Our hearts have been truly blessed by The Sound Of Music…

It seems so very appropriate that our final photo and thoughts of The Sound Of Music begin with a picture of the ghost light left on for the night as we depart the theatre….

What started as an idea early into the Covid-19 pandemic has brought joy and theatre into the lives of everyone the production has touched. We knew it was ambitious.

We are sad…. However, we are excited because this is just the start. We did it at a time when people needed it. The pleasure of seeing the joy our show brought everyone else. The happiness of the cast, the crew and backstage and finally the audience who came to watch. Seeing the buzz of a theatre alive every night in anticipation of the curtain raising and the tears of joy this production brought to so many people at a time the world is on its knees.

We want to say a huge well done to all of the adults and children who performed on the stage. You brought the wonderful story of the Von Trapp family to life every single show. A true story and a wonderful musical that will life on in our hearts for ever.

Caroline, Andrew, Sarah, Stu and Jan…. You were born to perform those roles. You brought such depth and humility to this incredible true story. Ensemble….Every single one of you shone on that stage. We simply couldn’t have dreamt of a better cast. What a true team effort.

Children, we know you will be upset and down today and nothing can prepare you for finishing a show, but keep your head held high and remember this show with fond memories. This is just the start…
A huge shout out to all of the crew who worked on the show and made the magic of the theatre happen every single night in front of our audiences. We knew it wouldn’t be easy squeezing one of the worlds biggest shows into The Customs House.

A big thank you to the Customs House and staff for being supportive of our sheer ambition and determination and for making us lots and lots of coffee.

And finally to you our audiences…. Thank you for coming, for laughing, for crying and for standing up at the end of every show. We really couldn’t have done it without you.

We are signing off The Sound Of Music now…. But we will be back very very soon! So watch this space…. In the words of Maria, “When the lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window”.

Rehearsal images have been released ahead of the upcoming production of The Sound of Music at The Customs House, South Shields

Set against the idyllic landscape of the Austrian Alps, this heart-warming tale based on a true story follows spirited young nun Maria and her relationship with the Von Trapp family.

In the titular role is international performer Caroline Sabiston (Guildford School of Acting and An Evening with Sir Tim Rice) as Maria Rainer, alongside Andrew James as Captain Georg von Trapp and north east based soprano Sarah Fenwick (Sage Gateshead and Proms In The Park) as The Mother Abbess of Nonnberg Abbey.

Also in the cast are Jan Reiss as Elsa Schraeder, Stu Liddle as Max Detweiller, Simon Stuart as Rolf Gruber and Holly Chinneck as Liesl von Trapp.

The Musical Theatre Company’s production will feature a talented cast of children starring Cameron Laidler and Cheiron Bates as Friedrich, Evie Gettins and Caoimhe Anders as Louisa, Joshua Murray and Joe Robertson as Kurt, Isabel James and Lila-Rose Routledge as Brigitta, India Rutherford and Isabel Langston as Marta and Emily McGrogan and Amelia Cattermole as Gretl.

The cast also feature Shannon O’Brien as Sister Berthe, Kenya Roberts as Sister Margaretta and Ella Bolton as Sister Sophia as well as an ensemble of talented performers. For the full cast list click here

The production team will include production management by Kevin Reay, direction and choreography by Adam Allinson, direction by Joseph Arnott and choreography by Brooke Slavin. In addition to this, costume design by Lee Brannigan and Alan Graham Costumes, production technical management, lighting and sound design by Cameron Turnbull.

With a timeless score including Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things and Climb Ev’ry Mountain, this global phenomenon continues to enchant audiences across the world.

The Sound Of Music will open at The Customs House, South Shields on Friday 26th August 2022 with a limited summer season ending on Saturday 3rd September 2022. Tickets are on sale now by visiting: www.customshouse.co.uk/theatre/the-sound-of-music/

Bringing The Sound of Music to South Shields has presented us with some fabulous opportunities! A number of weeks ago we took our cast out to film a ‘behind the scenes’ promotional video for the show. This post will give you an insight into the production and how we created it! If you haven’t already seen the video, click here to view it!

