February 12, 2019

Pinehurst, NC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The West Pine Middle School Musical Team offers the community an eternal family classic when it
presents “The Sound of Music” on March 8 and 9, 7:00 PM, at the Pinehurst Elementary School
Auditorium.

The musical, a long-running, Tony Award-winning hit on Broadway and around the world, also was
adapted into a movie starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer that was released in 1965
and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Set in Austria in 1938, at a time when Nazi Germany was making inroads across Europe, it is based
on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, who takes a job as a governess to a large family while she
decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the children, and eventually their widowed
father, a navy captain.

Capt. von Trapp is ordered to accept a commission in the German Navy, but he opposes the Nazis.
He and Maria decide on a plan to flee Austria with the children.

With music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the musical is filled with songs
that remain memorable more than half a century later, including “My Favorite Things,” “Do Re Mi,”
“Sixteen Going On Seventeen,” and "Edelweiss," as well as the title song.

West Pine Middle School’s production,​ ​featuring close to 70 students ranging from sixth through
eighth grade,​ ​casts Hazel Thompson as Maria and Alexander Brady as Captain von Trapp.
Also in the cast are Karsen Corbett as the Mother Abbess and Sarah Archer, Ally Groner, and
Leyhannah Timpac as Sisters Bertha, Margaretta and Sophia; Samuel Bland as Max Detweiler and
Katelyn Dubose as Schraeder; and Sophie Blauch, Logan Ciokan, Helen Fitzpatrick, Eliza Hage,
Allison Salazar, Porter Stout, Aubrey Welling as the von Trapp children.

Students have been in rehearsal since early January. D​irected by veteran educators with a long
history of collaborating on productions, the show has at its helm Executive Director Torin Wright,
West Pine Middle, and Artistic Director/Charge Scenic Designer, Susan B. Herrick, a professor
at Fayetteville State University. Paul Anderson II, a student teacher from University of North
Carolina at Pembroke, is the choreographer. This production also features student directors
Samuel Bland and Karsen Corbett; Student Choreographers are Ally Groner and Nicolyn
Federice.

The set was constructed by craftsman Jim Morris, West Pine Middle School (retired), and has
been painted by numerous students and parents. The Sound Engineer is David Godsey of Extra
Mile Audio, from Fayetteville; Lighting Engineer is Charles Howell of Rock-It Productions; and
costumes are by Showboat Costumes and Collectibles.

The project received support from the Arts Council of Moore County with funds from the North

Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National

Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Tickets are currently available online at discounted rates and will gradually increase in price as

opening night draws closer. All patrons are encouraged to purchase online tickets early in order

to secure lowest prices and availability at www.thesoundofmusicwpm.weebly.com. For

additional information, please call the school at (910) 673-1464.