It doesn’t seem very many years since Shanklin Theatre was rescued from being demolished by its theatre and community trust.

Now in full theatrical splendour with about 150 enthusiastic volunteers helping on every front, and its 615 seats regularly filled, this theatre is a real success story.

Every seat was certainly filled all last week for the Island Savoyards' fabulous presentation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

Maria, played by Rosie Sales, was sensational – her lovely voice would be well worthy as the Julie Andrews replacement in the West End.

Isle of Wight County Press: Some of the children on stage in The Sound of Music.Some of the children on stage in The Sound of Music. (Image: Paul Bird)

Olivia Pike as the Mother Abbess was brilliant too. Climb Every Mountain demands a huge vocal range, and her dramatic opera kind of voice, from alto to soprano, made every note perfect.

Two groups of talented children, the Edelweiss and Rose teams, played the five younger Von Trapp children on alternate nights, while the older Liesl and Friedrich were on every night with their splendid voices.

Do Re Mi and The Lonely Goatherd were performances to amuse, with great choreography showing off all the budding talent. These children will want to be on the stage all their lives!

No wonder Maria falls for Captain Von Trapp, played by Stuart Adams.

Isle of Wight County Press: From left, Maurice Kachuk as Max, Natasha Edwards as Elsa, and Stuart Adams as Captain Von Trapp, in The Sound of Music.From left, Maurice Kachuk as Max, Natasha Edwards as Elsa, and Stuart Adams as Captain Von Trapp, in The Sound of Music. (Image: Rodger Hooper)

His friend Max, played by Maurice Kachuk, has found the perfect act for the music festival in the Von Trapp Family!

All the cast were excellent, with good acting, and of course this true story works so well. We all know and love the songs, and music is what saves the family.

Director Andrew Wilson-Jenner made every scene work, and Nazi officers with flags marching through the audience, and running spotlights through the auditorium searching for the family added such drama.

Isle of Wight County Press: Stuart Adams as Captain Von Trapp, in The Sound of Music.Stuart Adams as Captain Von Trapp, in The Sound of Music. (Image: Rodger Hooper)

Staging is so important and the scene designs and easy set changes were brilliant: the abbey with its dark columns, the Von Trapp family villa inside, and sometimes open onto the terrace, the lightning flashes making all the children jump into bed with Maria.

All of it was so cleverly grouped round a backdrop of the mountains, which in the long run provide the family’s only escape.

Even the audience applause was exciting! The soldiers were booed! The children were cheered!

A standing ovation came for Maria, and for the Mother Abbess. So well deserved.

And as the musical director Steve Burton conducted a last mix of songs from the show as the actors bowed, the whole audience burst into sing-along. The sound of music! What a night!