NewsSpend 15 Hours With Captain von Trapp! Sound of Music's Ben Davis Eats His Way Through Los AngelesThe brand new Sound of Music national tour, directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O'Brien, officially opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Ben Davis, who stars as Captain von Trapp, shared an action-packed and cuisine-heavy day with Playbill.com!
November 17, 2015
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Spend 15 Hours With Captain von Trapp! Sound of Music's Ben Davis Eats His Way Through Los Angeles
Spend 15 Hours With Captain von Trapp! Sound of Music's Ben Davis Eats His Way Through Los Angeles
The brand new Sound of Music national tour, directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O'Brien, officially opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Ben Davis, who stars as Captain von Trapp, shared an action-packed and cuisine-heavy day with Playbill.com!
18 PHOTOS
9 AM- Rise and caffeinate! My morning view from the hanging basket chair in my loft in downtown L.A. Music playing and reading the news. I always wanted to be the type who gets up and goes to the gym first thing in the morning. I've come to accept that just ain't gonna happen this lifetime.
Ben Davis
There we go!
Ben Davis
10:30 AM - And I'm out and about! Greeting strangers and birds as I whistle and walk the streets of downtown L.A., I make my way to Grand Central Market. A sensible mid-morning flat white and sweet and airy waffle from the espresso bar whilst doing more reading and people watching.
Ben Davis
11:30 AM - Now vibrating from coffee and sugar, I bounce through the Arts District, taking in some amazing street art. I bought my first "big boy camera" before going to do a concert in Ireland this summer and am still learning how to use it. Hoping to document my travels this year!
Ben Davis
3 pm - had a "general" meeting with a casting director (when in L.A....) and, ravaged by the kind of hunger that only self promotion can create, have a mid-day breakfast. Because I can. An impromptu meet-up with my Maria, the sunshine-y Kerstin Anderson, adds greatly to occasion.
4:30 PM - On my drive home, I receive notification that my very first guitar has been delivered to the theatre! Here she is!! I haven't named her yet as I'm waiting for her to reveal more of her personality. Right now I call her a lot of names, none of them printable. Learning how to play guitar is not easy.
Ben Davis
5:15 PM - Yesterday I became a first time Uncle!!! First baby in the Davis family!! My brother and sis-in-law, Jeff and Erin, have given us Spencer Floyd Davis!
Ben Davis
5:25 PM - Looking at Spencer sleeping inspired me. Nap time.
Ben Davis
5:45 PM - Charging complete, I awake. First order of business, food. As you might surmise, dining occupies a very important part in my life. Eating on tour is a great way to get into a new city. In Los Angeles, that means amazing Mexican food! So I settle in at Guisados for their mini taco sampler, the best horchata I've ever had, and some gelato from next door.
Ben Davis
There she is!
Ben Davis
7 PM - Entering my dressing room I come face to face with my "work guitar." Kinda like my "work wife," only not. She knows there's another guitar in my life now. I can feel it.
Ben Davis
8:34 PM - BAM! Howdy, Captain. Forgot to take a pic in my first costume, but here I am in, partially, a gorgeous Jane Greenwood creation getting ready for my scene with Elsa and Uncle Max.
Ben Davis
11 PM - leaving the Ahmanson and walking through the plaza celebrating Dios de la Muerta (google it). I do love the culture here in SoCal.
Ben Davis
11:10 PM - walking to have drinks with my Maria, we're reminded of this, in Lakers' colors no less.
Ben Davis
11:20 PM - The queen holding court with a drink at The Clifton, an amazing old cafeteria recently completely redone with bars on the top floors complete with a giant sequoia in it!
Ben Davis
11:35 PM- with one drink in her, Kerstin begins making friends.
Ben Davis
12:30 AM - after some great conversation, I shove Kerstin (stone sober) into her car and walk back to my loft. Standing on my balcony, replete with a succulent garden, I bid fair L.A. goodnight. A homeless guy underneath tells me to shut up.
The production closed in Los Angeles Oct. 31 and is no tour North America for multiple seasons, playing multi-week and week-long engagements.
The cast is headed by Kerstin Anderson as Maria Rainer. A student at Pace University, Anderson won the role from hundreds who auditioned. This marks her first national tour. Anderson is joined by Davis as Captain Georg von Trapp and Ashley Brown as The Mother Abbess with Merwin Foard as Max Detweiler, Teri Hansen as Elsa Schraeder, Dan Tracy as Rolf and Paige Silvester as Liesl. The von Trapp children are played by Jeremy Michael Lanuti (Friedrich), Maria Knasel (Louisa), Quinn Erickson (Kurt), Svea Johnson (Brigitta), Mackenzie Currie (Marta) and Audrey Bennett (Gretl).
The ensemble includes Carey Rebecca Brown, Ronald L. Brown, Cáitlín Burke, Christopher Carl, Kyla Carter, Patton Chandler, Daniella Dalli, Elisabeth Evans, Donna Garner, Meghan Hales, Jenavene Hester, Adam Hill, Jeremy Michael Lanuti, Darren Matthias, Kelly McCormick, Julia Osborne, Andrea Ross, Brent Schindele, Jim Schubin Lucas Schultz and Aviva Winick.
The production is choreographed by Danny Mefford (Fun Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) with music supervision by Andy Einhorn (Bullets Over Broadway, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Brief Encounter, The Light in the Piazza). The design and production team comprises Douglas Schmidt, set design (Tony Award nominee: 42nd Street, Into the Woods); Jane Greenwood, costume design (2014 recipient of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Natasha Katz, lighting design (five-time Tony Award winner: An American in Paris, Once, Aida, The Coast of Utopia, The Glass Menagerie) and Ken Travis, sound design (Aladdin, Newsies, Memphis). Casting is by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.
Director O'Brien previously stated, "The Sound of Music has been in our ears for decades, as it deserves to be. But it might be time to look once more, and more closely, at this remarkable work which, I feel, begins to reveal itself as deeper, richer, and more powerful than ever. It’s no longer ‘your mother’s’ familiar Sound of Music. We are tearing off the varnish of the past from one of the great glories of our theatergoing experience and making it fresh! This is an opportunity we’ve all longed to create!”
O'Brien's Broadway credits include Hairspray, The Coast of Utopia, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and this season's It's Only a Play.
Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, added, "The Sound of Music continues to be the world’s most beloved musical. When a major national tour was suggested, I not only agreed, but was willing to roll up my sleeves and do whatever I could to fashion a new stage production that would re-engage today’s theatergoing public. The show was originally created for Broadway, and seeing it on stage only reinforces the power of the story and the score. And with Jack O’Brien at the directorial helm – well, we simply couldn’t do better. Landing somewhere between The Coast of Utopia and Hairspray (shows for which Jack won the Tony), his production will be smart, focused, and surprising. I can’t wait."
Lupita Nyong'o, Katrina Lenk, Jelani Alladin, and more were on hand to celebrate the October 31 opening night of Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs' new musical.
