How do you solve a problem like Maria? That question is famously vexatious for the nuns in “The Sound of Music,” but for actor and singer Katrina Lauren McGraw it’s a challenge she’s thrilled to tackle.
“I keep saying it’s a dream role that I never knew I had,” says the San Francisco native who’s playing Maria in the classic musical at Mill Valley’s intimate Throckmorton Theatre.
“I grew up watching the movie constantly,” McGraw says. “I had the two-VHS set that we probably got at Costco or something. My brother and I used to play a game where we would pick a set of videos and we would hide them under pillows and my brother would touch a pillow and then I’d take all those tapes away, and we’d eventually narrow it down to whatever movie we were going to watch. And I would always make it be ‘Sound of Music.’”
With a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse based on Maria von Trapp’s memoir, “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,” “The Sound of Music” is the story of an aspiring nun who becomes a governess to the children of an Austrian naval captain who refuses to work for the Nazis who are annexing Austria. The 1959 musical became much beloved for its memorable songs by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (such as “Edelweiss” and “My Favorite Things”), and its Academy Award-winning 1965 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews.
“We picked it because it felt like it had elements that were related to our current world,” says Throckmorton founder and artistic director Lucy Mercer. “It wasn’t just the Holocaust and the Nazis. It also was the oppression and what was happening to various different groups by categorizing people and polarizing them so that they became groups of people rather than individuals and humans.”
“The similarities to today just jumped off the page, in terms of the invasion of Ukraine, in terms of the strong sociopolitical divide here,” agrees director Adam Maggio. “The way that the wealthy people had a feeling of, well, I don’t think Trump’s going to win, but even if he does, it’s not going to change much for us — that’s very much Elsa’s perspective in the show. She and Captain von Trapp have this huge ideological difference in the show that’s really exciting, that is then made even stronger with Katrina playing Maria.”
A standout performer in musicals at Bay Area companies such as 42nd Street Moon, SF Playhouse and Berkeley Playhouse, McGraw memorably portrayed blues legend Bessie Smith in “The Devil’s Music” for Center REPertory Co. in Walnut Creek shortly before the pandemic hit.
“I grew up watching the Mary Martin ‘Peter Pan,’ the Rodgers and Hammerstein ‘Cinderella,’ and ‘Sound of Music,’” McGraw says. “Those are the shows that I feel like taught me how to sing, because those are what I imitated. And Martin originated Maria on Broadway. So, this is home. This role and this type of singing is actually home for me.”
Playing Maria is meaningful for McGraw not just because the show is one of her longtime favorites, but also because as an African American performer it’s not a role that she would often get a chance to play.
“When Adam asked me to audition, I said, ‘I would love to, but I don’t want to pretend I’m White,’” McGraw says. “And so I looked up, would there be mixed-race Black and White people in Nazi Germany? And the answer is yes. France brought over African soldiers for World War I, and while they were there, they slept with German women. There were very few of them, but they did exist. And as you can guess, they were not treated well by the Nazis. So, we are making sure that we incorporate that into our show. It’s very subtle, but it’s there. So, that is also a nice thing, not ignoring my skin color and my race and my ethnicity, and still being able to play this iconic role.”
All the emotional resonance this musical holds for McGraw can’t help but come out in her performance.
“We had a full run-through on Saturday, and it was the first time I’ve been able to get through the title song without breaking down crying, because it’s really, really emotional to be able to play this role and sing that song and do this show,” she says.
“She sings this show so well,” Maggio says.” While she may have gotten through ‘Sound of Music’ without crying on Saturday, I had some tears going. She’s singing the hell out of it.”
Sam Hurwitt is a Bay Area arts journalist and playwright. Contact him at shurwitt@gmail.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/shurwitt.
IF YOU GO
What: “The Sound of Music”
Where: Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley
When: May 13 through 29; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Admission: $25 to $45
Information: throckmortontheatre.org
