In the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “The Sound of Music” Maria, who intends to be a nun, and Captain von Trapp, a crusty father of seven, find “chemistry” between them that leads marriage. When the Community Players of Greene County opens its production of the musical next week, there will also be chemistry on stage. The show brings together again Nicole Friess Schilling and Josh Tuel, whose love for the stage grew as they performed together in high school.
Tuel, who plays the captain, graduated from Jefferson-Scranton High School in 1995. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from Morningside College and then toured nationally with The Rose Theatre of Omaha. He moved to Oklahoma City and did summer Shakespeare and acted and directed with Stage Door Productions. After the birth of his daughter he moved back to Omaha, took a “day” job in hospitality management, and performed with the Grand Olde Players.
His job eventually squeezed out all time for theatre, and he went five years without being on a stage until he moved back to Jefferson a year ago to chart a different direction for his life.
Schilling first performed in dance and church productions when she was 3 years old. She said that it was while she played Dorothy as an eighth grader in a high school production of “The Wizard of Oz” that she first planned to make a career onstage. She played many leading roles in high school before graduating from JSHS in 1996.
She attended Luther College as a theater and dance major, and then toured Iowa with the Des Moines Playhouse. She married and had her first child, Jack. She worked in Omaha in professional theatre and sang with a Big Band. She had offers from other companies and auditions scheduled in Chicago and Kansas City, but ultimately decided her young family was center stage. She now has four children and no regrets about keeping her performing close to home.
It was Schilling who ended Tuel’s five-year hiatus from acting. Among many jobs, Schilling is founder and director of the non-profit Prairie Blue Creative Arts. She asked Tuel to be the voice of Audrey II in PBCA’s “Little Shop of Horrors” last spring. “It was a fantastic feeling to perform again, especially with old friends,” Tuel said.
It was also Schilling who drew him into “The Sound of Music.” He said he drove past auditions the first night and saw a lot of cars. “I figured they would have a nice big cast, so I passed,” he said.
Schilling recruited him because the audition list was short of men. “I came on the last night and had a really good time reading with Rebecca Stoeker (Elsa) and Nicole and was more than happy to work with (director) Sheilah (Pound),” he said.
According to Tuel, he has always loved acting with Schilling. “Working with Nicole again is amazing. There are certain people you just click with onstage. Nicole and I did our first play together in 1990 and all throughout high school we were in shows together and we always just had great chemistry onstage. I actually found myself over the years doing shows and wishing that Nicole was there playing a certain part,” Tuel said. “She is immensely talented and great fun to work with and learn from.”
Just as Schilling backed away from acting professionally because of her children, she decided to be part of “The Sound of Music” because of them. “When ‘The Sound of Music’ was announced, I knew we would audition because it was something I could do with my kids. It was mostly for Ava, my 7-year-old. She absolutely loves performing, and that girl is so very talented. I wanted her to have the opportunity,” Schilling said.
Ava plays the role of Gretl, the youngest von Trapp child. Jack, who is 14 and the oldest of the Schilling children, plays the role of Kurt, the younger of the two von Trapp boys. “It is so very special to be able to share my passion with them so that they can know another side of me, a part of my life that was very important at one time until they took center stage,” Schilling said.
Although Tuel had never seen “The Sound of Music,” Schilling knew it well. “It was my grandmother’s absolute favorite show and I knew she’d be mad at me if we weren’t in it. And when I found out that Sheilah was directing—that sealed the deal for me.”
Tuel calls the theater “the place I am the most comfortable.” Schilling said she could be happy performing anywhere, “for even just one audience member, as long as it made that one person happy.”
Schilling commends the Community Players for the continuing effort to provide live theatre in a small town. “I don’t know if folks realize all of the many hours of hard work, thankless work, it takes behind the scenes to make a show like ‘The Sound of Music’ happen. And these people are all volunteers…It is a true collaboration of folks from many different backgrounds all trying their best to put on a great show.”
Teresa Cross is assistant director. Chuck Radke is musical director and Clay Ross is technical director.
Curtain times for “The Sound of Music” are Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, at 7 pm, and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 2 pm, at the Greene County High School auditorium. Tickets for the evening shows are available at Peoples Trust & Savings Bank in Jefferson. Tickets for the Sunday matinee are at Home State Bank.
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