There are a number of different elements to any film shoot – location, the actors / crew and finally behind the actual lens.

It’s All About Location!

There are some spectacular locations across South Tyneside, some of which we wanted to showcase in the film. We knew immediately which locations we wanted to feature. Not only were they instantly recognisable we also knew that they would give us some fabulous footage.

The Customs House – Not only is it the venue where the show will be running, The Customs House is also a stunning building, especially on the Riverside, giving us a lovely backdrop for some shots.

Herd Groyne Lighthouse – The historic part of the North East landscape gave us a lovely opportunity to take the children to this lovely piece of Victorian history which is still used for navigation today, 140 years after being built!

The Old Windmill (Cleadon Hills) – We spent a lot of the day up on the top of Cleadon Hills filming, having a photo shoot and enjoying the view. Thankfully the British weather was incredibly kind and gave us beautiful blue skies with small white clouds marching across it.

Sandhaven Beach – This location was a great end to the day and allowed us to show off the children’s marching skills to all the passers-by as well as having an excuse to visit the beach.

Planning the day

After planning the location, one of the first elements to a shoot like this is the wardrobe and makeup. The cast were straight into hair and make up at 9am upon arrival at The Customs House.  We are using the sensational Lee Brannigan at AG Costumes for the production. Lee provided us with the stunning Austrian costumes for the children, Maria and the Captain.

Alongside our director, Adam Allinson, we worked with a media company called DW Media. Dan and the team really are the best in the business. They were the backbone of the whole day and their professional expertise gave us the ability to experiment with different tools and the cinematic shots Adam wanted.

Thinking about the logistics, there was a lot of health and safety to get right. It took a number of weeks to fill in the relevant paperwork and forms but South Tyneside Council were fantastic in supporting us. We were also joined throughout the day and supported by a member of the council.

Filming

The filming day came around, as I’m sure you can imagine, everyone was equally excited and nervous. Weather reports were coming in with mixed messages but we went ahead with the event as planned.

Everyone met at The Customs House and the crew and production team got to work with the wardrobe and make up. When everyone was ready, we went out to the first location, checked that everyone was prepared and walked through the first shot. We were able to use a drone throughout the day for some of the shots which was a brilliant experience for the cast to have. For them to understand that filming is a very repetitive process which required a lot of hard work and accuracy when getting the filming lines correct.

The whole day ran according to plan, we arrived at each location with both teams of children, Maria, Liesl and Captain. The cameras were set up and the production team walked through the shot, the cast were shown their marks and the shot was taken.

Every project needs a focus, we wanted the video to be a celebration of both South Shields and Musical Theatre. We wanted recognisable places which people had seen before. We wanted to have the sense of community in our video.

From Location to location, we were asked by members of the public what we were doing and the response was very positive, comments regarding how much people have missed the community of theatre and the atmosphere of musical theatre in particular.

The Sound Of Music is arriving at The Customs House THIS SUMMER! Tickets are selling fast. We don’t want you to miss out!

Book Now: https://bit.ly/3R1lX0k

Directed by Adam Allinson
Filmed on location and produced by Daniel Wilkinson at dwmedia. With special thanks to The Cast, South Tyneside Council, The Customs House, Ray Spencer, AG Costumes, Daniel Wilkinson, Kevin Reay, Emma Diamond, Karen Slavin, Lesley Bishop-Nixon

By Joseph Arnott

Calling all singers, choirs and musical theatre fans! The day you have been waiting for is back!

Experience the power, passion and melodies behind some of the world’s biggest musicals in this one of a kind, full day workshop! Working with leading director and MTC. producer, Adam Allinson, this is a rare opportunity to discover the melodies, harmonies and performance skills required to take to the West End Stage!

This unique, special and inspiring opportunity is open to all vocal abilities and will cover all aspects of singing. It is also a great way to meet, socialise and sing alongside singers and performers from all across the North East. This event is in conjunction with the South Tyneside Arts Festival 2022.

Just some of the things you will cover in this workshop are:

• A number of vocal warm ups
• Work on storytelling and acting through song
• Learn songs from smash hit shows from the West End & Boadway. As an example, previous workshops have included Les Miserables, Sister Act, Mamma Mia, Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.
• Both harmony work and melody work.

