18 children picked for Singapore run of The Sound of Music

SINGAPORE - Eighteen young actors and actresses from Singapore have been picked for the coveted roles of the Von Trapp children in the forthcoming production of The Sound of Music.

The young thespians will play six out of the seven children of the Von Trapp Family - Gretl, Federich, Kurt, Marta, Brigitta and Louisa - on a rotation basis.

Singapore children who have been chosen for The Sound of Music include:

GRETL: Chloe Choo, Jaime Chew, Emilia Klein.

MARTA: Carolina Campbel Magan, Samantha Lee, Selma Hansen.

BRIGITTA: Georgia Blakeman, Mimi Slinger, Felicity Bertram.

KURT: Benjamin O'Dwyer, Joshua Goh, James Bell.

LOUISA: Sabrina Lee, Abbie Machin, Olivia Nolan.

FRIEDRICH: Isaac Burgess, Patrick Friedlander, Sean Harrison.

Over 400 students from 50 schools, both local and international, applied for the roles. Auditions for the show were held in the presence of The Sound of Music Resident Director, Mr Anton Luitingh, who travelled to Singapore over a weekend to attend.

"I was very impressed by the caliber of the candidates who came to the audition," Mr Luitingh said.

"It's always such a difficult decision to have to narrow the list down, and I am especially confident Singapore audiences will be astounded by the Von Trapp' performances," he added.

The musical is set to feature some of the most memorable songs from the show, including My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi, Climb Ev'ry Mountain, Edelweiss, The Lonely Goatherd, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, and of course the title song The Sound of Music.

Rehearsals will begin in June this year. The Sound of Music opens at the MasterCard® Theatres, Marina Bay Sands on July 11, and tickets for the show are now on sale.

jthe@sph.com.sg