Creatures of Habit
The newbie lead of Mirvish’s Sound of Music has a lot to live up to
Most pop culture phenomena come with a best-before date, but the sugar-coated Sound of Music has a mysteriously enduring appeal. Which explains why Mirvish—after his Lord of the Rings debacle—is sinking $11 million into the Toronto production set to open on October 15. The show’s success ultimately depends on Elicia MacKenzie, the dimpled 23-year-old Vancouverite with no professional experience who was chosen to play the lead in a televised casting search. It’ll take many spoonfuls to out-sweet the icons who’ve made the role of Maria their own.
Ur-Maria: Mary Martin
Martin was the first to play the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical’s Maria. It ran for 1,443 performances on Broadway and earned her a Tony.
Mountaintop Maria: Julie Andrews
The most famous Miss M. was paid $225,000 (with no profit share). The movie went on to gross $160 million; adjusting for inflation, that makes it the third highest earner of all time, behind Gone With the Wind and Star Wars.
Wrinkled Maria: Petula Clark
The pop diva, worried that at 49 she’d be too old for the part in a 1981 London revival, nevertheless impressed the real Maria von Trapp (in attendance at the premiere), who judged her tops.
Pizza Maria: Connie Fisher
The 23-year-old pizzeria waitress won the part over 6,000 other wannabe Marias in a BBC competition that was the model for the Mirvish-CBC series. Fisher blew her vocal cords four months into the run.
Cancon Maria: Elicia MacKenzie
The production got off to an embarrassing start with the arrest of one of the Maria competition’s judges—for assault and forcible confinement of a young man in his hotel room. For MacKenzie, the hills will truly be alive: a 20-tonne mountain rotates, tilts and moves up and down. Insiders estimate her weekly pay at $4,000.
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