‘The Sound of Music’ at the WPAC

The Wilson Performing Arts Center at 300 Commerce Dr. will come alive with sounds of music later this week.
The Stanton Community School District will present the Rogers and Hammerstein classic “The Sound of Music” at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday and Friday, Nov. 13-14.
The show is being directed by Leland Lantz, who recently got back into teaching in Stanton after a long hiatus as a pastor on the west coast.
“I grew up here in Stanton, and then I went to college for music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. I taught in Griswold for five years, then I became pastor a church in California for 25 years. I decided to move back here to Stanton, kind of in my retirement. Since I was a Lutheran pastor, I also thought I could help the Mamrelund Lutheran Church up here and some of the other churches, which I am doing on the side,” advised Lantz. “Shortly after I moved back, Stanton principal Katie Elwood contact ed me because the music teacher at that time, Kelsey Schmidt, had taken a job in Red Oak as an elementary teacher. Katie said she didn’t have any candidates for filling this job and so wanted to know if I would consider it, so I said, ‘I’ll give it a try,’ and here I am, four years later.”
Recently, Lantz said he stepped into the role of musical director for the school, after . The move allowed him to repeat what he used to do for the Griswold District.
“We did the “Fiddler on the Roof” last year over at the Wilson Theatre in the fall. I just love theatre and I directed musical theatre every year I taught up at Griswold back in 1985 to 1990,” commented Lantz.
As for the selection of “The Sound of Music,” while it’s a show he loves, he let the students dictate the selection.
“For me, it depended on the students I had and what I thought they could handle. And we had a really good Tevye last year for our Fiddler on the Roof, and he graduated. I took a close look at who was available this year and what their vocal ranges were. After looking at all that and reflecting, it just seemed like “The Sound of Music” was a good fit for the students who would be taking part this year. “
While the plot of the show is fairly well-known, Lantz did provide a partial synopsis for those who may not have seen it yet.
“It’s a timeless story, based on true events, about the Von Trapp family. The character of Maria, who is a nun, is assigned to the family to be their governess because Mrs. Von Trapp has passed away. They’ve had several governesses that haven’t been able to keep control of the kids and have discipline. The patriarch of the family, Captain Von Trapp, who is in the Austrian Army, expects discipline for the kids,” explained Lantz. “Maria loves singing and begins teaching the kids through music and the kids fall in love with her. There’s also a bit of a love triangle between Maria, Captain Von Trapp, and the character of the Baroness, who he becomes engaged to during the show. Also, the show is set during World War II, and the annexation of Austria, so another subplot involves Von Trapp being commissioned to join the Nazi party, which Von Trapp is strongly opposed too, which leads to the family looking for a way to escape. To find out more, you’ll have to come and see the show.”
In addition to the plot itself, the show also contains a number of songs that have transcended the show itself.
“The song, ‘The Sound of Music’ itself is a timeless song, and one that everyone seems to know. There’s also ‘Do-Re-Mi’ that the kids learn to sing. I actually teach that song to the kids here in school to help them learn musical scales. Another key song is ‘Climb Every Mountain’ which is sung by the Mother Abbess who initially sends Maria to the Von Trapp family,” stated Lantz. The show also features ‘Something Good,’ I don’t think people know that one so well, but it’s a beautiful song between Maria and the Captain. I also have to mention ‘Sixteen Going On Seventeen’ which is sung by the character of the eldest Von Trapp daughter, Liesel, as she falls for a character named Rolf. It becomes rocky between them when he ends up going fully to the Nazi side. ‘The Lonely Goat Herder’ is a great fun song. The marionettes are being played by little kids. It’s very cute to see them act out the parts. They have strings attached to gloves that they have on so that they are doing the actions of the puppets and they’re dressed up in little costumes for that.”
Lantz had a lot of praise for the two students who are playing the leading roles of Maria and Von Trapp.
“Maria is played by Chloe Newsome and the Captain is played by Nick Herrick. They’re both juniors this year. They’ve been working hard  to embody these roles and they’ve been doing a great job,” commented Lantz.
Due to the variety of age ranges of the Von Trapp children, the cast includes kids from all sorts of age groups.
“We have first graders on up to fill the correct ages of the kids. It’s been a great opportunity for them to participate in something with the upperclassmen and receive guidance from them. I had a lot of kids that wanted these parts so it was hard having to pick between different ones. We held an audition in the summer to select the students for the roles,” Lantz advised. “I think this will expand their interest in doing theater and singing as they move up through the grade levels. I also think it adds a lot of excitement to the whole music program.”
