A gay man was holding court at the center of an auditorium in a Times Square theater three weeks ago. “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” he yelled. “Whips! How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? Chains!”
A family sitting in front of him asked, “Have you been to this before?”
“No,” he said. “I’ve been in one too many piano bars.”
The theater hadn’t even started the special press screening of Sing-a-long Sound of Music, that audience-participation sensation that has lured crowds in London for more than a year, and already, viewers were practicing their ad-libs.
The premise of Sing-a-long is this: A theater shows the classic 1965 musical Sound of Music, with subtitles for the songs. Audience members are encouraged to come dressed as the characters, sing along, and shout out humorous comments. It’s like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but with nuns and Austrian scenery.
There are some conventions to which audience members adhere. They cheer for star Julie Andrews, boo the Nazis, “Awww” when little Gretl appears, hiss at the Baroness and bark “Rolf! Rolf” when Rolf appears. They detonate their free party poppers when Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer finally kiss. There is a costume competition before the show.
Hold on, naysayers!
Before I go on, I must say a word to those who claim to find the film treacly: If you haven’t seen it since you were five, you may have missed the dry humor, the great writing and slowly-developing romance. Critics be damned! This is a movie that has everything a filmgoer could want: great music, adventure, humor, and Nazis getting what’s coming to them. (The scene with the nuns and the car parts is brilliant.)
The film, for those who don’t know, concerns a young nun-to-be named Maria who can’t stop singing. The abbey sends her to be a governess for a sea captain’s seven children. The captain begins to fall in love with Maria, even though he’s engaged to be engaged to a wealthy baroness. Once that all gets worked out, the Nazis tell the captain he must serve in their Navy. What to do?
Critics sometimes pick apart the Oscar-winning film, but audiences love it. And two weeks ago Tuesday, they loved to chime right in.
When Mother Superior told Maria she’d have to leave the abbey to serve as a governess, someone yelled, “Is that your final answer?”
When 16-year-old Liesl darted out of the house to see Rolf, they jeered, “Slut!”
When Maria took out her guitar, someone called, “Play Freebird!”
When Maria told the children that she likes to sing about her favorite things, someone yelled, “Prozac!” (OK, so that was me.)
When the captain was thinking of songs to play, someone shouted, “Brittney Spears!”
And certain lines spoken in the movie took on a whole new meaning. At one point, the Baroness bragged to the captain, “I do give some rather gay parties.” Applause erupted from certain pockets of the audience. “I knew I liked her,” said a nasal voice behind me.
There was much camaraderie in an audience who had to love the Sound of Music in order to make fun of it. We sang, we clapped, we raced to the bathroom at intermission.
On the bus back to Hoboken, I saw three of the men who had entered the costume competition. I couldn’t remember whether they had been the nuns or the brown paper packages tied up with strings. But don’t worry, fellas; I won’t tell anyone where you live.
Sing-a-long Sound of Music premiered Thursday, Sept. 7 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students. The show runs 3.5 hours. Call (212) 239-6200 or check www.singalonga.com for more information. Please take Caren along so she can stop singing in the office.