From Liesl to Maria von Trapp, Amirah David comes full circle in Camelot’s production of ‘The Sound of Music’

By Jim Flint

Amirah David was 8 years old when she landed her first professional gig in “The Magic Stone, the Musical” at Actors’ Theatre in Talent, later rebranded as Camelot Theatre.

Thirty years later she’s back on the Camelot stage as Maria in “The Sound of Music.” The iconic musical opens Nov. 20 and will run through Dec. 31.

“The Magic Stone” musical was written by Michael Mish, an Ashland-based writer, performer and producer who has lived in southern Thailand the past eight years. He has written and recorded music for children and adults, winning a Parents’ Choice Award and an Emmy.

His involvement with the musical made an impression on the young Amirah.

“He taught me how to swing dance, which I have loved to do ever since,” she said. “And I fell in love with the process of creating a musical and the family the cast forms.”

“She was a stellar swing dancer,” Mish said. “I felt it was a privilege to work with her. How she had such a high level of understanding of the creative and performance process at age 8, I have absolutely no idea. She was a fast learner, a terrific listener and was a shining star on stage.”

Mish said he wrote a lot of the script around her because she made it all so easy. “She was, in a real way, part of the creative process.”

A lifelong dancer

David has been dancing most of her life. She started with dance recitals at age 5, which made her feel like a princess and at home on the stage.

A year after the “The Magic Stone,” she asked her mom to sign her up for a community talent show on the SOU stage.

“I taught myself how to solo swing dance from watching old movies,” she said, “and choreographed a number to perform. I remember feeling nervous before the show, but once on the stage, a flying mess of arms and legs, I felt like I could express my heart in a way I never could before.”

The 30-year journey from the Actors’ Theatre to today’s Camelot included a very big detour that had nothing to do with the stage.

She spent most of the first half of her life involved in theater projects — until mid-college, when she “put it away” to pursue what seemed like a more pragmatic path.

“I felt sad, like I’d lost a dear friend, but I thought I had to move on,” she said.

For her, moving on meant constructing an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree program integrating psychology, alternative education, cultural studies and community building, with an eye toward mental health counseling.

After graduate school, earning an MA degree, she eventually moved back to her hometown of Ashland and opened Amirah David Counseling on Hersey Street. She is a perinatal mental health-certified licensed professional counselor, specializing in working with women and families in the prenatal and postpartum period to facilitate healing.

Unfinished business

“But what’s interesting is that I never stopped having theater dreams, at least once a week for the last 18 years,” she said. “They were mostly dreams of difficulty, like forgetting all my lines or missing opening night or failing an audition. It was like my body or mind had unfinished business.”

She says she always knew she had to return to the theater someday, to tie up those loose ends.

Joining the cast of “The Sound of Music” closes a loop of another kind as well. It’s not the first time she has performed in the beloved musical. As a teen, she played Liesl, the oldest of the seven von Trapp children in the story. And in Camelot’s production, her 7-year-old daughter Opal plays the youngest von Trapp child, Gretl.

“The Sound of Music” has always been her favorite movie musical, one she has watched often with her children.

“Maria is a role I have always wanted to play,” she said. “She embodies so much of what I aspire to be: strong, outspoken, brave, tender, compassionate, playful, devoted, and so much more.”

She describes the journey of her own emotional life as parallel to Maria’s, starting with trying to fit into a box she thought was right and perfect, and learning that life can be messy as well as beautiful.

“I hope to bring honesty and joy to the role,” she said. “Not all roles need to reflect our lives, but playing Maria feels truly therapeutic for me.” Therapy for the therapist.

A joint decision

Her daughter Opal was instrumental in the decision to audition for the parts of Maria and Gretl.

“A year ago, we were looking through the 2024 Camelot season brochure, and when we got to ‘The Sound of Music,’ we both looked at each other and at the same moment we both just knew we had to be in it.”

Amirah wavered but Opal did not.

“She declared, ‘Mama, you need to be Maria, and I need to be Gretl!’ I said that was sweet, but not to get her hopes up, as I hadn’t been in a play in a very long time.”

“Well, it turns out she is a wise little lady,” David said. “It’s been a true joy to share this with her.”

David performed in many productions when she was younger. Among them, besides “The Sound of Music,” were “Annie” (as orphan Molly), “Ah, Wilderness,” “The Music Man” (Amaryllis), “Twelfth Night,” “Anything Goes” (Erma), and the opera “Die Fledermaus” (Ida).

Rebuilding her stage chops required some hard work, but she enjoyed the process of getting to know the cast and Maria’s world.

“To prepare, I spent time imagining Maria’s life, how she felt, what she wanted, and what it would have been like to live though that time period,” David said.

As she regained her confidence onstage, she was most comfortable with the acting and dancing.

“Singing has been a different kind of beast for me throughout my life,” she said. “I love to sing, but have always struggled with learning to relax and let it happen, as opposed to pushing for perfection — which is antithetical to beautiful singing.”

Leaning into the mammoth amount of singing in the show has helped her learn how to surrender to the music.

‘Palpable joy’

“Sound of Music” director Haley Jane Forsyth says audiences will be endeared to Amirah David as Maria from the get-go.

“Her joy is palpable, and she has such a strength, even in her softness,” Forsyth said.

“Working with her has been easy and a genuine pleasure. I enjoy the positive energy and grounded nature she brings to rehearsals and to the role. She is so easy to root for as our hero, and every win of hers is a triumph for us all.”

Forsyth last directed and choreographed “Peter Pan” for Camelot in 2019. She has been acting, directing and assistant directing for various companies the past 13 years.

David’s lifelong experience as a dancer has helped with her physical presentation in the role.

“Maria brings flow to the rigidity of an abbey, a captain from the navy, and Nazi Germany,” she explained. “There isn’t a ton of dancing in this show, but the movement that is there feels wonderful.”

Sharing the stage

How does it feel to be performing with her 7-year-old daughter?

“When I told her she didn’t need to do this just because she knew I loved theater, she assured me, ‘No, Mom, I really want to do this.’ She is working so hard and I’m so proud of her.”

Opal, an independent kid, has made friends with the other kids in the cast. There are two rotating casts of von Trapp children.

David hopes her story will inspire others to integrate their creative passions with their own personal journeys.

“Creativity is one of the most beautiful ways to alchemize suffering and hardship into something with meaning,” she said. “Life can just be too flat and hopeless without love and creativity.”

Jim Flint’s Curtain Call column publishes on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Email Jim at [email protected].