The Sound of Music is luxurious and lush – and just in time for Christmas

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• Title: The Sound of Music
• Written by: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
• Directed by: Jack O’Brien
• Performed by: Cayleigh Capaldi, Kevin Earley, Christiane Noll, Nicholas Rodriguez and Kate Loprest
• Company: Mirvish Productions
• Venue: Princess of Wales Theatre
• City: Toronto
• Year: Runs until Jan. 4

Wait, sorry, when did The Sound of Music become a Christmas show?

To be clear, I grew up watching the iconic 1965 film several times a year, and at least one of those viewings almost certainly came at Christmastime. But in recent years, The Sound of Music has become nearly as ubiquitous a winter film as Elf or Love Actually – it’s even a major plot point in Kanika Ambrose’s lovely new play, The Christmas Market. Heck, Kelly Clarkson included a cover of My Favourite Things – the only song in the whole affair that so much as touches on sleigh bells and presents tied up with string – on her 2013 holiday album.

Regardless of whether The Sound of Music makes much sense as a Christmas musical – the thing’s set in summertime, for crying out loud – the touring production now playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto is an utter delight. Jack O’Brien’s staging is luxurious and crisp, a loving ode to both the film and its real-life source material, and the cast, led by the sprightly Cayleigh Capaldi as wayward postulant Maria, just about lives up to the precedent set by the likes of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The story’s the same as ever, virtually untouched from either the movie or the original stage script. When we meet Maria, she’s an exuberant young woman traipsing through the hills of Austria – much to the chagrin of her fellow nuns, who wonder if she’s really up to a life of extreme poverty, chastity and obedience.

That said, Mother Abbess, sung by the superb Christiane Noll, seems to have a soft spot for her least acquiescent new recruit. Soon enough, it’s decided: Maria will go live with Captain Georg von Trapp (Kevin Earley) and his – gulp – seven children, working as their governess until the end of summer.

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Of course, this all takes place against the backdrop of a brewing war. It’s 1938, and Germany’s annexation of Austria – better known as Anschluss – is imminent. Captain von Trapp, a decorated Navy veteran, fears for the fate of his beloved country once the Nazis inevitably take over. (He’s concerned, as well, by the indifference of his friends to the state of the world – shouldn’t they care more about Hitler’s plans?)

The Sound of Music has never been accused of being short, and that’s still true here: The production runs just under three hours long, including intermission, with more songs than you might remember from the film. How Can Love Survive? and No Way to Stop It, two uptempo numbers for Captain von Trapp’s aloof friends Max and Elsa, were cut from the movie adaptation, presumably to save time. But they’re great Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes and sung with aplomb by Nicholas Rodriguez and Kate Loprest – they’re a highlight of the stage show.

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Indeed, it wouldn’t be The Sound of Music without great singing, and there’s plenty of that on display here. Capaldi’s take on Maria perhaps veers a little closer to contemporary musical theatre than Rodgers and Hammerstein purists might hope – in rare moments, an edge of 21st-century pop is just audible in her voice – but that aside, she’s just the right blend of whimsical, warm and funny as the beloved ingenue. (And on opening night, she comfortably hit a high C at the end of Do Re Mi – major wow factor.)

Earley’s Captain von Trapp is perhaps less layered than Plummer’s – even in his early scenes, it seems obvious that he and his new governess will soon fall for one another. But his solo Edelweiss toward the end of the show is a gut-punch, a prayer for an Austria that will soon no longer resemble the Austria of the Captain’s memories. Earley’s voice is rich and velvety and sounds marvellous in harmony with Capaldi.

The children – all seven of them – are just as strong as the adults, from little Gretl (Luciana Vandette) to the famously 16-going-on-17 Liesl (Ariana Ferch). Do Re Mi, in particular, is an explosion of cuteness and nothing less – O’Brien’s dynamic staging is challenging enough to be interesting, and never once seems to pander to the abilities of even the youngest actors onstage.

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In plenty of ways, The Sound of Music is an unenviable giant for a director to slay – most audiences will have a version of the material already stuck in their heads, and the script doesn’t leave much room for creative reimaginings of the story. By and large, The Sound of Music is always going to be The Sound of Music.

But that’s actually what makes O’Brien’s staging so impressive – in this context, The Sound of Music almost feels new, and not like the well-oiled relic of the musical theatre canon that it is. O’Brien’s actors speak their lines as if thinking them up in real time – a rarity in such antique musicals as this one – and Douglas W. Schmidt’s inspired scenic design only adds to the beauty of the overall production, save for the later scenes that cloak the Princess of Wales Theatre in an upsetting display of swastikas.

Is The Sound of Music a Christmas show? I remain unconvinced. But in O’Brien’s hands and with Capaldi centre stage, I’m reminded that the piece truly is one of my favourite things, and well worth the visit to King Street West this holiday season.