Doers: Amy Van Der Bosch

26 Mar Doers: Amy Van Der Bosch

[click "Play" button to hear Amy's podcast]

 Intermediate School math teacher Amy Van der Bosch is poised to become Telluride's sweetheart. Listen to her describe her path to Telluride and Maria in "The Sound of Music," and talk about her fellow cast members and director, by clicking the "play" button and listening to her podcast.

Did she or didn't she? Historians claim Maria did not fall head over heels for Georg Ritter von Trapp – she loved the children, and later grew fond of the man – but America swallowed the conceit hook, line and sinker, falling head over heels for Maria in the bargain.

"Maria" is the star of Roger and Hammerstein's hit musical, "The Sound of Music," the postulant nun who leaves her abbey to try her hand at being governess to von Trapp's seven motherless children. She sticks around and after the standard digressions becomes their stepmother.

Mary Martin, Broadway's first Peter Pan was also Broadway's Maria, when "The Sound of Music" opened at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre in 1959.  Several years later, producer-director Robert Wise figured that despite the too too twee nature of the book, what made popular theater (the musical ran for 3 1/2 years) would make fine fodder for a movie. In 1965, the felicitous score hit the silver screen, this time with actress Julie Andrews in the lead.

Julie Andrews is the definitive Maria in the minds of most "Sound of Music" fans, including local Amy Van Der Bosch, The Telluride Repertory Theater Company's star in their adaptation of the kitschy but lovable musical classic and Telluride Inside … and Out's next Doer, #465, in the series launched in 1993 in the Daily Planet.

Amy is Maria despite her best efforts to avoid ever playing a lead. The cool beauty with the chiseled features and feline smile has always been too tall to stand in the front row when she has sung with the Telluride Choral Society over the past 15 years. The relative safety of the back row suited her just fine.

Amy vowed never ever to take on a challenge that involved memorizing too many lines after playing the fairy queen Titania in The Rep's adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  And after performing as a Kit Kat Club cutie in The Rep's 1994 production of "Cabaret," the very same year she began teaching, she promised herself never again to perform on any local stage during the school year, dropping out of the cast to assist backstage as stage manager or choreographer ("Fiddler on the Roof," 1998).

Amy returned to the Rep stage as one of the 'ho's in  The Rep's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas " – in which TIO's Clint Viebrock starred as the sheriff –  only because it was a summer production and she was on vacation.

But here's Amy: on the boards again, in winter, in a starring role. Why the turnabout? Kismet or dharma, whatever you call destiny, is the only possible answer.

Amy's steady march to the role of Maria began when she was a little squirt. At 4 1/2 the first time she ever opened her mouth to sing she intoned the lyrics of  "So Long,Farewell." She and her sister, a dancer, used to watch "Sound of Music" nearly every Easter. Amy has seen the movie about 25 times. Three years ago, when husband Leo agreed to perform in KOTO's Lip Sync, guess whose song he mouthed? He was Gretl singing "So long/farewell…" And Amy, like Maria, is a teacher, who claims to use her singing and dancing talents for math instruction (in fact, two of her von Trapp charges, Zane Jackson as Kurt and Annika Westman as Brigitta are her real life students).

Full disclosure: I was in a meeting with director Cate Caplin, musical director Dr. David Lingle and producer Lutz Florzcak when Amy's name came up as the best candidate for Maria. Cate went on about her wonderful voice, great bones, and big blue eyes. The director was betting on the chemistry between Amy and whoever would be her Captain (it is Sean McNamara).

But Amy had told them all she only wanted to be a nun, maybe a nun with a line or two, but only a nun.

Cate asked Lutz to turn on his charm and make the call. Husband Leo backed him up with promises of domestic subservience to support his leading lady. When the fates – and your mate – conspire, what's a girl to do?

Now Leo has a problem named Maria. And Telluride gets to applaud its newest star.

DOERS: Amy Van Der Bosch

By Susan Viebrock

Time in Town: 20+ years
 Age/Place of Birth: 43, born in New Jersey
 Marital Status: Happily married to Leo
 Philosophy of Life: It's what you make of it (lemons or lemonade?– your choice!)
 Favorite Books:  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Hour I First Believed
 Favorite Movies:  Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Defending Your Life
 Favorite Music: Depends on my mood, but Steely Dan is a favorite
 Favorite Musicians: Sting, Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald
 Favorite Animals: My lovebird, Mitzi
 My Last Meal Would Be: New York pizza
 Tragic Flaw /If I Could Change One Thing About Myself: I would be more athletically inclined
 Favorite Hangout/Retreat:  My house
A Really Perfect Day: Early summer, sunny, not too hot, a hike, a yoga class, a massage
Most Influenced By: Right now, Eckhart Tolle
Favorite Childhood Memory: Time we spent in the Virgin Islands when my dad worked there
Friends in School Thought I Was: Studious
Growing Up I Wanted To Be:  Happy
If I Could Be Something/Someone Else: A professional organizer (helping people organize their homes, closets, etc.)
Person I'd Like to Meet the Most: Oprah Winfrey
Actor Who Would Play Me:  Don't know. Maybe Jodi Foster?
When I Grow Up I Want to Be: Still happy
I Would Never: Sky dive
What I Can't Bear to Throw Out: An old cardigan that once belonged to my dad
Last Purchase: A plane ticket to see my sister
Greatest Indulgence: Spa treatments
Most Prized Possession: My dad's letters and other writings
Weirdest Artifact Collected: Lovebird eggs
Favorite Word/ Phrase:  "It is what it is"
Least Favorite Word/Phrase: "Sucks"
Fitness Routine:  Walking, yoga, hiking, biking…
Proudest Accomplishment:  My master's degree
Wildest Dream:  Be a backup singer for Steely Dan
Biggest Challenge:  Eating as healthily as I intend to                                                      
Bottom Line: Come see The Sound of Music!!