“The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook”
By Fred Bronson; Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 95 pages
I can still remember the first record album I bought with my own money: the soundtrack from “The Sound of Music.” It was the 1970s, and owning that record thrilled me to no end.
I watched the movie several times on television (if I remember correctly, there was usually a special broadcast right around the holidays), but a yearly viewing just wasn’t enough to satisfy me. Since I didn’t get to see it very often (remember, those were the days before videocassettes and DVDs), playing the soundtrack on my portable record player — over and over again — allowed me to enjoy the film’s wonderful Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein soundtrack any time I wanted.
Now, of course, I can watch “The Sound of Music” any time I please, thanks to my DVD player. In fact, I watched it not long ago, and even to this day, I can’t help but sing along with Julie Andrews and the rest of the von Trapp gang. The songs are burned into my head — so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if the lyrics were visible on a CAT scan of my brain. “Mrs. Johnston,” the neurologist would say, “Your brain is fine. But you do have a bad case of ‘Do-Re-Mi’ stuck in your head.”
Having a “Sound of Music” brain isn’t such a bad thing, I’ve decided, so when a new library book about the film crossed my path, I clicked my heels together (just in my head, of course). Filled with never-before-seen personal photographs and memorabilia from the actors who played the von Trapp children, as well as charming stories and even a DVD of the actors’ home movies, I found “The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook” an enchanting read.
