Later this week, the hill Oxford High School sits atop will be alive with “The Sound of Music” as student actors bring the famous musical to the stage March 21-24.

Following the von Trapps through a journey of finding family, bravery and music, “The Sound of Music” follows Maria as she goes from being a nun in an abbey to a nanny teaching seven children and their callous father about the power of music. Along the way, they find a new bond and the courage to stand up to the growing power of Nazi Germany.

The importance of family has stood out as the major theme to the cast, and they think the audience will walk away seeing that family can triumph over anything.

“It’s a really good story about family because Maria finds her true family and the captain (Georg von Trapp) realizes his love for his family,” said Larissa Hollingsworth, a junior portraying Maria. “It shows the importance of a family commitment.”

The students have found a family in their large cast, which includes 24 actors and a slew of extras.

“There’s so many new people in the cast,” Hollingsworth said. “So many people are new and you can just tell that the veterans welcomed everyone with open arms.”

“It is, without a doubt, the nicest cast I’ve ever worked with in my 21 years,” added Krista Price, the show’s director. “I mean, I’ve worked with some really nice casts, but the level of care they have for each other is one of the best things that I’ve observed.”

To portray the young von Trapp children, elementary and middle school students have jumped into the production. Price said it’s been a joy to have some younger Wildcats on stage with her high school cast and crew.

“Kids are the easiest to direct because playing just comes naturally to them,” she said.

From all of those actors, the audience will get to hear a variety of Oxford’s finest voices.

“I think that there is the love of music built into the show and that really comes out strongly,” Price said. “This is definitely a cast of beautiful voices. People will walk away going ‘Woah, the vocal program at Oxford is great’ because it is beautiful vocally.”

As the audience sits to enjoy the show, they’ll watch the family, who acts out the bravery of the real-life von Trapp family, show that it’s important to stand up for what’s right.

“The morality of your decisions has an impact,” said Finn Murray, a junior portraying Max Detweiler. “A lot of the time throughout the show, there’s a lot of influence from outside characters like myself, Max, and Elsa try to push the captain to not be worried about the Nazis and just pretend to work with them because it would be easier for him to function as a person. But, he wants to stick to his morals.”

Even though people familiar with the story know it has a happy ending, Price thinks it’s important to remember what the von Trapps went through as the Nazis tightened their grip on Europe. The real family was able to flee the continent and come to the United States a year before World War II began.

“We know how the story ends, but they didn’t back then and they had to make a really tough choice to walk away from their family’s estate and all of their connections,” she said.

But, it’s not all serious. Full of fun songs like “My Favorite Things” and “Do Re Mi”, there’s plenty of smiles to be had around the sometimes serious subject matter. Murray enjoys that he got to be part of some of the fun.

“I really enjoy Max’s scenes as a character,” he said. “He brings a lot of fun to the show and is a very whimsical character. He’s very loud and very out there with the way he dresses, the way he talks and the way he acts. He brings, not a positivity, but a sort of humor and enjoyment to a somewhat serious piece.”

As for Hollingsworth, she’s happy to be playing one of Broadway’s best known characters who pushed her to challenge herself.

“She’s very outspoken and blunt and that’s something I’ve had to work on… It’s been an honor and challenge. I’ve loved it so much,” she said.

Everyone involved in the musical is looking forward to presenting this timeless classic to the community after a 10-year absence from the Oxford stage.

“It’s a fun show,” Murray said. “There’s good songs, good pieces and all of the characters are really enjoyable.”

Playing a variety of times between March 21 and 24, tickets can be purchased online or at the OHS Performing Arts Center’s box office.

The box office is open Monday-Friday from 3-4 p.m. and 6-7 p.m. Tickets can also be bought one hour before each show.