Idaho Matters

How do you solve a problem like a new production of The Sound of Music? Look at it through a modern lens

“Every good story has an internal, mysterious problem and an outside problem that the characters are dealing with. And that’s where we begin.”

Broadcast on:: 12 Apr 2024

The creative team behind The Sound of Music, produced by Boise State, include Darrin Purdy, Gordon Reinhart and Caitlin Burke.

A crisis of faith. The struggle of single parenthood. And a growing threat of racist demagoguery. Any one of these themes could be the foundation for 21^st century drama. But together they were the pillars of a 1959 Broadway show which, in turn, became one of, if not the most, loved films of all time: The Sound of Music.

The Rogers and Hammerstein musical is 65-years old, but the creative team behind Boise State’s 2024 production of The Sound of Music find plenty of contemporary relevance in its story.

“Whether it’s Shakespeare or Rogers and Hammerstein or a brand new play, I can draw a line from the text to my current life and what I’m seeing in the world,” said Gordon Reinhart, director of the new production. “It feels similar to our current moment in the world.”

Reinhart joined Darrin Purdy, director of Boise State’s theatre and costume design and Caitlin Burke, who plays Mother Abbess, to visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview their production.

Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren