Anthara Shivkumar, junior, plays the role of Maria Rainer in SWHS production of The Sound of Music. The musical takes place just before World War II and is about a nun named Maria who isn’t really good at her job. Mother Abbess tells Maria that the Von Trapp family needs a governess or a nanny. As a result, Maria leaves the abbey and becomes their governess. The story continues as Maria gets close to the children and falls in love with Captain Von Trapp. Shivkumar says,“[the musical] is really about the impact that music has on these amazing characters.”

When Shivkumar auditioned for the musical back in May of this year, she did not expect to get a big part, let alone Maria. In last year’s production of Annie, she was cast as Duffy the orphan so she thought that she would be a nun this time around. However, she still tried her best at the audition and it paid off because she ended up getting the lead role.

On May 19th, the cast information was announced and all the students found out their parts. When Shivkumar saw Maria Rainer next to her name, she thought to herself, “Oh, there’s another character with the name Maria in the show.” She couldn’t believe that she even got the role, and when she told her mom about it, they both cried because they were so happy.

Shivkumar even mentioned that she had done a lot to prepare for the Sound of Music, including being apart of a different musical the summer before, “I was apart of a production of the Fiddler on the Roof, and I was a mother of five…I really tried to tap into that motherly aspect during that show, knowing that I had to prepare for The Sound Of Music.” In addition to this, her voice coach helped her a lot with her vocal range and singing higher notes. But Shivkumar realized that preparing for this role did not only include singing, she had to get into character as well. She knew that Maria was a very carefree character and she said that she had to “let loose a little” so that she was able to properly portray Maria.

However, Shivkumar believes that she shares many traits with her character, like her love for children and music. Also, Shivkumar says that Maria is, “Not good at conforming to what society expects her to do. They tell her to be ladylike and quiet. And she’s like ‘I’m going to speak my mind and yell at the captain.’” Shivkumar relates to this because she has many opinions and does not like to do what people tell her to, a lot like Maria.

Shivkumar has a few other music-related hobbies. She plays the violin in the string orchestra, sings in choral spectrum, and plays the guitar and the ukulele in her free time. She firmly states that “I don’t really know where I’d be without music. It has impacted me in a way that as a kid, I made a vow to myself that I’d never work a nine to five job in a cubicle.” Shivkumar wants to do something with performing arts when she is older, and she hasn’t thought of doing anything thing else for a living.

However Shivkumar believes people should come out and see the musical, she enthusiastically answers, “It’s a really light hearted story and there are kids in it who are just adorable and I love working with them.” You can see Anthara Shivkumar as Maria, and all of the Sound of Music cast perform the show on November 8th to November 10th at 7:00 pm. Including another show at 3:00 pm on Saturday.