place at The Hobby Center. The cast includes veterans of both Broadway and TUTS.

Kim Huber and George Dvorsky play Maria and Captain Von Trapp, both among the veterans of both TUTS and Broadway.

Kim Huber’s TUTS credits include Belle in Beauty And The Beast and Cinderella in Into The Woods. Her Broadway credits include Disney’s Beauty And The Beast (Belle and National Tour), Sunset Blvd, and Marie Christine.

George Dvorsky, who most recently starred at the Hobby Center as Baron Bomburst in the national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, has TUTS credits that include A Wonderful Life, 110 In The Shade, Anything Goes, and Brigadoon. His Broadway, Off-Broadway, and National Tour credits include Passion, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Pete ‘n’ Keely, and Dames at Sea.

According the a press release by TUTS, the roles of the seven von Trapp children are all played by students at the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT). “A recent HSMT graduate, 20-year-old Jessica Ferguson is the eldest von Trapp daughter, Liesl, followed by Ryne Nardecchia in the role of Friedrich, Caroline Taylor as Louisa, Ian Tonroy as Kurt, Gabby Gillespie as Brigitta, Aiden Snasdell as Marta and Mandy Miller as Gretl.”

Susan Shofner, who plays Mother Abbess, is a 14-show TUTS veteran who has been seen in Disney’s When You Wish, A Wonderful Life, Anything Goes, and Beauty And The Beast. Her National Tour credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and On the Twentieth Century.

Doris Davis (TUTS’ Into The Woods) plays Elsa Schraeder, and Ilich Guardiola (TUTS’ Zorro) plays Max Detweiler.

Completing the cast are Steve Bullitt as Franz, Al Bundonis as Herr Zeller, Kevin Cooney as Oberst Von Scheriber, Ryan Kennedy as Rolf, Theresa Nelson as Frau Schmidt and Misty Robertson as Fraulein Schwieger.

The ensemble includes Vanessa Ballam, Monica Brown, Sam Brown, Ivy Castle, Marybelle Chaney, Tiffany Chen, Kayleen Clements, Lisa E. Harris, Marcie Henderson, John “JJ” Johnston, Richard Keck, Kristina Kee, Susan O. Koozin, Julia Laskowski, Phillip Lehl, Nicole Marosis, Sofia Mendez, Crystal O’brien, Adam Pena, Jim Shaffer, Corby Sullivan, Jay Tribble, and Jennie Welch.

An additional ensemble of local teens includes Brooke Humphrey, Drew Jones, Jonathan Luna, Haley Landers, Sydney Roberts, and Charity Van Tassel while the local children’s ensemble includes Mallory Bechtel, Sydney Crofton, Carson Introligator, Austin Karkowsky, Sam Linda, Doreen Litvak, and Libby Malone.

The creative team includes Roy Hamlin as director and Shay Rodgers as choreographer.

TUTS adds this description:

The Sound Of Music is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, “The True Story Of The Trapp Family Singers,” which follows the Trapp family as they leave Austria to escape Nazi persecution. The immortal film version of the musical, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, was released in 1965. Winner of five Oscars, including Best Picture, this show is one of only four movie/musicals which also won Broadway’s Best Musical Tony Award. Cherished songs include “Edelweiss,” “The Sound of Music,” “Lonely Goatherd,” “Do Re Mi,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.”

For more information, visit TUTS online at TUTS.com, or call the box office at (888) 558-3882.

Purchase the DVD of the original Julie Andrews’ film by clicking here.

More photos of TUTS’ production of The Sound of Music:

All Photos by Joan Marcus, courtesy of TUTS

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