2022 Company Member Penny Hodson Now in International Broadway Tour
By Liz Armstrong
Penny Hodson was a part of the vibrant cast of The Sound of Music last season, playing the beloved Marta, one of the Von Trapp children. We excitedly congratulate Hodson on her new role as a swing in the International Tour of The Sound of Music, presented by Broadway Asia Group.
Presenting one of the most beloved musicals of all time, there will be multi-week stops throughout the Philippines, India, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with additional countries to be announced.
“It’s such a heartwarming story. Everyone who sees it leaves feeling inspired,” Hodson said. “Maria saw the best in the Captain [von Trapp], giving him space to change, and I think doing this with others in my life is important too.”
From Salt Lake City, Utah, Hodson is twelve years old and has done theater for two years. She has been taking singing lessons for a year and a half and started dance lessons recently with the dance captain on tour.
She’s also been in A Christmas Carol with Hale Center Theatre, and Matilda and Shrek with other arts groups in the Salt Lake area. Her future goals include going on a national tour and being in a show on the West End.
Hodson’s Journey Into Acting
Hodson honestly admitted that her first audition was one she didn’t necessarily want to do.
“My mom looked in the newspaper and saw an audition for Matilda and encouraged me to do it,” Hodson said. “I was really shy, but ended up doing it. I just wanted to be in the show, but was cast as Matilda!”
Hodson is always coming up with songs and dances with her little sister, and creating performances of Taylor Swift. Looking back, her mother says, “How did we not know you were a performer?”
How the Festival Changed Her
Hodson loves the songs in The Sound of Music, and enjoys that all of the Von Trapp kids are so different, with unique personalities. She also noted that the Festival prepared her immensely for the international tour.
“I went into that production not knowing how to hold my own in a different harmony line,” Hodson said. “Learning lines and singing melody came a lot easier for me, but I really had to work at learning harmony.”
Hodson realized that practice really makes a difference, and she ended the season realizing that she loved singing harmony.
Because the production at the Festival was her first show where she was really integrated with an adult cast, Hodson learned how to be professional not only around kids, but with adults.
In addition to growing as a performer during her season at the Festival, Hodson grew as an individual.
“Because we lived in Salt Lake, I had to learn how to live away from my family and commute,” Hodson said. “I think this helped me prepare for living abroad away from my friends and family.”
The Festival enjoyed having Hodson in the 2022 production of The Sound of Music, and we wish her the best of luck with her international Broadway tour of the same show.
“I was found by a New York casting agency because of the Festival,” Hodson said. “I’m just so grateful for the opportunity.”
For more information on the international tour, click here.
Also, don’t miss out on our 2023 season, running from June 21 to October 7. The lineup includes Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, A Raisin in the Sun, The Play That Goes Wrong, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus, as well as all the experiences surrounding the plays, such as The Greenshow, seminars, orientations, and backstage tours. Tickets and information are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting bard.org.
