The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies. Although we own a copy, it's always exciting when a network broadcasts the film during a holiday weekend. Old school.

I loved the movie before it morphed into the cultish subject of Rocky-Horror style sing-alongs. I fell for the film from the moment I saw it at the movie theatre, in 1965. The Sound of Music combined plot elements that drew me in easily: nuns, Nazis, World War II, romance, refugees, a wicked baroness, and, of course, Julie Andrew, the star of Mary Poppins.

My Best Friend and I staged a backyard production of the movie for the neighborhood. She played Captain von Trapp, and I was Maria. We sang the songs and ran around the Weeping Willows in the yard as though we were in the Alps. As our staging inched toward the five-hour mark, my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, pulled the curtain on our play.

When my Parents and I traveled to the German-speaking countries, our itinerary including a mandatory stop in Salzburg for a "Sound of Music Tour."

Today, I still remember the lyrics of many songs from the film. The other day, someone mentioned Christopher Plummer. A coworker and I burst into "Somewhere in My Youth" without hesitation.

I think the Ländler scene—in which the Captain leads a startled Maria through the steps on the traditional Austrian folk dance—remains one of the most touching moments captured on film.

Suburban Chicago, 1965. I engage in a "Maria moment" at my play table.