iTunes Exclusive Episode The Sound Of Music

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Welcome!
My name is Rob, I am the executive producer of the Clubhouse podcast, and I am very
much looking forward to this particular episode.
But I'm not alone.
Joining me across the desk as he tends to do is my co-host and a man that will not
yodel even if you ask him.
He is Chad, welcome sir.
Not even on a bed.
Also joining us across the desk is the official fact checker of this show and a man that
will wear a leader hose and if you do ask him.
You may know in this fun, don't go, it is a moment even, don't, I'm going to call him
down for it.
I'm wearing one right now, I'm wearing my pants.
No, no, no.
He did leader hose and the whole outfit.
Oh yeah, but it's under my clothes, Marble clothes.
You are really, really, it's it's it's super hero outfit.
Whatever we do, one of these, it's to review something and today is no different.
She might have a man.
But today we are reviewing a stage production, the touring production, the national touring
production as the sound of music makes its way to the Dallas Fort Worth area.
We got to check it out.
We're ready to talk about it.
But before we get in, sir, we have to think someone incredible person named Francesco.
He's awesome.
He is awesome.
He is.
He's so good.
So I'll show her musicals.
I still am.
You know, certainly, yeah.
I was out of the instruments because a huge volumeGet.
You can change the magazine on a page roll.
I wish.
You know, the reason.
He datedx and so many times.
When she broke all the outings in fourth episode in the rock.
And so all the audience would like her.
So she says, why am I talking to you?
Come on, running further away from my house, in six seasons.
But I just can't discuss.
How many of these incredible performances come off your way?
How many of the performers than younas.
Your love song?
Like my little dude with little.
These guys are not playing that.
or two, who her mother, or mother, I say her mother, but her mother or a bus.
Let's say that right?
There's an A bus.
A bus.
A bus.
A bus.
It's not really sure she should that Maria should be in none.
Because she's a little too free spirit.
Right.
So she's censored to be the governess for a group of children.
And the Vauntraps, there are seven of them, with their father, Captain Vauntrapp.
And just for a few months, go out there and live your life a little bit, little bit, little
bit.
And then you can come back, if you still want to be a nun, then we can do this thing.
So she goes out, and what follows are her adventures, not only softening the heart of Captain
Vauntrapp, but teaching the kids a few things in the meantime.
And there's Nazis.
They have to escape from.
That's about right.
I mean, I think we all know the story.
Yeah.
I mean, we're oversimplifying it as much as we possibly can, because chances are if you're
listening to this, you're familiar with this, you've at least heard of the sound of music.
I mean, NBC did it with Carrie Under what a couple of years ago.
Quite successful.
Very well.
And of course, everybody knows the film, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer.
Celebrating it's 50th.
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
The lovely and talented Mrs. Irvin, a huge fan of the sound of music, and we actually
got her to come with us.
If only she were here right now.
Oh, no, she was here right now.
She'd be like, I'm going to go and put up my phone on my phone.
Yeah, this is the press.
Because see, that's as much as we've been doing this for just a couple of years to try
to get her to one of these.
It's been a five and a half year quest to get her on the show.
And I have not been successful.
This is my first time I've ever been at screening with her.
Anything.
Yeah.
She's tough to get to these things, but, you know, the sound of music, you need to
you need to change her title a little bit from the lovely and talented to the
lovely and talented and elusive.
Yeah.
Very true.
This is very true, but I mean, do we really need, we, the story is the story.
Yeah.
I mean, everybody knows the story.
I really thought that Amy, all of your elements were here.
You want the sound of music.
You got the sound of music.
You want eight of ice.
You got eight of ice.
You want climb every mountain.
Where you're going to talk about the minute, what did you ever?
You want my favorite things.
You got my favorite things.
It's all here.
It's all here and it's all done brilliantly as the kids like to say visually.
You're gotten it from the time the curtain gets up and you have the opening scene with
the nuns that are all singing in the church.
