The Sound of "Our" Music

It's the month of the Mardi Gras in Sydney and it's time for some ol' gay time, and what better way to celebrate in the myriad of events than a sing-a-long session of my favourite movie "The Sound of Music".

People who know me are usually startled that I list "The Sound of Music" as my No. 1 fave of all time. The choice is totally sentimental because there are things that you do when you are a child that you end up loving or being scarred for life. This experience turned out positively for me. I remember when I was young and my mother, who is Chinese educated, would usually bring us along to the Chinese romantic movies in the cinema, because she couldn't understand enough English to enjoy the Hollywood movies. She would have to rely heavily on the Chinese subtitles, which would somehow mar the experience of escapism for her. So, if she had a choice, musicals would be her favourite. My father, who was English educated, on the other hand, would treat us to the other spectrum of movies, and since he abhorred romantic movies, the ones that we would watch would be the mainstream disaster movies that were so popular in the late 70s - 80s.

One unanimous choice between them though was "The Sound of Music". I remember being cramped in the crowds at Odeon cinema at Bras Brasah (which is now owned by MacDonalds), waiting to enter the cinema to watch this movie that would affect me forever. Watching it yesterday again for the umpteenth time (at least 20 or more), I realised that the love affair is an enduring one, not only for me, but for many people around the world. As a child and an adult, I find myself attracted to different roles in the movie and there is a bit of something for everyone ... love, music, suspense, fun ... you name it, it's right there. There is rarely a movie that is so loved and condemned at the same time, which manages to delight people for all ages. 10 or more years ago, I read a newspaper article that a woman in her 60s holds the record for watching "The Sound of Music" 94 times in the cinema. Today, when we can easily obtain most popular releases on DVD, there is no need for them to re-release them in the cinema but the cinematic experience is not replicable on the small screen which was why the rights were not sold to TV networks till the 90s. I also don't think there is any other movie that has enjoyed successful revivals in the cinemas in the 70s and 80s.

When we realised that Sydney was bringing "Sing-a-long Sound of Music" back to the State Theatre, I knew we had to be there. What I didn't realise was that about 2000 or so people thought so too. It was packed and there was so much positive buzz. The movie allowed the inner child of everyone to emerge for 3 hours where we all sang along in mass Karaoke style along to all the tunes in the movie. Before it commenced, there was an emcee who would guide everyone on what to do when we see certain characters in the movie. For example, we would raise our hands and cheer when we see Maria, wolf whistle and cheer when we see Captain Von-Trapp (one member in the audience would time it perfectly with his camp long drawl of "Ohhh ... he's so gorrrgggeeeooouuussss" to rapturous laughter from everyone in the cinema), bark when we see Ralf, boo when we see the Nazis, hiss when we see the Baroness (with the occasional catty snarl) and sigh when we see Gretel.



We were also given gift bags (photos will be uploaded later) where we could wave our small sprig of edelweiss in the air when the Captain sings the beautiful theme, pop the party popper when the Captain and Maria kisses for the first time, an invitation to the ball which we would all wave when they suggest it and then again to the waltz, and a piece of curtain fabric which we will all scream "Behind you, Maria. The curtains behind you" when she is fretting about not having any play clothes for the children, which would make her look pretty silly because she thought she was the first to think of that idea! There was also a fashion show, yes, you are right ... they are mad, but it's so nice to see everyone not give a cat's ass about what others think.

There were many children in the audience who were dressed up as the children in sailor clothes, white dresses with blue satin sashes, bread and jam or Gretel. The adults were more innovative, starting with a big group of nuns, real and fake. The winners of the nun group were a group who wore S&M style habits and when they lifted up their skirts in front held with chains, it showed a sign that said "Anal Warts". Not child fanfare but fun nonetheless. Then we had a team who had each had a sign that said "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Tea-Do", so that when they all stand together they form the alphabet of music. There were also masses of goatherds, Baronesses, Marias and brown paper packages etc. The winners which was split into 2 groups because of the size was a group of lonely goatherd and two interesting women. One of them wore an Austrian dress, and said "I was just coming home from work and decided to pop in" to explosive laughter from everyone in the audience. No one would wear that dress anywhere let alone to work! Ha! Ha! The other one was a Maria wannabe from the start. Dressed in exactly the same "most awful clothes" when Maria first left the abbey with a suitcase and guitar, she was totally in character, and while she was making her way to her seat on the front row, she skipped up and down the aisle to the delight of everyone, especially yours truly. She also performed it once again on stage to gather audience support for her. It really marked the beginning of something special.

There were only a few people in the audience who had never watched it before (they are probably from Mars - yes ... Men!) and were teased lightly. The rest of us had watched it so many times we could practically memorise most lines. Still, it was very refreshing because for once, there was mass audience participation, and only this once, you wouldn't mind. It was hilarious and put the movie in a totally different light, updated for the noughties!!! The sparkling moments include:

(1) When Maria walked out the abbey, the woman who was dressed in identical fashion stood up and did her dance routine. Encouraged by loud laughter and applause, she walked onto the stage in the dark and skipped along with Maria. She was tactical enough not to block anyone and she even throw her hat at the point when Maria and Captain kissed in the dark. An usher moved to the front in an attempt to get off the stage but the audience booed at him and he left! Priceless.

(2) When Maria walks into the mansion for the first time startled and walks around wide eyed, a man in the audience shouted "Now, don't touch anything." "Break it and you buy it."

(3) When Ralf and Liesel meet each other, two potentially idiotic audience members used their red-light pointers (like those sniper lights) to focus on their groins and breasts. It's terribly funny because it turned a romantic and innocent scene into something totally erotic.

(4) When Liesel replies "How else can we get Daddy's attention?" when Maria says she can't imagine them beautiful kids doing anything nasty, someone (probably the same guy) shouted "Get pregnant!"
(5) After the Captain and Maria kiss and all the poppers have been popped by the audience, a guy shouted "Give her your whistle."

(6) The priceless climatic scene where the Mother Superior swears on screen, upgrading this film from a G or PG rating to M. She says to Maria when she comes back to the Abbey after she realises she has fallen in love, "What is it you can't face?". Now, it's not funny but try putting a comma in the sentence between you and can't and you will get the joke.

(7) When the lady who wins the third prize in the singing contest could stop bowing to the audience, everyone in the audience is encouraged to stand up and bow together with her in all directions.

(8) When the torch lights start screening where the Von Trapps were hiding behind the tombstones, the ushers flashed their torches in the auditorium as well to add onto the suspense.

There are many more but these are the main ones that I remember. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching a movie with so many people. Usually, movie watching are silent affairs but this is an experience that is both camp and hilarious! You might think that it was catered for the gay and lesbian audience but I would say 80% of the crowd is heterosexual with ages ranging from 4 to 90 and I think it would have gotten more filthy if it was an "adults only" audience.

According to this site, ["Sing-A-Long Sound of Music" first emerged at the 1988 London Gay and Lesbian Film festival after an event organizer heard that staff at a retirement home in the Scottish town of Inverness had distributed song sheets during a video showing of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) for sing-along participation. The film was screened at the festival as a sing-along and proved wildly successful.]

It is strongly recommended because it is pure delightful escapism. For more than 2000 people last night at the State Theatre, we were all transformed into children once again, all hearts touched once again by the simple sounds of music.