Before we start there’s something you should know, I’ve been watching The Sound of Music since I was 5, I can recite every line, sing every song and for a large portion of my childhood I wanted to be a nun. With all this in mind I went to the Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music at Sydney’s State Theatre on a Friday night.
As with previous years (that’s right, this was not my first time – now you know all my secrets) getting dressed up is half the fun, for most people. There’s always a certain number of nuns, people wearing clothes made out of ‘drapes’ and a rather large smattering of Baroness Schräder’s, new to this year’s costume competition was a group of blueberries contaminated with hepatitis A (for all those unfamiliar with the film there is a scene in which the von Trapp children claim they have been out all day picking blueberries.) The costume competition (if it can really be called that) is based on applause from the crowd and drags on for an hour.
Given the film itself is three hours and then there’s intermission, be prepared for a long evening. This popularity contest is perhaps my least favourite part of the evening, given there are no guidelines, any person even remotely in “costume” is allowed their 15 seconds of fame. Times that by 300 and you’ve got plenty of time to hit the bar before the film starts.
Once the film does start spirits are high, singing is bad and the sarcastic comments are free flowing. There is no doubt as to the fun-factor of a sing-a-long but if you attend hopping to actually hear the film you will be in for disappointment. Having watched this film religiously (pun intended) as a child there are certain aspects that only make themselves apparent as an adult, and I’m not just talking about the Nazi’s. Given it was made in 1965 but set in the late 1930s I was struck by how authentic the scenery was and the attention to detail with the street scenes.
I also wasn’t aware of the feminist undertones in the character of Maria. Given it is set in a period where women were still reliant on men, she speaks her mind freely, even going so far as to yell at Captain von Trapp about his neglect of his own children. She does not need a man for wealth or happiness (after all she wants to be a nun) and what’s more she doesn’t want one, that is, until the second half of the film.
Perhaps even more unsettling than the transformation of Rolf from a naïve telegram delivery boy to a Hitler youth, is Maria’s transformation once she returns from her honeymoon. The Captain does not want his children to perform at a public concert, Maria implores him why not just this one time, he flatly refuses to consider it and she shrugs – ok. Subject closed. The next thing you know she is joined in song by the eldest von Trapp, Liesl, and sings the line ‘Lo and behold, you’re someone’s wife. And you belong to him’. I’d rather hear about dog bites and bee stings.
For any die-hard Sound of Music fan the Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music is a rite of passage. For everyone else it’s four hours of your life you’ll never get back.
Article by Naomi Gall
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