By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Director Even Elliott has been an assistant director at the Belfry Theatre and is now taking the helm for The Sound of Music, staging Nov. 25 through Dec. 4 at the Ivy Tech Auditorium, 300 N. 17th St., Noblesville.
Elliott
“I wanted something a little bit different at Christmas,” Elliott said. “Everybody does White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life, and all the classic Christmas shows. I just wanted to be a little bit different. I know The Sound of Music airs on TV around Christmas, but not necessarily on stage.”
With a cast of 26 actors, eight of whom are 18 and under, Elliott said casting was a challenge.
“It was a three-day process,” Elliott said. “We had two days of auditions, a day of callbacks and then we really had to narrow down the von Trapp children. That was the hardest thing to cast. We had over 75 people audition people audition for the show. Going from 75 down to 26 is always hard.”
Elliott was the director of speech and debate at Noblesville High School (NHS) for 11 years and he assistant directs the NHS thespian troupe.
“My assistant director, Susan, is the director of the thespian troupe at Noblesville and she was my theater teacher,” Elliott told The Reporter. “It’s nice to be working with her again. We work on almost every stage project at NHS together.”
Rehearsals started on Sept. 20 and Elliott says the show is coming along very well.
“We have a super-talented cast.” Elliott said. “The biggest surprise is always the workload and what goes in to making a production like this successful. It takes a lot of people and a lot of people have done this previously. I feel like I have surrounded myself with a really strong team. A lot of my tech and crew have previously done productions at Ivy Tech, so they know the space.”
Moving into that space is one of the challenges this productions faces, but Elliot told The Reporter he expects it to go seamlessly.
“We have an interesting process in that our entire set was built at the Belfry and that building is currently for sale,” Elliott said. “Everything is there, and we move it into Ivy Tech on Saturday. So, we will take everything down and rebuild it at Ivy Tech.”
Elliott called his cast and crew, “some of the best talent we have ever had at the Belfry. This is on track to be the best-selling adult production we have ever had.”
Tickets are going fast, especially for Thanksgiving weekend, so get yours today at thebelfrytheatre.com or by calling call (317) 773-1085. Shows are Fridays and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The play runs two and a half hours with one intermission.
Photos provided by Belfry Theatre
Can’t wait to come and see your play! We are so proud of you, Timmy, for being part of this. Love, Grpa and Grma Wiles❤️❤️❤️❤️
The cast was absolutely amazing and Reverend Mother and Maria’s voices were absolutely incredible. Not sure how in the world Marc Boice was cast as the Captain. His voice and acting were way subpar. Have to say it was PAINFUL to listen to his singing and acting parts. Knowing both Nieten and Elliott and after auditioning and performing in plays at Noblesville High School, Chicago theaters and the Belfry, I was expecting way more for his part.