Surrounded by the Von Trapp children, Carly Keone, center, appears as Maria in a scene from “The Sound of Music.” Children are portrayed by, back row left to right, Molly Oien, Liam McCaughey, Ophelia Wise and Carly Vineyard. Front, left to right, are Aliyanna Hudson, Alis Campbell and Aralyn Brunes.

The Willapa Hills around Chinook, Washington, will be filled with “The Sound of Music” for the next five weeks.

After a break from musical theater during the coronavirus pandemic, the Peninsula Association of Performing Artists is back to its traditional five-weekend summer run.

“The Sound of Music” opens at 7 p.m. Friday and continues for 15 performances, closing with a matinee Aug. 6.

The Peninsula Association of Performing Artists was gearing up to stage the show in 2020. After pandemic restrictions were eased, the troupe staged smaller-scale, nonmusical shows, including “Steel Magnolias.” Four of the six actresses in that production will return for this summer show.

Jerr Harding, who also directed “Steel Magnolias,” is happy to build on it. “It’s exciting to get back to directing musical theater again,” he said. “It takes a lot to put on a production, and it takes a while to get the momentum we are experiencing.”

Love

The familiar story is set in 1938, when Austrian naval Capt. Georg von Trapp has to decide whether to accept a commission as war looms. A widower with a passel of children, he falls in love with their strong-willed governess Maria, who is torn between her path of becoming a nun and their blossoming relationship.

In addition to its title song, the play features favorites like “Do-Re-Mi,” the nuns singing “Maria,” versions of “My Favorite Things,” Rolf and Liesl singing “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and the children’s chorus singing “So Long, Farewell.”

The show features two solos, “Climb Every Mountain,” sung by the Mother Abbess and “Edelweiss,” highlighting the national flower of Austria, sung by the captain.

Seven children

Peninsula Association of Performing Artists’ version features Carly Keone as Maria and Robert Scherrer as Capt. Georg von Trapp.

Jonathan Cole portrays the music impresario Max Detwieller and Cindy Flood plays the captain’s initial love interest, Baroness Schrader. She and Keone have also choreographed the show.

The religious component is led by Jane Schussman as the Mother Abbess with Susan McCaughey, Dawn Leamy and Kathy Hagen as nuns.

Molly Oien, who was crowned Miss Scandinavia at the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival in June, plays Leisl, the eldest of the von Trapp children, with singing siblings Liam McCaughey, Ophelia Wise, Carly Vineyard, Aliyanna Hudson, Alis Campbell and Aralyn Brunes.

Rolf, the teenage messenger who courts Leisl, is portrayed by Zachary Larsen. D. Caulder and Anne Arana play a butler and housekeeper. Other roles are played by Aris Campbell, Matt Vineyard, Anthony Brunes, Raelee Erland and Maddie Erland; Jaclyn LaMar and Arana join them in the chorus.

Harding, the director, hopes the musical will appeal to audience members from both sides of the Columbia River.

As well as Long Beach Peninsula residents, cast members include Astoria performers and one from Nehalem. “We have a lot of new faces who have been involved in theater, though not with us, but we have some familiar faces, too,” he said.

‘The Sound of Music’

Peninsula Association of Performing Artists at Fort Columbia State Park Theater, Chinook

Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, additional performances on Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 5, performances at 3 p.m. Sunday as well as on July 16, July 23, July 30 and Aug. 6

Admission is $16 or $23 for reserved seats, available online at Okie’s Thriftway Market in Ocean Park. A Discover Pass for access to Washington State Parks is not required to attend the theater

www.papatheater.com