Calling All Yodelers

The hills are alive at McCarter Theatre, where audience members can dress up and sing along with ‘The Sound of Music.’

By: Susan Van Dongen
   Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. Boys done up like the aforementioned girls in white dresses. Not to mention folks in matching floral lederhosen and more holy sisters in black wimples than you’d find at a national conference of Catholic women.
   These are a few of our favorite things about the Sing-A-Long Sound of Music, which makes its New Jersey debut at McCarter Theatre in Princeton Feb. 1.
   The irreverent interactive show, which began in 1999 with a cult following in London, invites audiences to watch and sing along to a big-screen showing of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1965 musical without fear of being shushed. After all, everyone else will be singing, as well as yelling friendly instructions at Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, the Von Trapp kiddies, nuns and nazis.
   It’s basically a screening of the Technicolor musical with subtitles. Fans are invited to dress up as characters from the movie, lyrics from the songs, even backdrop scenery like a range of alps. Moviegoers also receive an official "fun pack," filled with interactive props such as flash cards to help answer the question "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" In addition, the event will be hosted by Chumley and Carlota, "Philadelphia’s Dizziest Duo," who will lead a vocal warm-up, oversee a costume contest and chime in with sometimes helpful, sometime smart-aleck remarks.
   With lines like "watch out for that booger, Captain" — a tip shouted to Mr. Plummer’s character just before he kisses Ms. Andrews — the former cast members and filmmakers might have been appalled by the concept.
   For Charmian Carr, who played Liesl Von Trapp, it’s just the opposite. She loves the sing-along version.
   "It’s the best way to see the movie and it’s such great fun," she says, speaking by phone from a publicity stop in Texas. "People just go so crazy with the costumes and really get into it, yelling at the screen. It’s like a therapy session. Where else can you go as an adult, sing your heart out, get dressed up and act crazy?"
   When legions of folks come out to hiss at the Baroness and blub along with the Mother Superior, it’s obvious they’re making fun of the movie. But Ms. Carr says there’s a lot of affection in that mockery.
   "It’s a loving tribute," she says. "When I first got involved with it, people would ask ‘Don’t you think its kind of sacrilegious?’ But if the people didn’t love ‘The Sound of Music,’ they wouldn’t bother going, let alone dressing up."
   And do they ever dress up. You’ll see everything from imitations of the 16-going-on-17 snitch Rolf to "lonely goatherds."
   The first time Ms. Carr encountered a Sing-A-Long Sound of Music was in London, where she was promoting her autobiography, Forever Liesl (Penguin Books, 2000). The promoters invited her to introduce the evening, sing a few songs and then stay to judge the costume contest, which at first caught her unaware with its level of sheer bizarreness.
   "Just imagine it and people will wear it," she says. "When I was in Santa Barbara doing a benefit for Santa Barbara Symphony, I thought people would be too sophisticated to come — and I really didn’t think they’d dress up. After all, this is an area where the median price for a house is $620,000. But it was packed."
   As a frequent judge for the costume contest, part of Ms. Carr’s duties involve guessing who is dressed like what. After quite a few Sing-A-Longs, Ms. Carr thought she’d seen everything and no one could fool her.
   "I prided myself on being able to guess the costumes," she says. "But that night in Santa Barbara, this man in his 40s showed up, covered with white polyester pillow filling, big knitting needles stuck around his head and shoulders and a cord of rope around his waist that trailed across the stage.
   "I was really frustrated and finally I just gave up. It turned out that he was supposed to be the line from ‘Maria’ — ‘How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?’ He was the cloud, the rope was how you caught the cloud and the knitting needles were pinning him down. It was remarkable. I’ve seen a lot of brown paper packages tied up with string, but never this."
   Ms. Carr was born in Chicago in 1942 to a creative family. Her father led a big band, her mother was an actress and her uncle conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. With no previous acting or singing experience, she says she never expected to be chosen for The Sound of Music, the only feature film she’s ever made. Forever Liesl describes how the casting agent chose Ms. Carr because her blue eyes captivated the camera. They’d looked at hundreds of other actresses for the Sweet Sixteen role, one of whom showed up for the audition pregnant.
   There’s a lot of other great dish in the book, including the fact that Ms. Carr — who was 21 when she won the part — harbored a huge crush on Mr. Plummer. She goes on to say that the distinguished actor has always turned his nose up at the movie, though.
   "He thought the movie was so sugary," Ms. Carr says. "I’m very much hoping that Chris will come to one of the sing-a-longs, though. He would just love it, and maybe the experience would change his mind."
   Ms. Carr has been the glue holding the "Von Trapp kids" together, throwing reunions and organizing a group trip back to Austria, where much of the film was shot. She’s done some television and a great deal of commercial work, and runs her own interior design business, which includes Michael Jackson and the late Robert Urich as clients. Her favorite job, however, is promoting the Sing-A-Long Sound of Music.
   "I do a lot of benefit screenings and I love emceeing the show," Ms. Carr says. "We give everyone a little bag of props and I’m supposed to explain how they’re used. I love the innuendoes and remarks that come back from the stage, especially when I describe what you’re supposed to do with the little popper. You’re not supposed to have any ‘premature popping,’ you know. You have to wait until the Captain kisses Maria. But you hear poppers going off all the time."
   Film critics such as the late Pauline Kael and Judith Crist soundly panned The Sound of Music when it was first shown. Yet it remains the most successful movie musical in history. Ms. Carr says people obviously love the film and know the songs so well they don’t need subtitles to sing.
   "I think there are a few reasons why ‘The Sound of Music’ remains so popular," she says. "For one thing, it shows a love of family and people want that today. They want to be like that family. Also, there was such a big age range in the cast, so there’s someone for everyone to identify with — from little Gretl to Mother Superior."
   She especially loves watching the audience view the movie for the first time.
   "The ‘Sing-A-Long Sound of Music’ always brings a huge screen, and I’ll hear people gasp at the opening shots in the Alps because the scenery is so beautiful," she says. "That’s one of the wonderful things about the ‘Sing-A-Long Sound of Music’ — there are generations now who haven’t seen it on the big screen."
   Ms. Carr says the best reason to go is to laugh, though.
   "Sometimes I laugh so hard, my cheeks are sore when I get home," she says. "Go and enjoy the evening — it really is like therapy. I always tell people to skip the session with the shrink that week and go see ‘Sing-A-Long’ instead. It’ll probably do more good."
Sing-A-Long Sound of Music plays at McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place, Princeton, Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 2, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20. For information, call (609) 258-2787. On the Web: www.mccarter.org. Charmian Carr on the Web: www.charmiancarr.com