Favourite Things

Brittany Wright

          Big teeth on plants, and jazz musicians. Bright razor blades that glint in the spotlight. Brand new scripts bound in a student’s binder. These are a few of Stephanie Cocking’s favourite things. The Rosemere High School drama teacher has now successfully put on three musicals since she began working at the school: Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, and Sweeney Todd respectively. After all the doom and gloom upon which the last three plays have centered, Ms. Cocking has bent to pressure from the public and is directing a more upbeat, happy musical this year: The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The Sound of Music takes place in Austria before the Second World War. A young postulant, Maria, is sent to be a governess for Captain von Trapp’s seven children. The melodic Maria, thrust into a music-deprived home, teaches the children how to sing and have fun. With unforgettable songs such as ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’, and ‘Edelweiss’, a delightful romance, and a heart-warming tale of family, The Sound of Music is a classic enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Ms. Cocking confirms it so.

“The Sound of Music is very popular and appeals to many generations,” she says. “Apart from that, high school students are familiar with the play because they have most likely been exposed to it before. For example, they may have watched the movie on TV, they may own it, or their parents or grandparents might have seen it with them when they were younger. It’s simply that popular.”

When asked what she hoped to achieve by putting on this play, the director replied, “I want to put as many [talented people as I can] on the stage... I want to get a larger audience and build up a tradition of RHS putting on good drama productions.”

The Sound of Music is to be performed on the nights of April fourteenth and fifteenth, 2011. Tickets will be on sale starting March fourteenth, 2011. The RHS Drama Club hopes to see you all there because Ms. Cocking’s favourite things have recently become our favourite things as well!