The Sound of Music goes great with pizza

This past Saturday, my close friend and I had tickets to see the stage production of The Sound of Music. We had watched the reality series "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" to one degree or another, and were eager to see how they would bring this classic film to life on stage.

[Spoiler Alert - you intend to see the play, you might want to skip down a bit]
Some people in the group were a bit disappointed, as the program strayed a bit from the film. Songs were placed in different places and some scenes were cut altogether. Plus, I am certain there was a whole new song added in. The biggest outrage seemed to come from the fact that during the Thunderstorm scene in Maria's bedroom, the iconic song "My Favourite Things" was swapped out for "The Lonely Goatherd". We had heard "My Favourite Things" earlier in the performance, but this change sent murmurs through the audience. I got the full force of my friend Celia saying in my ear, "This isn't right, this isn't the right song". At the intermission, our other friends, who had seats on the floor below us, called us to express there outrage as well. It is always a tricky thing to bring a foundational piece like this to another medium.

I was absolutely amazed by the set design. That aspect of a production, if done right, becomes another cast member. In this case, there should have been a round of applause given to the designers at the end of show. These enormous pieces slide around the stage effortlessly to create intimacy for the garden flirtation between Rolf and Liesl and a mountain side came down from the rafters to provide the expansive vista for Maria to twirl around on. During one of the last scenes at the music festival, the whole theatre became enrobed in Nazi imagery with flags unfurling from the sides and a huge banner being pulled over the ceiling. There were plenty of gasps when all of this began to appear. I think the reaction was more a sense of revolution for these symbols suddenly all around us, instead of the of marvel how they got there so quickly. I know I had a chill in me as giant swastikas were waving overhead. But that is what a great production does - it puts you in the mix and draws you into that time and place.

For my money, this was an excellent production. Well worth the price of a ticket. The only real turn off for me was at the end in the abbey as the Von Trapps are trying to flee the country. But I won't go into details, you'll have to see it for yourself.
[Spoiler Alert finished]

After the show, we decided to hit the newest addition to our local culinary delights - Pizza Libretto. Oh... My... God!!! I am not a pizza aficionado by any means, but the food was unbelievable. We got there at 5:00ish and got a seat no problem, but within 30 mins the place was packed and the line up was starting to queue out the door.

I had the Bison Carpaccio, Wild Mushroom Bruschette, and Home-made Sausage Pizza. All of it was incredible. Pizza Libretto claims to be real Neapolitan Pizza. Having never had pizza in Naples (yet), I can't honestly say if this is true or not. But I can tell you that this was fantastic food. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you give it a try.