Book your space now on one of the biggest singing events in the North East! Click Here

The cast for The Sound of Music at The Customs House has been revealed.

In the titular role is international performer Caroline Sabiston (Guildford School of Acting and An Evening with Sir Tim Rice) as Maria Rainer, alongside Andrew James as Captain Georg von Trapp and north east based soprano Sarah Fenwick (Sage Gateshead and Proms In The Park) as The Mother Abbess of Nonnberg Abbey.

Also in the cast are Jan Reiss as Elsa Schraeder, Stu Liddle as Max Detweiller, Simon Stuart as Rolf Gruber and Holly Chinneck as Liesl von Trapp.

The Musical Theatre Company’s production will feature a talented cast of children starring Cameron Laidler and Cheiron Bates as Friedrich, Evie Gettins and Caoimhe Anders as Louisa, Joshua Murray and Joe Robertson as Kurt, Isabel James and Lila-Rose Routledge as Brigitta, India Rutherford and Isabel Langston as Marta and Emily McGrogan and Amelia Cattermole as Gretl.

The cast also feature Shannon O’Brien as Sister Berthe, Kenya Roberts as Sister Margaretta and Ella Bolton as Sister Sophia as well as an ensemble of talented performers. For the full cast list click here

The production team will include production management by Kevin Reay, direction and choreography by Adam Allinson, direction by Joseph Arnott and choreography by Brooke Slavin. In addition to this, costume design by Lee Brannigan and Alan Graham Costumes, production technical management, lighting and sound design by Cameron Turnbull.

With a timeless score including Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things and Climb Ev’ry Mountain, this global phenomenon continues to enchant audiences across the world.

The Sound Of Music will open at The Customs House, South Shields on Friday 26th August 2022 with a limited summer season ending on Saturday 3rd September 2022. Tickets are on sale now by visiting: www.customshouse.co.uk/theatre/the-sound-of-music/

Wow! Well what can we say!? Such an amazing day today, It has taken three long weeks of auditions and we started with 330 children auditioning for our production of The Sound Of Music. Today we finished with our two teams and 12 children. Auditions can be scary but we had heaps of fun at @customshousesouthshields yesterday!

We saw some incredibly talented and professional children at our recall auditions for The Sound Of Music! The level of talent we saw was overwhelming!! Well done to each and every single one of you who auditioned for us. You should be so proud of yourselves.

The journey now continues to find our adult cast! We have sent out a number of emails over the weekend and are processing emails as we speak and rest assured everyone will be contacted with your audition details in the coming days.

Don’t forget to visit https://www.customshouse.co.uk/theatre/the-sound-of-music/ to book tickets for the production and see our stars of today and of the future in action!

We are delighted to announce that we are casting for ADULT cast members to appear in our upcoming production of The Sound Of Music taking place at The Customs House, South Shields in August/September 2022. Produced by The Musical Theatre Company, this is for a strictly limited season.

We are casting for ALL of the roles in the production including the principal lead roles as well as chorus roles too. Whether you have never stood on a stage before or are a seasoned performer we want to meet you! We are looking for strong performers who can sing, dance and act and would LOVE to appear in our smash hit family musical.

Important Information

• You must be able to commit to rehearsals as per the rehearsal schedule. The rehearsal schedule will be confirmed via email. Rehearsals will generally be twice weekly including one week night and one daytime on a weekend.
• You must be available for the production week 26th August 2022 – 3rd September 2022. As well as this you must be available for the week prior to this.
• You must be prepared to attend an audition in person. We will not accept any other form of audition or self tape.
• You agree that the production is on an amateur basis. Therefore any roles offered are unpaid.
• You must be aged 16 years or older to audition for an adult role.
• After receiving your application we will forward you an audition date and time slot as well as the relevant material for you to learn for the audition.

What you will get from us

• An opportunity to perform in one of the biggest musicals in the world in one of the North East’s most loved theatres.
• An opportunity to gain valuable industry experience from our creative teams.
• There are no performance fees or membership fees to appear in the production.
• An experience you will never forget working with a fabulous team of people!

