Exercising the Vocal Chords

I've had several attempts at writing this blog but I'm struggling to describe something that you have to see to believe. Imagine you are in a room with hundreds of nuns, a Nazi, a few goats, boys in lederhosen and girls in white dresses with blue satins sashes all singing Edelweiss as if their lives depended on it. Is this a nightmare that haunts my sleep? No, this is Sing-a-long Sound of Music. The best fun you can have with someone elses clothes on.

I have a dark secret. I love the Sound of Music movie and it's nice to know I'm not alone.  This movie brings out the the closet Maria fans and they are willing to dress up for their night of nights.  Some of the costumes were astounding, particularly one woman who wore a bridal dress.  The dress was so big the ushers had to help her when she moved around.  I hope she didn't use public transport to get home.

This is an interactive show. You don't get to sit back and hum My Favourite Things under you breath while watching Austrian scenery. You're part of the show. As we sat down we were given a bag of tricks to be used during the movie and a quick training session on when to use them (as if we didn't already know!!)

• Flash cards to wave in the air during the song How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria.
• A piece of curtain material to wave around while shouting “behind you!!” at Maria while she worries about the children's lack of play clothes.
• An invitation to the Captains Ball - the social event of the year.
• A plastic flower to wave while singing Edelweiss.
• Streamers for when Maria and the Captain first kiss.

You must also:-

• Hiss when the Baroness appears
• Boo the Nazis
• Go “Ahhhh” every time Gretl speaks
• Bark like a dog when ever Rolf the Telegram Boy appears. (This one makes more sense when you are there) I never liked Rolf. I always thought he was a bit slimy and Liesl could do better.

Most importantly you have to sing.

We sung every Do-Re-Me, yodelled along with the Lonely Goatherd and tries a bit of Latin with the Nuns. The audience was out of key and never in time and it must have sounded brilliant. My voice was a little worse for wear the following day.

We are already planning out costumes for next time. I read about a guy at the San Francisco production who went covered in black balloons. Apparently he was the Lonely Goat Turd.  We have to top this.