sound of music singalong

I have to wonder whether any of the original actors in the Sound of Music have ever attended a Sound of Music Singalong. Would they be horrified? Amused? I attended my first last night, and found it highly entertaining.

My friend Craig had enjoyed the show so much last year that he decided to organize another outing this year. Some of us (Craig, Luisa, Doug, Doug's parents) had dinner at a restaurant beside the Eglinton theatre beforehand.

I hadn't been inspired enough to come up with a costume, but at the last minute remembered the dried flower headpiece that Paul Kwinn had given me ages ago (he gave one to Allison, Jodi and me). It has ribbons down the back, and I figured I could try passing it off as a sort of Austrian headdress, medieval-style. :-) Also put my hair in pigtails. Lame, I know.

Luisa's outfit was great...a very Sound of Music-ish flowered dress with sensible shoes and a handkerchief tying back her hair.





We were disappointed by the lack of costumes in the theatre audience. Craig says there were a lot more last year, but perhaps the Sound of Music enthusiasm is waning somewhat now. My favourite costume was a guy who had stuffed what looked like kleenex or cotton balls under his glasses to represent the "snowflakes that fall on my nose and my lashes" line in My Favorite Things. :-)

Before the performance, we all got our prop bags (see photo below) and got coaching from a perky woman in a nun's costume on stage on what to say and what to do. Whenever we saw or heard the word "hill", for example, we were encouraged to all hold up our hands like Julie Andrews when she ecstatically sang the opening song. We hissed at the baronness, booed the Nazi's, "awwwed" at Gretl. I don't want to go into too much detail about the props to avoid ruining the experience for others who go to see this show.

And of course we all sang along with all the songs; there were even subtitles provided for those who didn't know all the words. It was a bizarre but wonderful experience, sitting in the middle of an audience all waving their sprigs of plastic flowers and singing "Edelweiss" along with Captain von Trapp.

In order to fully enjoy the experience, you really have to throw yourself into the silliness. We certainly did. :-)





I was curious about what happened to all the Von Trapp kids (the actors, I mean), so did a bit of snooping through IMDB when I got home. Here's what I found out:

Charmian Farnon (Liesl) didn't seem to do much in Hollywood or tv after the Sound of Music. Charmian now runs her own interior design business in Encino, California, with a client list that includes Michael Jackson (who apprently hired her in part because he liked Liesl).

Heather Menzies (Louisa) did work in a number of not-that-memorable movie and tv pieces, including the short-lived television series, "Logan's Run". She gave up acting to become a fulltime mother. Her husband is Robert Urich.

Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) has been Spiderman (tv series), soap operas, "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles", quite a few others. He's now a stage actor in Australia.

Duane Chase (Kurt) didn't seem to do much in Hollywood or tv after the Sound of Music. These days he lives in Washing State, testing computer software for oil and mining companies

Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) joined the tv cast of "Lost In Space" and continued to act in films. She started a gift shop called Rubber Boots with her husband which she still runs in Toluca Lake, CA.

Debbie Turner (Marta) was a rental agent in "The Firm", a party guest in "North Dallas Forty", but not much else. She now lives in Minnesota with her husband and four children.

Kym Karath (Gretl) did a few non-memorable movies, but also appeared in tv series like "Archie Bunker", "The Waltons", "The Brady Bunch", "Lost in Space", "Lassie", "My Three Sons", and "Family Affair". She had a regular spot in "All My Children" for a while.

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Today's Blatherpic:

	Me and Craig in a restaurant beside the Eglinton theatre.
	From left to right: Luisa, Doug, Doug's dad, Doug's mom, Craig.
	Sound of Music Singalong props.
	Me and Luisa in the lobby of the Eglinton theatre.