'Sound of Music' starting soon

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Table Mountain and the hills around it were alive with The Sound of Music this month.

Mossel Bay's Rylan Lemmetuis (12), acting in the The Sound of Music at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town from 14 December to 14 January, enjoyed a trip up Table Mountain on 1 November.

The cast of the musical went up the mountain by cable car as a team-building exercise before rehearsals began on 6 November.

Rylan plays the role of Kurt von Trapp in the show.

A Grade 6 learner at Curro Mossel Bay independent school, Rylan has an impressive track record, winning singing competitions.

In July he competed in the International Performing Arts Championships (IPAC) in New Jersey, United States.

Rylan came first in his age group in the best Broadway song category, first in his age group in the best pop song category and second overall in the best pop song category.

The Sound of Music will be playing at The Teatro, Montecasino in Fourways, Johannesburg, from 27 January to 25 February.

Rylan's mother, Nadia, said: "I had to quit my job. We have been in Cape Town for rehearsals since 6 November. This is a huge opportunity for any child - to play one of the Von Trapp children."

'Seize opportunity'
She said The Sound of Music usually only ran every five years in Cape Town. "Rylan had to seize this opportunity now. He would be too old to play Kurt in five years' time."

Nadia said: "There are three Kurts and three of every other child character because of the month-long stint at the theatre. The children have to have days off in between."

These children were chosen in June during a two-day audition process, where they were judged on their acting, singing and dancing. There were 150 children auditioning and the best 18 were chosen.

The oldest Von Trapp child acting in the show is 18 years old, so she can play the role non-stop, but according to labour law, there have to be three children for each of the younger roles.

Nadia said: "These children are really working hard."

She said Rylan was still doing his schoolwork in between rehearsals.

Rylan told the Advertiser: "I love learning new things and making friends, but I don't like the long rehearsals. I was worried about my schoolwork, but now I see I can do both schoolwork and rehearsals. My favourite scene is when the children introduce themselves to Maria and my favourite character in the show is Louisa because she plays pranks."

Craig Urbani, who plays Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music with Rylan Lemmetuis.