THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF...ER...THE AUDIENCE

Sing-a-long-a Sound of Music

Playhouse Sat 22^nd 2008

by Karen Combe

SquareOne Entertainment

"Some of you have popped your poppers too early". Even at a night out with extreme double cheese credentials, there are rules to follow. The warm-up chap was imparting a few of the night's ground rules to the motley audience of hundreds of nuns (many of them bearded and pregnant), a couple of mountains and plenty of brown paper packages tied up with string. Naturally, all of them had gathered to worship at the altar of The Sound of Music, complete with karaoke style lyric subtitles.

The poppers were in the 'sing-a-long-a-production' fun bags (not suitable for children under 36 months according to the accompanying rule sheet, unlike the event itself.) A sing-a-long-a virgin has to abandon the usual social etiquette associated with being part of a theatre audience. Anything goes here. The audience can chat, get drunk, heckle (Baroness Schraeder), jeer (the Nazis) upstage Andrews and Plummer and generally participate, participate, participate.

So it's essential to know what to do with the stuff in the bag: the square of patterned fabric for instance, must be waved during the scene when Maria is thoughtfully contemplating running up the cute play clothes from the curtains, and the sprig of Edelweiss….you can imagine. Hard core sing-a-long-a fans bring their own whistles to accompany Captain Von Trappe's judicious whistle blowing habits and of course torches to shine treacherously at the screen, to help the Nazis winkle out the Von Trappe's, hidden in the darkness of the Abbey.

But before the 42 year old reel was cranked up, Toblerones were on offer for best costumes worn by the shy audience who paraded on stage. Most of My favourite Things were represented in the shape of whiskers on kittens, girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes and even "when a bee stings and I'm feeling sad!" Sister Margaretta in a bright blue habit, (geddit) won the top prize of a bottle of bubbly, possibly robbing the McVon Trapp family boys in cute tartan play clothes taking the phrase 'put a kilt on it' to a whole new level!

It's the opening scene at last, cinematography at its best. Shot from a helicopter, the spectacular beauty of Austrian snow topped mountains, wild flowers, blue skies and the sound of …Julie, Julie, Julie followed by wild cheers from the excited audience with nuns jumping out of their seats as she appears, cantering joyously up the hill complete with iconic carpet bag and apron. And that marked the start of a top night: a raucous romp through the music of Rogers and Hammerstein only interrupted by the intermission and the bizarre sight of fifty nuns waiting in line for the loo.