Plenty of tears as Sound of Music summer comes to a close

SussexWorld

The summer surpassing all dreams has ended for nine-year-old Maya Sewrey who spent it on the Chichester Festival Theatre stage in the CFT’s hugely-praised production of The Sound of Music.

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, and it's

00:06 lovely to speak again to one of the stars of the Sound of Music in Chichester, Maya,

00:13 who will be 10 in October, best month for anyone having a birthday in October, but you'll

00:18 be 10 then. But you spent the summer on the stage at the Festival Theatre in the Sound

00:22 of Music. Now when we spoke in July, you said when it was going to finish, you were going

00:26 to cry all day, did you? Yes, I did. I don't think I cried all day, I think I cried all

00:32 week. All week! So it was even worse, was it, when you finished? I feel like, because

00:38 at the beginning, since we'd only had a couple of shows, I hadn't really thought about it

00:44 ending. And then when it did end, I was like, oh, it's all happening, ah! But even at the

00:50 start you were saying that it was flashing by very, very quickly. Did it go quickly then?

00:56 Yes, it was like a couple of months, but it felt like it was like two weeks. It flashed

01:02 by. Now Maya, we saw you on the press night, which was fabulous, a really brilliant show.

01:08 That was obviously very early in the run. Were things very different by the end? Do

01:12 you think you changed as a performer as the show went on? Yeah, I feel like we all built

01:18 to know our character more. So at the beginning, we were still getting to know our character,

01:24 and then by the end we were like, we are our character. We were all at the beginning like,

01:29 we are our character, but we get to know our character more as the shows go on. Oh dear,

01:33 well that makes it even harder then at the end of the run when your character is snatched

01:37 away from you. We're not allowed to be our character anymore. No. Well, we are, but we're

01:42 not really. They take everything away that our character owns. But you have the memories,

01:48 don't you? And the fact is, at a young age, you were on stage in a massive, massive musical,

01:55 which also has to be one of the best things I've ever seen there. Why did it work all so well,

02:01 do you think? What made it such a good show? I feel like it's everyone. To make a good show,

02:06 you kind of need everyone. You need a good director, a good casting director, you need

02:12 good hair and makeup, you need good everyone. Everyone has to work together to make it perfect.

02:18 And that's what happened. Yeah, it's interesting you say that. I sense with the actors that I

02:24 spoke to that they were all so lovely. Actors are always lovely, but they were particularly lovely.

02:29 And that must have come across to you on the stage. Like, there are times like, once,

02:35 me and my friend, my mic belt got stuck on his button mid-stage, and one of the actors,

02:40 she helped us take it off on stage. Really? Would the audience have noticed that, do you think?

02:48 I don't think so, because she changed the line. She did the line how it was, but she changed it.

02:54 So it sounds normal. She said, like, "Now, let me help you."

02:59 And she did? Yeah, and she did.

03:03 And then we managed to carry on. That's what happens when you're in the hands

03:06 of the professionals, isn't it? Yeah.

03:07 And also, in some ways, it was a difficult show, wasn't it? It was dealing with some very heavy

03:12 ideas and notions and some horrible things, wasn't it? It wasn't just happy, happy, happy all the

03:18 way through. No. It's happy mainly for the first act,

03:21 but when you get to the second act, it gets a little more dark.

03:24 And there are lots of scenes. When you're, like, running away,

03:26 climbing up the hill. Yeah. Well, that was so powerful,

03:30 wasn't it? That closing image as you all disappeared up through the auditorium. That

03:34 was quite something, wasn't it? It was so good. I love doing it,

03:36 because every time, climbing up the hill is different. I've had times where people have

03:41 practically had their bags on the stairs in the middle. So we've had to, like, go around

03:46 people's stuff. Oh dear. Oh dear. Well,

03:49 they wouldn't have had to contend with that in real life, would they?

03:52 So it's now all over. You've massively loved every moment. What are you hoping for next?

03:58 What would you love to have on your horizon? Well, I'd love to do anything. I'd really love

04:05 to be Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera. From Phantom?

04:08 Yeah. When I'm older. I can't do that now,

04:10 because she's an adult and I'm not an adult yet. But I really don't mind. I'd like to be in more

04:17 musicals, singing musicals especially. But I'd like to be in anything that I have an opportunity

04:23 to be in, because I'm so lucky to be able to do any of this.

04:26 Yeah. And what a fantastic experience. And to come out smiling, having loved it so much,

04:31 that's just wonderful, isn't it, really? Yeah.

04:34 Brilliant. I'm never going to forget any of it.

04:37 I'm never going to forget any of the people, anyone.

04:40 Are you going to try and write it all down, just to make doubly sure that you don't forget?

04:44 I've wrote some down already. And it's so weird, because the audience only see what happens on

04:53 stage. But sometimes you forget how much goes on backstage, behind scenes, like with hair.

05:00 Well, that's the bit that we never see. You're presumably all rushing around and

05:04 being pointed in the right direction, aren't you? Quick change is everything.

05:08 There are some times we have quick changes. Like we have one when Maria and Captain,

05:14 after we're in our curtain outfits, we have to quickly run off stage, get dressed. We have about

05:20 30 seconds. And sometimes we have to start singing while we're getting dressed backstage.

05:25 Brilliant. But you managed it all. Yeah. We've never had anyone late on that bit,

05:31 which is really good. Well, congratulations. It's lovely to speak to you in July.

05:36 Just as lovely to speak to you now. You did a brilliant job. You should feel

05:40 absolutely, incredibly, 100% proud of yourself. I do.

05:44 Great to speak to you. And tell me what happens next, your next show.

05:48 Um, I don't know. I really don't mind.

05:52 Well, when it happens, let me know. Thank you. Bye.

05:57 Thank you. Goodbye.

05:58 Bye-bye.

Category

Transcript

Recommended