Richard Stafford's Vision for The Sound of Music

Robert McDowell of Classical Voice of North Carolina interviews The Sound of Music director, Richard Stafford, about his work on the North Carolina Theatre production. Below he reveals that he played "Rolf" in college, how he works with seven of the Triangle's most talented youth and gives some insight on his fresh, new approach to the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein production.

1. When did you first see or read or hear about this musical? Have you ever worked on a previous production of this musical? If so, when and where?

The Sound Of Music movie was made when I was a young boy. I took a group of friends to see it for my 11th birthday. I performed the role of "Rolf" in a college production and choreographed the show at Casa Manana Theatre in Texas in the mid-90's.

2. What do you like BEST about this musical? What made you WANT to direct it?

It's a classic--after having choregraphed the musical, I've looked for opportunities to direct it as well. I was happy when this was offered to me.

3. Briefly summarize the PLOT of this musical in your own words.

Plot: A young woman brings music and love to a family separated by sadness, in doing so she finds the path her life is meant to take.

The musical begins in 1937 as Austria is on the cusp of being drawn into a World War, Maria (Kate Fisher) is preparing to become a nun in an Abbey in Austria. The Mother Abbess (Suzanne Ishee), however believes that Maria must find her true calling in life. She is sent to become the governess of 7 children at the household of Captain von Trapp (Tom Galantich) who is a joyless man after the death of his wife. Maria brings music and love, once again, to the household. But when the Captain returns to his villa with the Baroness Elsa (Christine Hunter) and Max (Vinny Genna) to find his household so changed, he finds he, too, is changed by Maria's spunk and freshness. The Captain and Maria marry. Meanwhile, Max, a talent empressario, is impressed by the musicianship of the children and enters them in a competition without the Captain's knowledge. On the Captain and Maria's return from their honeymoon they find that Austria has, indeed, changed that they must plot an escape (using the competition as a ruse) across the Alps to a new land.

4. What MAJOR CHALLENGES does staging this musical present to you as a director -- and to your cast and creative team?

By breaking The Sound Of Music down to its most basic themes--family, love, music, and war I was able to approach each scene and each relationship in a fresh manner. Each actor was chosen, after extensive auditioning, for his/her ability and talent to tell this classic story with a curious, honest way. By approaching the set design, costume design and lighting design each as an integral part of the story-telling we've been able to come together as if working on a new show. In the rehearsal process, the children were taken through extensive acting improvisations to help them approach each scenic situation with fresh eyes. Each scene with the adult actors was first discussed to find its true core before staging so as to find honest freshness in the scene. 5. Please describe the SET: The set is a beautiful representation of an austere Abbey, and a magnificent Villa--all with the Alps as an opulent backdrop. It is made up of beautifully painted drops and scenery. A great deal of the action takes place outdoors with the Alps as an ever present reminder of the majesty of nature. 6. Please describe the LIGHTING: The lighting will support, beautifully, the scenery and action on stage. 7. Please describe the COSTUMES: The costumes are all period specific costumes appropriate to the story. All of the costumes have an Austria flavor.

Miss Saigon from the Director's Point of View

Robert McDowell of The Classical Voice of North Carolina interviewed Miss Saigon director, Richard Stafford - see below for the complete interview and detailed information about the show from the director's perspective!

1. When did you first see or read or hear about this musical? Have you ever worked on a previous production of this musical? If so, when and where?

RS: I saw Miss Saigon shortly after it opened on Broadway in 1991. Willie Falk, the original "Chris" was a very good friend of mine which gave the whole experience much more resonance. This will be the first production of Miss Saigon that I have directed.

2. What do you like BEST about this musical? What made you

WANT to direct it?

RS: I've wanted to direct Miss Saigon for a long time now. It is a director's dream show because there's so much to it--epic sweeping story, stunning score and amazing visuals. I'm drawn to the historical back drop of the Vietnam War and the period of great change (the 70's) in our country. Our whole attitude towards war changed because of our experience in Vietnam. It is easy for me to imagine something like the Chris and Kim story being played over and over in different people's lives during that period. All this makes for great theater.

3. Briefly summarize the PLOT of this musical in your own words. Please explain the SITUATION at the start of the musical and how the various CHARACTERS fit in.