How to apply

Applications are now closed.

Principal Roles

Maria Rainer

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Soprano

Playing Age: 25-35

Ability: Act / Sing / Dance

A postulant at Nonnberg Abbey – young, free spirited, warm, gentle and kind with much determination. Maria is a sweet young postulant whose love of freedom makes it obvious to her superiors that she is not suited for religious life at the Nonnberg Abby. Maria is full of energy, passionate, country girl who has a charming but gawky, awkward physicality and personality, naive, naughty, witty, strong- minded, and tomboyish. Needs to have an obvious connection with children and an ability to relate at their level.

Captain Georg von Trapp

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: Baritone

Playing Age: 35-45

Ability: Act / Sing / Dance

A retired very wealthy Austro-Hungarian Naval Lieutenant Commander, distinguished, active, handsome, highly organised and regimented, efficient and very smart. The Captain is a widower with seven children who is strong and firm with a hidden softness. Polished, yet very military in the way he runs his life to repress his sadness over the death of his wife; underneath, he is warm, understanding, and determined.

The Mother Abbess of Nonnberg Abbey

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Top Soprano

Playing Age: 40+

Ability: Act / Sing

A true big-hearted mother figure, loved, adored and respected. Motherly, understanding, strong and authoritative, but kind. A very strong actress.

Max Detweiller

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: Tenor

Playing Age: 30+

Ability: Act / Sing / Movement

Charming and vital; a man of sophistication who enjoys the good life; true and loyal friend to the von Trapp family. A theatrical agent and First Secretary of Education and Culture – personal friend of von Trapp and a sort of uncle to his children. He is clever at his job, witty and charming though quite pushy to get what he wants. We are not sure whose side he is on until the last moment. Witt and humour personality of the show.

Elsa Schrader

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Mezzo Soprano

Playing Age: 35-45

Ability: Act / Sing / Movement

A baroness of taste and elegance, sophisticated, dignified and mature. A very wealthy widow, who is president of her late husband’s corporation. Elegant, sophisticated city person. Clever and canny and very much into making a good social arrangement.

Rolf Gruber

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: Low Tenor

Playing Age: 17

Ability: Act / Sing / Dance

Suitor to Liesl, telegram delivery boy, later Nazi soldier. A very pleasant young man, somewhat aggressive but in a gentle way. Rolf has Hitler as his paternal role model and the Nazi regime as a future goal. He seems to know an enormous amount of what is going on because of his job and seems to relish his spying tactics.

Liesl Von Trapp (The eldest von Trapp child)

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Mezzo

Playing Age: 16

Ability: Act / Sing / Dance

The oldest child, blossoming into a young lady with an interest in boys. She has a maternal edge to her and cares very deeply for her younger siblings. Innocent, naïve, infatuated with Rolf, pretty but unsophisticated and tends to think everything is wonderful. She has a maternal edge to her and cares very deeply for her younger siblings. Growing up fast with no maternal role model, she represents the juvenile romantic plot.

Featured Roles

Sister Berthe (Mistress of Novices)

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Alto

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act / Sing / Movement

No nonsense type, officious and very strict. Not a supporter of Maria. Prudish, straight laced with a quick tongue, she is less tolerant than other nuns.

Sister Margaretta (Mistress of Postulants)

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Mezzo

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act / Sing / Movement

Very kind, understanding and concerned. A kind and understanding supporter of Maria.

Sister Sophia

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: Soprano

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act / Sing / Movement

Neither demanding nor critical, sticks with the rules. Dutiful and kind-takes the middle road to avoid controversy.

Franz (The von Trapp butler)

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 30+

Ability: Act

Originally a sort of protector to Captain Von Trapp in the Navy, he is now retired into this position as valet, which he carries out with somber efficiency. He is humourless and appears harmless but underneath we discover he is secretly plotting with the Nazi party Anschluss and might have become a major threat had the family not escaped.

Frau Schmidt (The housekeeper)

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 30+

Ability: Act

Going slightly deaf, very little personality; she does her job efficiently but without affection. She is strong and somewhat dominating. She has been around a long time and hates the way she is treated with whistles by the Baron. It affects her dignity. She appears to be a thoroughly reliable member of the staff and respected by all.

