Stone Life February/March 2014 | Page 32

STOKE YOUTH MUSICAL THEATRE COMPANY here are very few members of the theatre going public of North Staffordshire who haven’t seen either the film or stage show of ‘The Sound of Music’. Very popular with local amateur operatic societies for many years, Rogers and Hammerstein’s final collaboration has become the world’s most famous musical with its host of immortal songs which are still as popular today as they were when the film premiered in 1965. It is little wonder then that Stoke Youth Musical Theatre Company has chosen the stage show for its spring production at the Mitchell Arts Centre in Hanley. Directed by Paul Deakin, the show will feature the very cream of young talent in this first local youth production for many years. Stone-based Paul returns to his roots for this exciting new production, describing his excitement at being commissioned to direct the show as ’feeling like coming home to where it all started’. And having played a number of roles as a young performer with SYMTC, he is well qualified to do so. As a child, Paul was also an active member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He graduated from the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) in 2000 and is now T 32 February/March 2014 involved with numerous local and national theatre companies. He has particularly close links with the Reveal Theatre Company in Stoke-on-Trent and also works as a freelance theatre practitioner in several local schools. Paul is a versatile and experienced actor and has played a wide variety of roles in the theatre, in film and on the radio. He is an accomplished director of both stage and film and has also written several plays and documentaries. The Sound of Music tells the story of a young postulant (Maria) who is too high-spirited for the religious life and is dispatched to serve as governess for the seven children of a widowed naval Captain. Her growing rapport with the youngsters, coupled with her generosity of spirit, gradually captures the heart of the stern Captain and they get married. On returning from their honeymoon they discover that Austria has been invaded by the Nazis, who demand the Captain's immediate service in their navy. The family’s narrow escape over the mountains to Switzerland on the eve of World War II provides one of the most thrilling and inspirational finales ever presented in the musical theatre. Playing Maria, the role made famous by Julie Andrews, is 18-year-old Jordan Hazrati who started dancing at the age of two and began