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SALT LAKE CITY — Hale Centre Theatre's latest production, "The Sound of Music," has brought a wonderful opportunity for one young actress.
She lives in Park City, and so does the woman who performed the same role as a child in the film version more than 40 years ago.
The view from the balcony of a Park City home isn't quite Salzburg, Austria, but those famous mountains are on the minds of the two friends.
Heather Menzies Urich starred as Louisa Von Trapp in the 1965 Academy Award-winning film. Ally Ioannides plays the same role in Hale Centre Theatre's latest production.
"Initially, I just auditioned for all the roles, but I think it was pretty obvious that if I was going to get in, then I was going to get Louisa," Ally said.
There's no DNA obviously, but I know who I could call at 3 o'clock in the morning.
–Heather Menzies Urich
It's a role that Heather defined.
"She was me - mischievous," Heather said. "And I think when Robert Wise cast the film, he wanted real kids."
Heather said at the time the movie was made, she had no idea where it would lead.
"We had no clue that it would be popular," she said. "That I would be sitting here talking to you after all these years is amazing to me."
The staying power is because the story is real, and the film actors looked like a real family. They are still close.
"There's no DNA obviously, but I know who I could call at 3 o'clock in the morning, and it would be one of them," Heather said. "When my husband passed away, they all showed up without even calling me to say that they were coming. They all just showed up."
Ally says her fellow cast members are beginning to feel like family, too, sharing joy in what they are creating.
"I just want people to walk away feeling happy," she said.
Hale Centre Theatre's production runs June 6 - Aug. 4.
