Reagle Players are alive with a star-powered 'Sound of Music'
WALTHAM -- The Reagle Players are having quite a summer for themselves. Shirley Jones appeared in ''Carousel" last month, and now John Davidson is making a star turn as Captain von Trapp in ''The Sound of Music," Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway tale of a young nun-to-be who captivates the hearts and minds of an Austrian family shortly before the Nazi invasion. Davidson is solid in the leading role, but the real star of the show is Sarah Pfisterer as Maria. Pfisterer lights up the stage whenever she's upon it, portraying Maria with just the right blend of innocence and insight.
Pfisterer establishes her vocal and acting range early in the songs ''The Sound of Music" and ''I Have Confidence," which are Maria's only actual solos, although she sings throughout. ''I Have Confidence" accompanies Maria's first trek from the abbey to the von Trapp villa. Pfisterer delivers the tune with energy that, although of the megawatt variety, never clouds the communication of her character's swirling emotions.
Back to Mr. Davidson. Anyone who hasn't seen this smooth veteran since his ''That's Incredible!" or ''Hollywood Squares" days may be in for a bit of a shock -- a shock of white hair, that is. Nonetheless, Davidson is supremely charming and craggy as von Trapp. While he may seem a bit mature for Pfisterer's Maria, there's plenty of goodwill and good looks to help things along. Davidson's only miscalculation is his ratio of bellowing to brooding; there's too much of the former.
Of course, the man has seven children, so some bellowing is in order. The von Trapp children are the canvas upon which the Captain's rigidity and Maria's optimism blend, and the Reagle Players have cast a capable young bunch. In this production, the ever-observant Brigitta (Charlotte Horan) is a highlight, standing out from her endearingly earnest stage siblings. Molly O'Neal also does well as Liesl, the love-struck teen.
Paul S. Katz and Dan Rodriguez manage the music direction of a sprawling cast sprinkled with some memorable voices. At times, some less experienced performers stumble rather than glide into songs, creating tempos that are irregular at best, but there are plenty of old pros mixed in as well. As the Mother Abbess, Jenny Lynn Stewart turns in a very successful ''Climb Ev'ry Mountain." Outside ''Sister Act," where else could a nun get such an emphatic standing ovation? Stewart is also strong, and sometimes even more animated, in the nuns' choral numbers.
As usual, the Reagle procured the costumes and scenery from rental houses. The arrangement works efficiently enough except for the von Trapp girls' hideous dresses in the wedding scene. Of the few design elements that are the Reagle's own, Jennifer Simon's lights tend to lack vitality.
Very little seems to dampen the spirits of Reagle audience members, who love their musicals sprinkled with stars and star power, both of which ''Sound of Music" offers. The ads might easily read, ''Come for Davidson; stay for Pfisterer." Her vocals qualify as something more than music. 