The lighting that they use for that stained glass window.
I was, I was, I was like, all right, you can end it right now.
Good.
This looked amazing.
I put, I put on my red and red at the clubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
I put in there the props, the set design, the backdrops, everything was just incredible
on this.
The only thing that could have made it better is that they actually brought the real
fountain in from the movie or the boss that whole mountain in, you know, shipped it in.
But beyond that, it could have been any better when you really think about it.
How they were able to go from scene to scene location to location.
So fast.
And so easily, never, she said to amaze me, the scene transition, and if you look, this
is our third Rogers and Hammerstein musical that we've seen in the last 12 months.
How vastly different the presentation has been, because when we saw the King and I, it
was that, that blend of the old school and the new school style of, of, of the technical
part of it.
And it was a little bit more ornate.
It was a little bit right.
It's like a dirty dancing where they had no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Roger the Hammerstein.
Okay.
Okay.
Then you go to Cinderella and it just had that, you're welcome in there, Nat.
That one was specifically for Chad, um, what's on, what's on this that I can use as mountains
by prints.
Oh, but when you go to Cinderella and it just kind of had that classic style to it.
It wasn't real technical, but it wasn't real old school.
It was just kind of there.
With this production, you would expect it more to lean towards the direction of the
King and I, but what it did was it went in its own direction.
Like when Maria and the mother of us were walking together, the set moved with them.
So you saw they look like they were walking down a hall.
Yeah, it was like, it was like a, uh, the multi plane animation that they introduced and
snow white.
It was like, they extend the scene, but they keep it in a smaller space.
If this is what you call pure Broadway quality to the tea, it doesn't get better
than this.
The other thing I noticed too is a lot of the musicals that we've seen when you're
going through the transitions, you've got people that come out and move props, the props
pretty much move themselves.
Yeah.
There wasn't a lot that you saw, no, there were points where different curtains would
come down and you know, there's people back here.
Yeah, but it was so fast too.
It was, it was, it was every the first time in the, in the, the captain's house.
I was just like, oh my god, that is beautiful.
And there's gorgeous.
Go from back inside the outside, everything.
I mean, I, the Chandlerop top, the lighting, everything.
I, I can't think of how they could have made a better except if they brought the
fountain, you know, the real fountain, which then brings you to performance.
Like, there is not, I can't, like, do you understand what kind of hairs I'm going
to have to split to find anything critical to say about this production?
I'm not even going to bother because I couldn't.
It's, it is insane how good this cast is.
It is ridiculous how good this cast is.
And if you listen to these on the regular, we're not blowing smoke.
If something bites, we're going to tell you it bites.
But I, there's, I, the only, I mean, if, if you held a gun to my head and you said,
Rob, you got to find one thing to, to critique.
There was the one moment, the one moment where we're, uh, we're fast straighter.
Almost ran into the door as she walked out of a scene.
And we're guessing.
We're thinking.
We're thinking.
From our angle, the trajectory was, oh, she was about to cross check that door.
I mean, that's the only thing I can come up with.
I mean, the only thing we think is because we both thought, and we didn't talk about it.
And while that hits, oh, seven of them are everything from page to, uh, Aubrey who played,
you know, the, uh, light, lesile to Gretel.
Yeah.
I'll still do that.
Erick, shoot it.
Maria, nasal, Quinn, Erickson, Svaya, Johnson, Mackenzie, Curry, Audrey Bennett, all, those, those,
those, those, those, that is who played all the Vontrap kids.
They had that chemistry, how they saved it.
And I put on my ring me at the call of a spark.
That's like, which is our website that some of these kids and how they say,
oh, they, they, they, they, they seem like they've been singing longer than they've been
a while.
Why?
That's how well they sound.
I mean, and they were, the, the, the harmonies were on the chemistry was good.
But play it simple.
I, I'm going to say it right now.
