South Delta Secondary drama students are getting ready to stage a classic musical at Equinox Theatre next week.

The Sound of Music runs from Feb. 21 to 25.

"It's the kind of show where people, when you tell them you're doing it, they go, 'Oh, I love that show.' It's the kind of show that makes people happy," says SDSS drama teacher and artistic director Paige Hansen.

The production, first staged on Broadway in 1959 and later adapted as a film musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, has a wide range of fans, Hansen notes.

"It has a really large fan base, from little kids who love it, to people who grew up with it and remember the original Julie Andrews movie," she says. "It's the kind of show, I'm pretty sure, the community will be happy to come out and support."

The musical tells the story of a woman who leaves an Austrian convent to take care of a Navy officer's children.

There are some very talented students in the cast, says director Richard Cox.

"We have some really great kids," he says. "There are definitely kids in there, mark my words, there are definitely kids in there that you will see beyond this moment. They'll be on stage and screen in some place. It's a great cast.

"It's going to be a great show," he adds. The cast, which totals around 50, includes seven-year-olds Audrey Habros and Avery Hansen, who share the role of Gretl.

Cox says the older students have been mentoring the youngsters.

"They're definitely as much as part of the cast as anybody else."

Habros goes to Point Roberts Primary. "I think it's a nice representation of the fact that Point Roberts is a part of our community. It's fun to have a kid who's from that school. Point Roberts Primary always come out to our shows and folks from Point Roberts have long donated props and set pieces to us," says Hansen.

There's also a 10-member crew and 10piece band involved in the show as well as a production team of about 10 people from the community "who are giving their time and talent," notes Hansen.

Grade 12 student Kenzie Peters plays Maria.

"Things are totally coming into place. I actually feel quite calm about the whole show," she says.

Peters says she's grown up with the Sound of Music and watches it every Christmas with her family.

"It's a great show and it teaches great things. It teaches a lot about joy and embracing loved ones."

She's having a good time playing Maria, a character that "finds joy in small and seemingly insignificant things." Peters points out Maria sings about raindrops, roses and whiskers on kittens in the song My Favourite Things.

"She sings a song about them, she finds joy in that, which leads to her finding joy in the children, Captain von Trapp ... and all the different characters."

The cast includes Sam Merritt as Captain von Trapp, Kenzie Cardwell as Leisel and Trevor Feehan as Rolf.

The Sound of Music, which is also a book written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, features music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

SDSS presents the Sound of Music from Feb. 21 to 25 at 7 p.m. at Equinox Theatre.

Tickets are $10 for seniors and students and $15 for adults.

The Equinox Theatre box office can be reached at 604-943-7532.

dwillis@delta-optimist.com