What's that sound?

When I think of Christmas musicals - I don't often think of musicals that actually happen during Christmas. What I do think of is The Sound of Music. I think that's because like most Americans, after Christmas presents have been opened and faces have been stuffed with food - I watch TV with my family and there is usually some station playing a 24 hour rotation of The Sound of Music. And because I love a soft focus and truly believe that Julie's voice is sent straight from heaven - I can't help but watch. It's one of the first musicals I can remember watching with both of my grandmothers - they both instilled a great love of Julie Andrews in me.

I learned a lot of things in preparation for this week's post so let's listicle this a la Buzzfeed.

10 things that Natalie has learned about or finds really interesting about The Sound of Music:

1. It was the last of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musicals. (source: Mental Floss)
It opened on Broadway in 1959 and Hammerstein died in 1960. What a great ending to a partnership that brought about some of the most beloved musicals. Fun side note:  Mary Martin - the original Broadway Maria was 46 when she originated the role!

2. When it came time to make a movie of the Broadway show, there were a couple of actresses being considered for the role of Maria - Grace Kelly, Shirley Jones and Julie Andrews. (source: Hirsch) But two years before the movie was made - Julie and Carol Burnett decided to have a little fun. The clip below is brilliant - make sure to watch the whole thing.



The thing that clinched the role for Julie (since the producers somehow thought that she wouldn't look very good on film???) was an early viewing of Mary Poppins footage. Way to come through, Mary!

3. Christopher Plummer hated the movie (he called it The Sound of Mucus (source: Mental Floss)), but according to this really great Vanity Fair article about the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music movie he has sort of changed his tune:

“As cynical as I always was about The Sound of Music,” Plummer said, “I do respect that it is a bit of relief from all the gunfire and car chases you see these days. It’s sort of wonderfully, old-fashionedly universal. It’s got the bad guys and the Alps; it’s got Julie and sentiment in bucketloads. Our director, dear old Bob Wise, did keep it from falling over the edge into a sea of treacle. Nice man. God, what a gent. There are very few of those around anymore in our business.”

I always had a crush on Captain Von Trapp and I was really bummed to hear that Christopher Plummer didn't like the movie. Glad to hear you've changed your mind, Cap.

4. As I've been listening to the soundtrack all week of my life, I keep coming back to "Do-Re-Mi." First of all, it's really fun to sing because there are so many parts happening all at once, but most importantly - what a clever way to explain singing! As someone who spends just about every Sunday trying to get a gaggle of 5 year olds to sing, I would love to sit them down with a guitar (that I can totally play) in clothes I made for them from curtains and just sing this for them. Everyone needs their Maria moment.

5. Friedrich grew six inches during filming. You know how the Von Trapp children were always perfectly lined up by age and height? Well that's because at the beginning of the film, Friedrich is wearing lifts in his shoes and by the end is wearing bare feet and Liesl is on a box. Puberty! (Source: Mental Floss)

6. My very favorite songs from The Sound of Music were written by Rodgers for the film and aren't in the stage musical - "I Have Confidence" and "Something Good." I've always loved how sweet Maria and the Captain are to each other during the scene where they sing "Something Good" and I hope everyone reaches a place in their life where they are looking at the person they love and thinking "I must have done something good."

7. Apparently, the Von Trapps wouldn't have successfully escaped had they climbed the mountain shown in the film. That would've dropped them in Germany quite close to Hitler's Eagle Nest retreat - so kind of the opposite of what they wanted. In real life, they hopped on a train to Italy. Easy peasy, but not quite as dramatic as musicals call for. (Source: Gearin)

8. Christopher Plummer was so into the alcohol and pastries available in Austria while filming that they had to let his costumes out. (Source: Vanity Fair)

9. When I was younger, I always thought I had the chops to be Gretl. I had cheeks for days when I was younger, I looked great in milkmaid braids and I LOVED attention. I would've milked that performance at the party - hoo boy. Look how cute she is!!! (GIF Source from this hilarious article at Bustle. I couldn't agree more.)

10. The scene below was filmed in silhouette because when they were practicing with the overhead lighting, it kept making a fart noise that made Julie laugh. (Source: Vanity Fair) I think it's much more effective and romantic in silhouette anyway - and when he talks about knowing he was in love with her when she sat on the pine cone? So dreamy.



Does anyone else get the itch to watch The Sound of Music around Christmas?