Hold on, hold on, hold on to it because we got to talk about the leads.
Let's talk about the leads first.
Okay.
Uh, Maria played by Kirsten Anderson, apparently a relative newcomer.
She was hard core dude.
Yes, she like one thing that, that Jen and I talked about was how she played the role,
but it didn't seem like she was playing a role, like she was for all
intents and purposes Maria, there was a, there was a, there was a naturalness to her
performance that you, you could tell she wasn't trying to shoehorn anything in there
and it all worked, all of it.
And it just, it absolutely amazed me.
And her chemistry with Ben Davis, who plays Captain Vontrap, you're welcome in an
event.
Their, their chemistry was, was amazing, like when, when they actually get together,
like you're rooting for it at that point, you know, you could, I wouldn't
be surprised if somebody got up and screamed when it happened in the film.
There's not a person in this film.
My non-leading, uh, not leading role shout out actually goes to, uh, the guy who played
Max, uh, Merwin Ford.
Yeah, he, I, I loved him and also the, the Butler and the housekeeper, Frons and Frow,
played by Darren Matt, Matt, this, I guess, Matt Bethias and Donna Gardner.
Those three are, those guys did incredible.
I mean, um, Donna, how the role she played were, she's not going to stand up in the comedy
she added, even being a housekeeper, those three, I thought were incredible as the
non-leading roles.
I mean, besides kids and, of course, you know, uh, Maria and everybody else, but I have
to give shoutouts to them.
I thought they really added to the performance of this play.
And then let's get to the first and then almost to the whole dog on thing.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, let's get into the singing.
Ashley Brown.
If you could bottle that talent, you could, that's a license to print money.
As first of all, if you haven't realized that climb every mountain is not an easy song
to sing.
That's why you don't hear a lot of people doing it.
Like my favorite things, you can do that one.
Pretty simple.
Same like for the most part, when you hear somebody performing it, it's usually done as a joke.
Yeah, because they can't do it.
Most people do, don't Rayme, you know, but her performance of climb every mountain,
or that room in half, it's like, where's the water in my eyes coming from?
How to just absolutely destroy it.
Like, and that's how the first act ends.
Yeah, that's how you know how to find, and you dropped the mic at that point.
Basically, you couldn't find a better performance in that song.
If Julie Andrews had been in the room, she had gone like, I don't care who did it.
I was going to take it.
Yeah, I'm going to finale with all the nuns.
Oh, it's just everything works on every level here.
I mean, what else are you going to say?
Your goosebumps get goosebumps at the end of that thing.
And you just, you sit there and you're just, because everybody has the memories of the
film in their brain.
It's, it's unavoidable.
You really can't avoid it.
And, you know, Julie Andrews, you sit there and you go, she's Maria.
Nobody else is, she's just give it up, stop, call, call the main character, Dave.
I don't care.
Yeah, and then, and then, here's an Anderson comes along and says, oh, not so fast to my friend.
I got, I got to one, put one thing, though, if I could say something, you know, not
awesome about this production is.
I thought some scenes got extended more in a kind of fast-paced other scenes compared
to the movie, which I'm, you're going to have that, that's the only thing, but this
is the source material.
Yeah, I understand, you understand, but I thought some things they overdid and some things
they under did, because I'm so used to the movie, let's just be realistic about it, you know?
But that's my only complaint I can't say about this thing, but still, I mean, I was just
like, right for the intermission, when I heard that song, I was just like, okay, um,
how do you top that?
Not only, I, it's just, like I said, this thing works on every possible level, this, this
entire, this thing was tight as a drum, it, there wasn't even, because you know, a lot
of times we see musicals, and there's always that adjustment part, the very beginning,
where maybe the orchestra's got to be brought up, or the vocals have to be brought a little
down.
Everything was on point from nanosecond one until we walked out of that room.