As schools across Iowa are faced with funding crunches, Lantz said he felt it was important for schools to keep extra curricular activities such as these available for kids to have an outlet to step out of their comfort zones and perform for a live audience.
While rehearsals are currently underway at the school, thanks to a special partnership, Lantz said they’re able to bring the show to the popular WPAC main stage.
“Before I came back to teaching, things were staged in the Stanton gymnasium. The year I came back, the school had to use the Wilson because they were getting new bleachers put in the gymnasium and so they couldn’t host musicals in the gym that year. The school rented the Wilson and the kids had a great time. Katie Elwood said we could possibly continue to use the WPAC for productions,” said Lantz. “I remembered that and I remembered that the school hadn’t done a high school production since I was here as a senior in 1980. I asked to use the WPAC for “Fiddler on the Roof” last year, and it was a great success, so I asked the WPAC if we could do the same thing this year for “The Sound of Music” and they said yes. That’s how the Stanton District has gotten into a partnership of sorts with the WPAC.”
Lantz said that they’ll spend the closing time of their rehearsal period adapting to the WPAC mainstage.
“We have been there to practice all this week, and we have adapted the blocking of the show to coincide with the WPAC stage space. The WPAC staff have always been really great to work with. They’re letting me build my sets for this over at the facility, and they have a wonderful workshop. I’m allowed to use all their tools and all their flats and stuff. We’re going to be constructing a wonderful Von Trapp house that’s all on wheels. It will probably take up the whole stage but since it will be on wheels, we’ll be able to roll it off to the side. It should be a fairly easy transition, as all of the cast are trained to know where they’re supposed to go and when after we move the production fully into that facility. “
Lantz added that Cathy Vannausdle of Red Oak is assisting him with the production.
“She’s a really good piano player and she’s really good at musical theater. She and I really gel and work well together with the kids and she’s good at working with them in how to say their lines just right and with the right inflections and all that.”
Lantz added that staging “The Sound of Music” has always been a dream of his, and he’s pleased that the kids love being a part of it as much as he loves staging it.
“To get kids excited about theater and do this timeless musical is really fun. Last year when I first said we’re going to do “Fiddler on the Roof,” the only kid who was really excited about it was the kid who ended up playing Tevye. They didn’t want to do an “old” musical, they were interested in doing something “trendy” like “Grease” or “Hamilton.” I told them that they needed to try it. Once we got into the staging the kids loved it and loved the songs that stuck in their heads, like “Sunrise, Sunset.” Even the backstage people enjoyed the whole experience, and I didn’t hear any complaints when I proposed we do this “old” show this year,” Lantz stated.
In addition to the public performances, Lantz said there will also be a special private performance.
“We’re going to do a dress rehearsal matinee for the school kids so they have a chance to all come to it. My goal is to convey it to the whole school what we’re doing, so they can see what they could do when they get older. My hope is for that the junior high and high school kids that have passed on doing shows in the past can hopefully see what they’re missing,” explained Lantz.  ‘Next year, if they’re still underclassmen or just becoming seniors, my hope is that maybe they’ll consider coming out for choir or at least trying out for the musical or some other extra curricular like it.”
The cast of the show includes Chloe Newsome, Janae Schwery, Maria Neal, Leilanie Foster Saye, Oliva Nenneman, Nick Herrick, Josiah Shipp, Hannah Gibbs, Alizabeth Maranville, Decklan Maranville, Elisabeth Kutzli, Rhys King, Sybil Jones, Ruby Querry, Olivia Deross, Titus Mitchell, Adrian Haynie, Grant Spencer, Eric Kutzli, Klara Swiercova, Jayden Snow, Olivia McQueen, Brett Hart, Rylan Grebin, Caedmon Olson, Piper Borrem, Lilli Foster-Saye, Gabi Grebin, Mia Green, Anna Lucky, Kennedy Stites, Gracelyn Mass, Natalie Ward, Neva Burton, Willis Burton, Brynn Cross, Chay Messing, Grace Ramsey, Reed Ramsey, and Charlotte Thompson.
Tickets for the show are $10 for adults and $5 for kids. To reserve tickets, visit wilsonartscenter.org or call 623-3183.