The Sound of Music (Creative Commons)

It was amazing to see how many uncomfortable “I think you're crazy” stares I received when I mentioned my plans for the evening.

But the excitement of being able to see one of my most favorite childhood movies in theaters with sing-a-long subtitles could not have sounded any better in the midst of the stress of writing papers and studying for midterms.

I found a friend enthusiastic enough to attend such a theatrical event with me, both of us going with no expectations whatsoever of what we were going to see.

All we knew was that it was something that didn’t involve hard mind work, just two and a half hours of sitting down and eating popcorn.

As we sat down, we counted how many people showed up for the national event only showing twice—once on October 19th and once on October 26th.

The final count of audience members… A grand total of fifteen people!

Not only was seeing the movie in theaters and in brand new high definition screening amazing, but the enthusiastic atmosphere was contagious.

There may have been only fifteen people in the theater, but as small as it was, the audience had a huge love for this film.

I saw a toddler be carried in by his two parents, an older couple come sit right behind us, two college girls, and a few other middle-aged groups.

The diverse audience just proved the versatility of the audiences the movie has reached out to in its years of existence, and it was very heartwarming to see that its effect still has not faded.

Before the movie actually started, a short film was presented called "I’ll Sing Once More: The Sound of Music Today," about exactly what I had noticed just from looking at the theater's audience—the timeless joy and meaning of this movie to people all over the world.

It was an interesting introduction to the movie, and for a moment, I was worried I wouldn’t get to watch the whole entire movie, and a little frustrated I chose to come see it.

But I shouldn’t have doubted that the short film would actually live up to its name and finish after about ten minutes.

Once the sing-a-long began, I thought that my friend and I would be the only ones to sing-a-long, and for a while it seemed it was going to be that way for the entire movie…but we shouldn’t have underestimated our fellow viewers.

When Julie Andrews began dancing around in the film singing “My Favorite Things,” I heard an older man behind me start singing quietly, and slowly heard more voices trickle in around us.

By the time the children in the movie were performing their marionette show, all of us in the audience were yodeling at the top of our lungs to “The Lonely Goatherd,” complete with feet tapping on the ground, clapping along to the rhythm, and I even saw a few audience members pull some dance moves.

Needless to say, there was not a frown in the house. 

Even though these people were strangers, we all shared a common love for "The Sound of Music" — bringing us all into a world where there were no worries and only the love for music, fun and life.

For those two and a half hours, everyone in that audience was able to step out of their current and most likely stressful lives and escape into a world full of happiness and warmth, reminding us of the good times the movie had brought to us previously.

It was obvious that everyone in that theater was a huge "Sound of Music" fan, which made it even more of an experience.

But even if a person hadn’t seen the movie yet, the experience of being with people who love the movie so much will most likely make them love it too. 

With such a relaxed atmosphere, it would have been very difficult not to enjoy the sing-a-long, as cheesy as it sounds.

It was much more worth my time than I ever believed it would be and a great break from the current stressors of life.

I left light-hearted and ready to take on the rest of the week, hoping to make it back for next week’s showing.

This is something not to be missed and let’s be honest here, who doesn’t want the chance to dance freely across beautiful rolling hills and sing at the top of their lungs?

Reach Natalie Tkalcevic here.
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