Connie Fisher in
The Sound of Music
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A new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
The Sound of Music has opened at the London Palladium with Connie Fisher cast as Maria von Trapp following an eight-week reality TV contest,
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Did critics think that the problem was solved?
Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
Mark Shenton in his Theatre.com Review: “Does Connie Fisher, who has duly been dubbed “the people’s Maria,” live up to the tale of luck, pluck and determination that brought her here? After all the hype (and hopes) of the programme that has turned hers into the most anticipated West End debut in recent history, it’s a relief to report that she brings a freshness, vitality and immediacy to a show that has long been known as stale from over-familiarity… She wrenches it away from the memory of Julie Andrews in the celebrated film version to make it entirely her own. She’s possessed of a natural vivacity, a strong and secure vocal prowess, and an effortless way with the children that she is put in charge of that earns her their affection and attention. There may be a touch too little vulnerability, but that’s the price paid for the unforced, radiant confidence she brings to it instead. If Fisher is the driver of Jeremy Sams’ handsomely traditional staging, the Rolls Royce of a production that she is steering purrs with a glowing contentment throughout.”
Benedict Nightingale of The London Times: "Connie Fisher overcame a nervy start (so many gestures I thought she was both conducting the orchestra and directing the traffic in nearby Oxford Street) to give a fine singing and even acting performance as the nun turned governess and governess turned wife, Maria. And Alexander Hanson was so sound as her employer turned husband, Captain von Trapp, that he could have been playing the role for as long as box-office success will surely compel him to perform it. Add Lesley Garrett as a Mother Superior with a voice so ample and rich that it shrinks the Palladium to the size of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and she, Fisher and Hanson could be in their jobs for years. And why not? Myself, I have a soft spot for The Sound of Music despite The Sound of Music. I tend to resist winsome heroines and loveable kids. My favourite things don’t include whiskers on kittens, warm woollen mittens and the other objects that thrill Maria and the von Trapp children… Yet I acknowledge the pull of a show whose tale draws on three elemental fairy stories: Cinderella, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. The self-effacing Maria gets her palace, makes seven sprogs happy and transforms a bossy grouch into an agreeable as well as handsome princeling. Or, to put it less pretentiously, it’s Mills and Boon with wonderfully hummable songs, plus a little politics to assuage clever folk who feel guilty for enjoying themselves.”
Michael Billington of The Guardian: "Whatever one thinks of the process of casting a lead role through a TV elimination game, the truth is that Connie Fisher (‘the people's Maria’) occupies the Palladium stage with absolute confidence and winning charm. For a start, she is around the right age, 23, unlike the original Broadway Maria, Mary Martin, who at 46 was a touch mature to be cavorting in the cloisters… With her engaging smile and rangy stride she reminds me faintly of a junior games mistress at my prep school. But, under the scrubbed innocence, there's also the right hint of sexiness… Above all, Fisher has a clear, crystalline voice that relishes every note of Richard Rodgers's music and every syllable of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics. Although Maria may be a novitiate, the highly talented Fisher is clearly no novice. As for the musical itself, I found it surprisingly enjoyable.”
Connie Fisher
& Alexander Hanson in
The Sound of Music
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Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph: “The sound you can hear as you read this notice is your critic's credibility gurgling down the plughole. It has long been axiomatic, indeed it is inscribed in the constitution of the Critics' Circle, that any review of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's last collaboration must include the words ‘treacly,’ sugary,’ ‘sentimental’ and ‘grave health risk to diabetics’... The awful truth has to be faced, however. As a child, I adored the 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews, I still know almost all the lyrics of every infuriatingly sing-a-longable song, and I voted eight times for Helena in the final of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on television. This last gesture was, I admit, typical British support for the underdog. It was obvious that Connie Fisher was going to win, and deserved to win. And she makes an absolutely enchanting Maria in Jeremy Sams's opulent production, handsomely designed by Robert Jones, that pays Rodgers and Hammerstein the compliment of taking the musical seriously, never once descending into camp. Indeed, getting on for half a century after the piece's premiere in 1959, this is a show whose time has surely come again. Its decent, wholesome values, its celebration of the family, its unembarrassed portrayal of devout Christian faith and its vision of good outwitting the evil of fascism all seem exceptionally welcome in these troubled, cynical times. As I watched, my eyes were often unexpectedly filled with tears, and having felt 51 going on 84 when I entered the theatre, I left with a spring in my step and a soppy smile on my face. Suddenly the world briefly seemed a better, brighter place. What's crystal clear in this show is the formidable skill of its construction, the sheer abundance of its melodies and the genuine heart of its story. What an utter relief it is to cast cynicism aside for a couple of hours.”
