Sandwich is alive with The Sound of Music.

The Indian Valley Theatre will present The Sound of Music today through Oct. 14 and Oct. 19 through Oct. 21. Performances begin 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Director Kristofer Pagoria has been involved with the community theater in Sandwich, Ill., since 1992.

“I auditioned for a show when I was in sixth grade,” Pagoria said. “That was my first ever theater experience, and I’ve been working with them ever since.”

The Sound of Music is a well-known movie, which posed a challenge for the cast and crew of this adaptation.

“The biggest challenge is probably recreating a classic,” Pagoria said. He said a lot of people who come to the performance will have seen the movie, and they will come expecting the movie. He and the rest of the cast and crew want to make the performance their own, but they also want to give audience members what they came for, he said.

Dan Rosier, president of the Indian Valley Theatre Board of Directors, plays Max Detweiler, affectionately known as “Uncle Max,” though the character technically has no relation to the von Trapp children.

“I love working with the kids,” Rosier said. “The kids are unbelievably cute and fun. To see kids who are acting for the first time or coming into their own as actors is really incredible.”

Pagoria also found working with children one of the most enjoyable parts of the production. He said the cast members’ ages range from 6 to 60, and some of those younger actors are appearing on stage for the first time. He said he enjoyed creating a realistic family feeling for the actors playing the von Trapp family.

Working with children presents its own challenges, but Pagoria has plenty of experience. He is the president of the Children’s Community Theatre (CCT) in DeKalb, and he worked with 146 kids when he directed CCT’s production of 101 Dalmatians.

Rosier said he loves working with a community theater.

“The community theater is, you do it because you love it, even though it’s not your full-time job,” Rosier said. “It’s sometimes your second or third job.”

He said tech week, the week before opening night, presented the biggest challenge for him. He said he and other cast members had to sacrifice time with family, sleep and sometimes health to ensure the production is ready for opening night.

“When it’s a community theater, it’s rewarding because it’s for the greater good,” Rosier said.