I like to watch movies during Christmas month of December. Apart from the usual movies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, “While You’re Sleeping”, one of my most favorite movies for the holidays viewing is “the Sound of Music”. I had “the Sounds of Music” in both tape and DVD, but due to their popularity, both changed hands and gave to one of my family members, and I can’t recall who. So I was glad when there was a remake of the musical on TV, starred Carrie Underwood. Although most of my friends had harsh critiques on her performance as Maria, I was just happy to hear the music again, and did not compare the production with the original “Sound of Music”, the movie, which won Academy Award, and starred Julie Andrew. The movie just brings more good memories from my high school year as an Exchange student in the US.
After the initial
time of adjustments to culture shock in America, I was introduced to a musical
production based on my favorite movie, the Sound of Music!! Kenwood High School, where I attended
for one year staged a musical production, with members of the school choir, the
Thespians Club, and the school band participating. My American host sister was one of the stage lighting
crewmembers, and her boy friend at the time played Ralph, the seventeen
year-old boyfriend of Liesl, the oldest girl of Captain Von Trapp. I was cast as a nun singing with the
chorus the Morning Hymn and Alleluiah, and the wedding march chorus. Just for fun, I was almost assigned a
role of the nun that sang “A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A
clown”!! Since I had not
perfected my regular English speaking just yet, I had to decline the fun
challenge, and stick to the regular beautiful chorus songs like Morning Hymn,
and Alleluiah! I sang first
soprano then, but would not attempt that nowadays, since my voice now is
several keys lower. “Climb Every
Mountain” may suit me better now. :)
It was an exciting and fun experience that I have treasured. These are the words I
wrote in the Year Book in which I was given a page of the AFS Exchange Program
section: “..The picture of the cast and the stage crew, some yelling, some
crying with delight in the success of the play is still staying in my mind and
it is so clear that I think it is the event of yesterday.”
When I watched the
remake of the Sound of Music, starred Carrie Underwood, it brought back the delightful
memories of the good time.
Memories are strange things, at the same time as good memories came;
another kind of scene from my memories came back to me--a visit to Austria, beautiful
place, which was the backdrop of story of Maria, Captain Von Trapp, and
family. In the year I went to
Europe to attend a post-graduate diploma program, we had a chance to travel on
the Euro train to several countries after the study and before I came back to work in Thailand. One of the countries that we visited
was Austria, where we visited beautiful Schoenbrunn Palace, where Mozart used
to perform for the royalties and honorable guests in 1772.
The trip was supposed to be a happy trip, when my then husband re-united
with me after 6 months apart while I studied abroad, and he was back at
home. Receiving some hurtful words
and bad news in the course of the conversations during the European trip, I
knew that life storms were brewing beneath the calm and beautiful palace and
the hills of the Sound of Music…
With good and bad
memories that emerged once again from this show, I chose to stay with the good
and beautiful memories, and like the song, I simply remember My Favorite Things,
and then I don’t feel so bad!
Enjoy your holidays every
one!!
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