Paul Taylor of The Independent: “In her live Sixties concerts, Barbra Streisand used to do a comic routine where she performed quick skits of famous songs. Her one for The Sound of Music was—‘The hills are alive—and that's pretty frightening!’ But the hills are alive and that's pretty wonderful in Jeremy Sams's adorable revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic at the London Palladium. The only people likely to be less than jubilant about this latest addition to the West End's miracle season of musicals are the producers of the top-notch rival shows. In their offices this morning, I expect there'll be not the sound of music, but the sound of moaning… As for the big question—does Connie Fisher, winner of TV's How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, solve the problem of how you play Maria under such intense scrutiny—the answer is: you bet. She's enchantingly fresh and ardent and she sings with a voice that can range from piping purity to soft tenderness. That's the test: you want her to be your naughty big sister and your reliable mother combined… There is something automatically camp about a show with nuns (and thank God that's true here too) but I must also emphasize that your heart lifts and your whole body resonates to their rapturous choral singing. Robert Jones's sets are beautiful; the costumes are beautiful; the children are beautiful—even ze orchestra iz beautiful. Andrew Lloyd Webber's production hits town a few weeks after the opening of Rufus Norris's brilliantly dark version of Cabaret. Sams demonstrates, however, that it's wrong to deprecate The Sound of Music's depiction of creeping Nazism. Climb every mountain? Sure, and after this show you'll want to do a little dance, too, on the summit.”
Nicholas de Jongh of The Evening Standard: “Sams's production follows all too reverently in the footsteps of the famous film, except in the vital respect of Connie Fisher's quite remarkable Maria. She may not yet be a convincing actor, and uses her hands far too much to signal emotion, but her voice takes the high notes and she sings with serious ardour. More importantly she eclipses her famous but deficient predecessors. She has none of the cool, antiseptic vitality of Julie Andrews's over-refined Maria or Petula Clark's over-mature, aloof elegance. Her postulant/governess, an intriguing combination of gawky seriousness, intensity and quirky enthusiasms is a creative interpretation. She is the first real Maria I've seen. You gather that the girl is vulnerable, as troubled and as insecure as her charges, the rescuing of whom helps sublimate her unhappiness… Although Fisher's Maria pleased me, The Sound of Music sadly leaves me unstirred.”
Sheridan Morley of The Daily Express: “The burning question this morning is, of course, ‘Can she do it?, and it has be said that they still haven’t altogether solved the problem called Maria. Despite the trappings and the conventions of the recent BBC TV talent contest, Connie Fisher did not exactly come out of nowhere to win. Her programme credits acknowledge training at Mountview theatre school, where she played in a sequence of msuicals including Annie Get Your Gun and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s own Carousel. As that music-theatre training might suggest, she is competent at the singing and the acting. The problem is that she is totally lacking in warmth of a sense of comedy—so precisely how she wins over the hearts of the seven von Trapp children and their autocratic father remains something of a mystery… Why can’t I warm to it? Perhaps because there is oddly little warmth on stage: even the children seem not quite to belong to the same family, while Alexander Hanson, who replaced Simon Shepherd early in previews, seems still to be at a distance from the proceedings in general and his supposedly beloved Maria in particular. All in all, the show is treated respectfully but with a fatal lack of passion or involvement.”
Quentin Letts of The Daily Mail: “Shut your von Trapps, you pinch-livered carpers and Mistress Doubters. Connie Fisher, the West End lead they chose off a BBC telly show, confronted and conquered her mountain last night. The smart set said she’d crumple. London arts darlings tutted and tskked, displeased by—my dears—the very vulgarity of it all. But sweet, clever Connie knocked ‘em flying. Viewers of Britain, you chose well. She’s as natural and unsugared and wholesome as one of those pots of vegan yoghurt. Just listening to her makes you feel healthy. She may not yet move like a doe antelope, but she has that brnad-new, just-out-of-the-spring freshness. I reckon she runs Julie Andrews to a photo-finish… Why is she so winning? I suppose it helps that this Maria really is a novice—new to everything—and yet is instantly familiar from the TV series which discovered her. She doesn’t need to act the innocent because that’s how she really is. The fluttery wonder is genuine. This girl has just done the showbiz equivalent of 0 to 60 in half a second. Unlike Top Gear’s Richard Hammond, she didn’t prang the vehicle. Connie Fisher as Maria? Nun better.”