This is, and I'm going to say, I said it last night, when we saw this, and I'm going to
say it again, this is far and away the best production that we have seen at Dallas
summer musicals, and that's a bold statement, and that is a bold statement, because we've
seen some amazing productions that have, that have almost broken us, this one far and
away country mile, it's in a class by itself, as far as just everything clicking, it's
everything just falls into place.
I just, it was one of the greats, but I went to, my personal, I don't think it was the best
of what I see, but it's very up there, it's just, yeah, I take to my top three, put it
that way easily.
Is there anything else we need to do before we do final analysis?
I got to give a little bit of recognition to the chemistry between the two leads.
Forget about it.
Yeah.
And the children, I mean, the children, too, the children is one thing, and that's not
an easy thing to accomplish, because they always say the two things that you don't want
to work with our animals and children, but if your chemistry doesn't work between your
two primaries, you've got, you've got nothing to agree, especially in this story, and they
have this brilliant blend of not quite sure they want to make that jump, but you can tell
that they're so into it that they can't help but make that jump.
And it was, it works, it works on every love, you know, it's, again, it's something
that it's, it's, it's completely sold by the actors on stage, and they're just, they
are brilliant at what they do.
Congratulations to everybody involved in this thing.
I mean, it's Rogers and Hammerstein, first of all.
Yeah.
You know, everybody, the music supervisor on this Andy Ironhorn, Danny Metford, the
choreographer, Jack O'Brien, who directed this thing, this thing works so well.
Before you get to final analysis, if you don't live in the DFW way earlier, keep this
in mind.
This is the traveling company.
It's going to be hopefully somewhere near you soon, but it runs through Dallas, some
are musicals through the 22nd of November.
Number 22nd, that is a Sunday, absolutely.
Final analysis, before we do that, give me, I think, Francisco, everybody at Dallas, some
are music.
There's so great to go apart.
The lovely towns, and got that incredible book.
This is how we want to change the bed on you a little bit when we get to me, but the
way we do the final analysis on the show, we don't give you thumbs up, thumbs down,
we don't give you stars, we don't give you letter grades, anything like that.
Our audience whom we affectionately refer to at the empire is better than that.
I'm going to ask these boys two questions.
Question number one, would you see this again?
The answer is no, we're done here.
If the answer is yes, since this is a stage production, I'm going to ask where you think
what kind of ticket area inside the room, would you sit?
Dom, we're going to start with you.
Would you see this again?
Oh, a definite.
Where are you sitting?
I would probably do, because I want to different view and everything like that.
I would do the upper floor.
Do you want to see it from the balcony?
No, not the balcony, but the other needs the balcony.
Yeah, the balcony.
Yeah.
All right.
Behind the orchestra seats.
Yeah.
Okay.
Chad.
The sweet spot.
I'd love to see this in the sweet spot.
I would absolutely see this again in the way I'm gauging it.
I had just as much fun watching my wife react to this as I did by watching the production
itself to see my wife of over 12 years and we've been together for over 16 years now.
To see her smile is one of my favorite things in the entire world.
Whether it's a result of something I've done or it's something that we're doing together
that she gets to watch, she could not have been happier with this.
She looked like a kid at Christmas and to pass her mustard, I don't have a choice but to
say I would sit on the roof and listen through if that's what it took for me to see this
again.
If I did drill a hole in the roof to look through the roof, even if I was above the
stage and all the sudden pop of people's heads, if you had to put a glass on the wall outside
to hear it.
I'm telling you, the sound of music, this this company is amazing, congratulations to
all of you on a wonderful job.
Let's do the plugs.
It's going to, it's by the way, it's going to North Carolina after it leaves here.
Ah, North Carolina, you know, one of my favorite sections of the country.
Charlotte from November 24th is to November 24th and then Durham, North Carolina from
the 1st to December 6th.
Okay.
That's something it's, it's music all for a park.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Love that place.
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Bring your Palmer.
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The preceding was a sooner or greater production.
Why?
Why?
Because I have to.