I sat snuggled on the couch with Gleek and Patch on either side while Maria twirled on the screen singing about the hills. My eyes filled with tears as my ears filled with the familiar tunes. Some movies only get better with age. We watched the whole film together. Kiki and Link watched too. I saw the film anew through the eyes of my children. I watched Maria dance and play on the screen and realized that I’ve done far too little playing lately. I heard the nuns singing about the problems with Maria and I glanced over at Gleek, who is perfectly described by the song as well. I leaned over and whispered to the kids about Germany and Austria and what “Anschluss” meant. After the movie was over we all sat around and discussed what parts of the movie were true and which were made up. We talked about Hitler, and Nazis, and why they were bad. The next day Kiki watched the movie again on my mini player. She was drawn to the songs, wanting to learn them so that she could sing them. For me the songs tapped into a well of memory. I sang them over and over again during my childhood years. I sang them with my sisters in harmony. I sang them to our pet duck, who was a surprisingly attentive music audience. I sang them on swings and in parks. Now I want to sing them all again. I want to take all the kids on a picnic and run around laughing and singing. After some thought I realized it is not merely the music that draws me, it is the joy. Despite taking place in dark times, The Sound of Music is a joyful film. The joy is what I long to have, whether or not it is accompanied by singing. I can consciously create that joy by loving my life for the good in it no matter what other circumstances there may be.
The movie had to go back to Netflix. This is all right. I can rent it again sometime. The memories it brought back and the new memories made, I get to keep forever.
If you get a chance, see it live. Even a local community performance.
It’s really fun.
Oh dear. I’m now picturing Gleek (who believes music is always a participatory event) running onto the stage to sing and dance with the cast. I’d love to see it performed live, but I may leave Gleek at home until she’s a little older.
Heck, she’s old enough, get her a part.
You should take her to a showing of something at Provo’s Center Street Theater. It’s a community dinner theater, not necessarily the highest quality, but very enjoyable, and it’s very kid-friendly. Quite often, there are actually parts where they’ll invite children of her age (and personality!) onto the stage for a section. I’m not sure if they have a production of the The Sound of Music any time soon, but you should definitely check out their lineup. It sounds like something that would be a fun outing for just the two of you.
That’s an excellent suggestion. I’ll have to look into that.
I’ll have to look into this. It sounds like it would be a great activity for us.