RS: The year is 1975 and Kim (Jennifer Paz) has fled her hometown in rural Vietnam for Saigon where she is lured into work as a bar girl in "Dreamland" owned by The Engineer (Kevin Gray). There she meets Chris (Eric Kunze) a Marine who works in the Embassy. They fall in love and Chris vows to take Kim back to America. Saigon is on the verge of invasion by the North Vietnamese Communist regime and Kim and Chris are separated by the ensuing chaos. Chris is airlifted out of Saigon but Kim is left behind where she gives birth to Tam--Chris' son. Three years pass and Chris, with no news of Kim, has married Ellen (Jennifer Shrader). He is plagued with nightmares that he cannot share with Ellen. Through his friend John (Josh Tower) who was with Chris at the Embassy but now works to reunite children of mixed-race left behind in Vietnam, Chris learns that Kim survived and now lives in Bangkok with their son, Tam. Chris and Ellen travel to make contact with Kim and Tam. Kim in learning that Chris is married makes the ultimate sacrifice a mother can make to keep her promise to her son of a better life for him.

4. What MAJOR CHALLENGES does staging this musical present to you as a director -- and to your cast and creative team?

RS: This is a huge show both technically and artistically. Our cast size is 38 and there are 20 different locations. Also, part of the original design is the creation of a 3 sided "box" made of shades that lower and raise to create different looks throughout the show. The timing of these moves will be time consuming. And to recreate the evacuation of Saigon we have a helicopter landing onstage--again a huge technical effect that is very difficult to time and program. The cast must adapt to the stage set in a remarkably short amount of time

5. Please name YOUR CREATIVE TEAM:
Producer: Carolee Baxter
Director: Richard Stafford
Choreographer: Marc Oka
Musical director: Edward G. Robinson
Technical director: Bill Yates, Jr.
Set designer: Scenery designed by Dustin J. Cardwell
Lighting designer: John Bartenstein
Costume designer: Mela Hoyt-Heydon; Costumer: Ann M. Bruskiewitz
Properties master/mistress: La urie Johnson
Sound designer: Nathaniel Hare
Stage manager: Gary Breitbach
Original music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg
and lyrics by: Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil
Other: m. Originally Produced on the stage by Cameron Mackintosh

6. Please describe the SET:

RS: In addition to the description above, the set pieces are stylistic and moveable by actors throughout. These pieces represent bars, Saigon streets, hotel rooms, bedrooms, ceremony houses, inside and outside the American embassy.

7. Please describe the LIGHTING:

RS: The lighting will be an integral element to the design of the show. It will be naturalistic in some scenes and showy and excitingly theatrical in others. We will be using smoke, haze and dry ice effects.

8. Please describe the COSTUMES:

RS: The costumes are all based on the traditional Vietnamese garments worn by the people of the time as well as American military clothes and American outfits of the 70s.

Miss Saigon: NYC Auditions

Two weeks ago (January 6-9), I went to New York City with Carolee Baxter, our producer, and Tricia McCoy, our business manager, for Miss Saigon auditions. We got there on Tuesday morning and had a few hours to get settled into the city before we headed over to the Actor's Equity Association Building for the Equity Principal Auditions, or EPAs as they are called in NYC. There we met Miss Saigon director Richard Stafford, music director Eddy Robinson, choreographer Marc Oka and Jonathan Stahl, Richard's assistant.


From 1:30 to 5:30 we saw around 90 actors, and they came in to audition for any one of the principal roles in the show. In Miss Saigon's case, these roles include Kim, Chris, John, Ellen, Thuy and a few others. For four hours we listened to the same songs over and over again and heard some talented people. Some of the songs you may know - "Movie in My Mind," "Bui-Doi," "Why God" and several others!


On Wednesday we held the Equity Chorus Calls, or ECCs. This day there were over a hundred actors who showed up. This was pretty much the same drill as the day before, except they are auditioning to be a part of the ensemble. Since Miss Saigon has a lot of dancing in it, we held a dance call on Wednesday as well. The ensemble is made up of mostly men, who are soldiers in the show, and they do most of the dancing. This was probably my favorite part - watching everyone learn the routine that choreographer Marc Oka taught them! They learned a section of the dance in the song, "The American Dream." Since so many people showed up to the dance call, Marc had to split them up into smaller groups and teach them the choreography and then have them do the dance as their audition. After they got through all of the dancers, Richard, Eddy, Marc and Jonathan called back a smaller group to sing for them. It was definitely an interesting process to watch!


Thursday we held appointments for the roles of Kim, Chris, John, Ellen and Thuy. On this particular day I was the audition monitor for most of the day. The day started at 10AM and as the monitor I had to make sure that everyone who showed up to audition for Miss Saigon had checked in with me, and then send them in to audition for Richard, Eddy, Marc and Jonathan. It was a bit hectic that day because other theatres were holding auditions in other studios in the building and it was very crowded, but almost everyone who scheduled an appointment showed up for their appropriate time!

I was so glad that I was able to go be a part of the process to see how it all works! Casting a show does not seem to be an easy task...I don't know how they pick the perfect people for each role! Right now they are in the process of choosing the cast, and once it is finalized check back for a post!