Jennifer Hope
Actress, Singer, Sharer of Random Facts
The Sound of Music at Smithtown Performing Arts Center
Jennifer Hope as Maria Rainer von Trapp in The Sound of Music
This is an edited production still done by Dean Anthony, one of my Friedrichs.
Maria is remorseful after having stayed out too late singing and nearly being locked out of the abbey.
The Captain sings Edelweiss at the Kalzburg Festival. It's a shame the audience never got to hear the country rock version of the song that Michael Bertolini would play between shows on our double show days. This version always moved me to tears.
This is an edited production still done by Dean Anthony, one of my Friedrichs.
The Sound of Music is my most frequently performed show, with over 200 performances total!
Fun Fact: I have appeared in The Sound of Music over 200 times in my career, beginning in high school as The Mother Abbess. I have also played a nun and understudied the role of Elsa Schraeder, and then gone on to play Elsa and fill in as an ensemble nun when needed, meaning that I have appeared as a nun in every single performance of The Sound of Music except when I was playing Maria.
In one memorable matinee performance, I played both the Mother Abbess AND Elsa when our Mother Abbess was unable to get to the already packed theater. I prefer to think of this performance as the one where I played Mother Elsa.
It was a dream come true for me when, after years of missing out on playing Maria, I was finally cast in the role in 2011 at Smithtown Performing Arts Center in Smithtown, NY.