'Music' in Prospect Park
posted on july 30, 2005, tags: entertainment, me, new york
Before tonight, I had never seen The Sound of Music. I am not a fan of musicals. In fact, one might say I have an outright hated for them. I've gone on wild, hour-long rampages before, yelling about how the very idea of a musical angers me. So when Katia told me she wanted to see one of her favorite movies, The Sound of Music in Prospect Park, I wasn't thrilled at the idea.
But, as it turns out, I could not have enjoyed it more. There's something about seeing a movie with 200 other people who all love it. I mean, they love that movie. People cheered when songs started, when something good happened, and they booed and hissed—hissed—at the nazis. There was an energy in the air, something that made my hatred for musicals melt away instantly. After the aerial shots of Salzburg, just as Julie Andrews is visible for the first time and just before she begins to belt out the title song, the audience began to cheer and scream and clap. It was crazy. I've never witnessed such excitement and love for any movie, let alone a musical from the 60s.
I'm glad I hadn't seen the movie before tonight. It was such a great experience to be surrounded by so many fans the first time.
Comments
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Nolan Winthrop on 07/30/2005:
I'm glad to hear that you conquered your dislike of that movie. The Sound of Music was a very happy memory from my childhood, particularly as I grew up in quite a musical family: my father is a classical music and musicals buff, two aunts are musicians, and a music tutor was found for my sister and me as early as practiceable.
Musicals were relaxing: unlike the complex classical pieces I was required to prepare for examinations, they were lively and free tunes that I played for pleasure, without having to worry if my staccato was not nearly as precise as required by the examiner, or if I had not, indeed, achieved a proper fortissimo.
I remember booing the Nazis as well, although it was a far smaller audience (just a few family members) gathered around an old television hooked up to a VHS player.