IT was no surprise to me that when I went to see
The Sound of Music at
Milton Keynes Theatre last week, there was very few empty seats.
For the show is a family classic, and the audience reflected its popularity, with seats filled with all ages, from pigtailed schoolgirls to pensioners with sticks.
Based on a true story - the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers - SOM follows Maria Rainer, a young woman who enters an Austrian abbey to become a nun.
But Maria doesn't quite fit in so is sent by the Mother Abbess to act as a governess to the seven children of widower Captain Georg von Trapp - played by popular British actor Michael Praed, who gave a good performance as the grumpy naval officer (although, I preferred his happy singing version of Von Trapp in the second half of the show to his angry persona in the first half).
Nevertheless, I was absolutely blown away by the show - for the second time, as I had already seen it in the West End.
And there are some differences to the London Palladium production that made it a fresh performance for me.
But what didn't change was Connie Fisher, who is a theatrical gem as Maria.
It may be because she has played the role for a long time now, but she is so comfortable in Maria's skin that the character seems to almost be an extension of herself.
Her performance is quite clearly based on Julie Andrews' interpretation of Maria, which is no bad thing in my eyes as I love Julie Andrews, and her singing ability just shows why Andrew Lloyd Webber picked her out of so many hopefuls to win How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria ?.
Impressively, her voice also shone while dueting with Margeret Preece, who played the Mother Abbess.
Preece's performance was sensational.
Her singing looked almost effortless, despite reaching the highest of notes.
It gave me goosebumps and reduced numerous audience members to tears - including myself and the friend I took along with me.
But for me it was the children who made the show.
Their scene with Captain von Trapp in the first act, where they sing for their father for the first time, was so emotionally charged that I noticed a man two rows in front have to remove his glasses to wipe his eyes.
He wasn't the only one.
It never fails to amaze me how the tiny stars remember all the lines and dance moves.
Little Jade Gill Martinez, who played Gretl, was foot-perfect and her vocal solo in So Long, Farewell impressively reached right to the back of the theatre.
How such a strong voice comes from such a pocket-sized seven-year-old is beyond me.
I am, however, very curious as to what happened to Louisa - played by Ella Williams - in the performance I saw, because the Von Trapp children went from seven to six in the second act!
My only criticism of this fabulous musical feast was that the cast did not show off their immense vocal talents one last time at the end of the show.
There was no encore as such, just a bow, and with such a super singalong score, I felt it was screaming for a mini-medley.
Despite that I will definitely be adding it to a list of My Favourite Things.
Don't miss your opportunity to see it.
The Sound Of Music runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, November 14. For tickets call 0844 871 7652 or go online www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes.