CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM From front, Kim, Sandy, Jessica and Dan Anderson ham it up for the camera, much as they do on the stage.

The family that
plays together...

2 parents and 2 daughters have roles
in the production of ‘The Sound of Music’

---

By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.com

Greg Zane was assembling the cast of Diamond Head Theatre's current production of "The Sound of Music" last fall and came up short a couple of "nazis" -- guys whose roles called for nothing more than the ability to walk in step and look vaguely menacing.

Sandy Anderson and her daughters, Jessica and Kim, were there to audition for roles in the show. Hubby and dad Dan Anderson just happened to be standing there for moral support when he was pressed into duty.

"They said they needed some background people, and I think just because of the time of year -- between the rehearsals and the production we've had birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving and Christmas occur -- and it seemed to me that we may as well be together and enjoy that," Dan Anderson said Thursday in the family's immaculate Leeward Oahu home.

Playing an anonymous German solider sounded like a pretty safe role -- "No singing, no speaking, basically a human prop" -- but Anderson ended up appearing in another scene as the bishop who marries lead characters Maria and Capt. von Trapp, and in yet another scene dancing a waltz at a von Trapp party (Sandy was his dancing partner).

The togetherness angle worked out better than any of them could have anticipated when Zane recruited him. The show closes today after an extended SRO run during which several performances were added and all quickly sold out.

Kim had one of the major speaking roles as Brigitta von Trapp. Sandy and Jessica were nuns and appeared in some of the other ensemble scenes; Jessica also understudied the role of Liesl von Trapp.

THE FACT THAT Dan was making his theater debut at DHT brought the family story full circle. Sandy and Jessica, the first members of the family to become involved in theater, took their first tentative steps on the DHT stage.

COURTESY OF THE ANDERSONS

"I was always interested in music, so I was in the Honolulu Chorale and the UH Chorus, and then I had gone to a couple of musicals and I got hooked ... and decided it would be something that would be fun to do," Sandy said.

"I thought 'I really want to do that; I can't sing or dance or act, but I really want to do that.' So I made it a goal that before (I reached) a certain age I would try to audition. Jessica and I went to our first audition together ... and that's when we started to get involved."

Sandy and Jessica appeared together in ACT's 1996 production of "Annie," and Jessica was subsequently seen in DHT's productions of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" and "Here's Love." She also became a member of the DHT Shooting Stars training program and was one of the Shooting Stars who performed in Jim Nabors' annual "A Merry Christmas with Friends and Nabors" show at the Hawaii Theatre.

Jessica took some time off from theater when she started high school but eventually decided to homeschool. With one semester of homeschool she earned her GED and qualified for early admission at Leeward Community College where she will be majoring in biology next semester.

Being homeschooled allowed her to return to theater in time to be part of DHT's magnificent spring production of "Titanic." She plans to continue her education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, then go on to vet school, although she hopes to be able to find time for theater as well.

"It's been a really good experience," she said.

COURTESY OF THE ANDERSONS The family in costume for "The Sound of Music."

KIM CREDITS her mother and big sister with getting her into theater.

"I really wanted to do what they were doing," said Kim, who played one of the de Becque kids in ACT's 2001 production of "South Pacific." (Mom appeared as one of the nurses and in the ensemble.)

She also appeared with her mother and sister in DHT's "Here's Love" and played one of the orphans in DHT's 2001 production of "Annie."

The role of Brigitta von Trapp has been her biggest so far, and she's been bitten by the acting bug to the point where she eventually aims to try her luck on Broadway.

"We have a slight advantage in that our children are homeschooled and so we are able to work the theater schedule around their school schedule," Dan said of his kids' accomplishments.

So would he do another show? Perhaps a role with a line or two?

"I think I'll consider doing more," he said. "I don't know if I have the talent because this was sort of a unique opportunity to come in 'under the radar,' so to speak, but I may do an audition one day.

"The thing that struck me most about the opportunity I had was that all the people I met in the cast were so close and they bonded so quickly. Just on that alone I think I would do it again."

"This has been such a wonderful unique experience for all of us," Sandy added. "In this day and age a lot of families are going their separate ways (and) it's been such a blessing to us that we can do something together.

"It takes an enormous amount of time -- it's like we're living only for theater because we're always there, but we're there together."

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