The traveling production of “The Sound of Music” performed to a large audience at Stephens Auditorium on Thursday night.

The classic, 1965 musical has been a cultural mainstay since its debut, delighting audiences for decades. Attendees at Stephens Auditorium were not disappointed.

The church lighting and drops were mesmerizing with their accompanying lighting effects. The quality of the sets and lighting did not dwindle as the performance went on. The mountains of Austria in particular looked like a painted landscape.  With little black outs, the nearly three-hour-long show flew by.

It is not the sets and the lighting that bring people back to such a beloved musical, but the story. The story of the von Trapp family impacted the audience, young and old. There are subtle differences between the movie and the stage version, but there is nothing like watching the show live.

The main characters appear to have more depth in the stage version. Smaller characters in the movie such as Max Detweiler and Elsa Schraerder have larger, more entertaining roles. The children have more depth as well, cracking off jokes and attitude without a care in the world. Captain von Trapp is humanized in the musical more so than the movie as well.

The music of “The Sound of Music” is just as, if not more, well known as the story. The audience could be heard humming along to classics like “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favorite Things.” One lady sitting next to me was enamored by the Mother Abbess, and she had attended the musical when Judy Garland played Maria. Let it be known the songs will stay in your head for quite some time.

No matter how old you are, how many times you have seen the show or movie, or how many times you hear the music, “The Sound of Music” will touch you heart in new ways every single time. The people in Stephens Auditorium found out first hand what the power of music can do.