Review: 'The Sound of Music' at the Straz Center in Tampa comes close to perfection

If you have any interest at all in musical theater, you probably know every melody, every significant plot development, every major character and almost every lyric of "The Sound of Music." For all but the youngest people in the audience, the show holds no surprises whatsoever.

That makes it all the more impressive that the current national tour of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is so effective. It's at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa through Sunday.

The reasons why it works so well are easy to identify. The voices -- all of them, from the lead actors down to the tiniest of the von Trapps -- are glorious, the orchestra is sublime, the sets and lights are exquisite and the costumes are attractive and evocative.

And, of course, virtually every one of those Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, from the silly but grin-inducing "Do Re Mi" to the soaring and inspirational "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" has become an American standard, and the fact-based book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse combines a compelling love story and a tale of heroism in the face of Nazi oppression with a message about the liberating power of music.

The cast has some amazing credentials for a road show. Ben Davis, who plays Capt. von Trapp, won a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre for being part of the cast of "La Boheme." Ashley Brown, the Mother Abbess, originated the role of Mary Poppins on Broadway and was in the recent live TV production of "The Sound of Music."

More important than their backgrounds, though, both Davis and Brown deliver stunning performances. Brown's voice is an amazing thing to listen to, and he rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain is a stirring highlight of the evening.

The only real weakness in the production comes from relative newcomer Kerstin Anderson, who plays Maria. She has a beautiful singing voice, but her acting is annoying. Maria needs to be charming and charismatic -- so much so that the stern Capt. von Trapp falls immediately in love with her and changes his personality because of her influence. That's kind of hard to accept her, given Anderson's blandness as a leading lady.

But she delivers all of Maria's big songs beautifully.

For people who only know "The Sound of Music" through the film, this production will offer a couple of minor surprises. The film cut a couple of great songs, including the irresistible "No Way to Stop It" at the top of act two, that are included here, and it's refreshing to hear them again.

There are lots of reasons that "The Sound of Music" remains on the most people's list of the greatest musicals of all time, even after 54 years of changing tastes and spectacular developments in Broadway musicals. All those reasons are abundantly evident in this production.

Details: Through Dec. 27, Morsani Hall at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa. Show times: 2 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $40-$110 plus service charge. Information: 813-229-7827, strazcenter.org.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Review: 'The Sound of Music' at the Straz Center in Tampa comes close to perfection ."