Last night, The Sound of Music touring company made their way to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia which they will call home until March 20, 2016.

From the moment Melody Bitts (Regional: Hairspray, The Color Purple, Ragtime) appeared onstage as The Mother Abbess and opened the show with the “Preludium,” I was transfixed. As was the entire audience. Melody Bitts was so powerful as Mother Abbess. What a strong voice, graceful demeanor, and beautiful performance as Maria’s mentor and friend. By the end of the show’s performance, during the curtain call, everyone from the orchestra to the very top of the mezzanine was on their feet with a roaring applause for Bitts. You know those moments when you can feel thunderous applause? What a well deserved moment for Bitts. She was absolutely divine.

Then we found ourselves being introduced to Kerstin Anderson who plays the lead role of Maria Rainer. A current student at Pace University, Anderson won the role from hundreds who auditioned. This is her first national tour and she is nailing it. I loved Kerstin as Maria. Her voice is so pure and sublime. And she embodies Maria flawlessly which is saying a lot considering how many times I’ve seen The Sound of Music (hint: an unhealthy amount) and have Julie Andrews as Maria ingrained in my head in addition to my love for the stage version.

I was very taken by Anderson who completely owns this role. The love Maria has for music and people radiated through the theater and truly was contagious. Which is why I love Maria so much because of that feeling, that tone that is set when she is present and boy did I feel it here!

Ben Davis (Broadway’s Violet, A Little Night Music, La Bohème) was fierce in his role as the cold turned lovable Captain Georg von Trapp. Merwin Foard (Broadway’s Aladdin and The Little Mermaid) was hysterical and highly entertaining as Uncle Max and Teri Hansen (Broadway’s The Boys from Syracuse) an operatic delight in her role as Elsa Schraeder.

All of the cast playing the von Trapp children were wonderful though there’s one that I’d love to recognize. Paige Silvester (National Tour of Evita) as Liesl embodied the typical lovestruck teenager who doesn’t need a governess perfectly. Not only is she striking and fabulous in this role but her voice is so beautiful and captivating that all of this combined, I won’t be surprised later down the line when she enters Broadway and receives a role that will take her to winning her first Tony.  Side note, if you’re an aspiring stage actor, you should make it a point to regularly read Silvester’s blog which is a great behind the scenes resource for all things theatre!

The touring production of The Sound of Music as a whole was enthralling and nostalgic and an evening full of the most delightful music there is. Every stage version is slightly different and I did notice here how different the stage design and direction was from other productions I’ve seen. Little things that no one else would probably notice but I did so I wouldn’t say that in this regard, this production was my favorite but aside from that, this show was every bit of lovely as I had hoped, this touring company, superb.

If you’re a fan of The Sound of Music and are in the Philadelphia area this week, get your tickets asap because this very limited time production is almost sold out!

Tickets can be purchased by calling (215) 893-1999 or visiting kimmelcenter.org.

For more information, please visit TheSoundOfMusicOnTour.com. Be sure to follow The Sound of Music on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.