Herr Zeller

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 40+

Ability: Act

The Gauleiter – a sort of district governor appointed by the Nazi Regime to prepare the Anschluss. He is overbearing, arrogant and autocratic, self-important and pompous. Stern and unsmiling, a typical Nazi official whose primary concern is to see that everyone toes the line.

Frau Zeller

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 40+

Ability: Act (1 line)

The wife of Herr Zeller. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

Baron Elberfeld

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 40+

Ability: Act

A neighbour of Captain Von Trapp and one of the “Old Guards” of Austria, violently opposed to the takeover of his beloved country by Nazi Germany. Can double with other roles in the ensemble.

Baroness Elberfeld

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: 40+

Ability: Act (1 line)

A neighbour of Captain Von Trapp and wife to the Baron Elberfeld. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

A New Postulant

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act (Non Speaking)

A smart, well-dressed young girl who has a walk-on moment only-no dialogue. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

Admiral von Schreiber

Gender: Male

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act

An important figure in the Austrian Navy and appears to be much respected by Captain von Trapp. He has obviously agreed to be part of the new regime with Germany.

Ursula (The Maid)

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act (1 Line)

The maid of the von Trapp house. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

Saengerbund of Herwegen Trio

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act

Three person performance group who wins 3rd place in the Festival Concert. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

Fraulein Schweiger

Gender: Female

Vocal Range: N/A

Playing Age: N/A

Ability: Act

Female performer who wins 2nd place in the Festival Concert. Can join with the women nun ensemble.

Chorus Roles

Men / Women: Strong actors needed to perform the onstage roles for the Nazi soldiers, dancing neighbours and friends who come to Captain Von Trapp’s party, Salzburg citizens, and Georg’s friends of naval background who participate in the Festival Concert.

Women: Strong actors and singers needed to compose the nuns, novices, and postulants who live in the Nonnberg Abbey.

How To Apply

Applications are now closed

We are casting for children to perform in our upcoming production of The Sound Of Music taking place at The Customs House, South Shields in August/September 2022. Produced by The Musical Theatre Company, this is for a strictly limited season.

We are looking for talented young performers from across South Tyneside and the North East to appear in the production! We are casting TWO TEAMS of local children to appear as the Von Trapp family! Do you know or have a budding young performer who loves to sing, dance, act and would LOVE to appear in our smash hit family musical???

Please see the casting requirements below. Please note that these are the ‘playing’ ages of each child and don’t necessarily need to reflect the age of the performer.

• All children must be very strong singers and be able to move well.
• Boys must have unbroken voices.
• All children must be available from 26th August 2022 – 3rd September 2022.
• Children must be prepared to attend an audition.
• Rehearsal days will be confirmed via email.

Please be advised that children will be supervised at all times during rehearsals and performances by registered licensed chaperones.

The production is on an amateur basis. Therefore any roles offered are unpaid.

How To Apply

Applications are now closed.

CALLING ALL CARE & RESIDENTIAL HOMES, HOSPICES & HOSPITALS…. FREE CINDERELLA LIVE STREAM – CHRISTMAS 2021! PLEASE SHARE….

Please share far and wide across the land! Unfortunately due to Covid-19 our plans to bring you Cinderella in 2020 were thwarted! However, I am delighted to share some wonderfully exciting news with you!

We have rescheduled the pantomime and will be bringing Cinderella, FREE OF CHARGE to anyone in a care setting this Christmas LIVE from South Shields! We hope that you and your residents or service users can join us for this wonderful festive treat!

The date of the live stream will be Saturday 18th December at 2.30pm. The pantomime will then be available via a private link over the festive period for you to stream and view at your own leisure or at a time convenient to yourself and your residents.

If you would like to stream some festive cheer courtesy of The Musical Theatre Company and our wonderfuly talented cast of performers to your residents this Christmas, then please email [email protected] with details of where you are emailing from and we will add you to the streaming guest list!

You will each receive a personal invitation to print out for each of your residents as well as posters to display around your home inviting your guests to their day out at the panto!

See you at the ball!