Sometimes we human beings look at problems in strange ways. This was one of the first things I thought of last night as we watched the brilliant touring musical, The Sound of Music.
Of course the story is familiar to just about all of us. Free spirit, Maria, is cast out of her life as a nun because, like so many of us, seen in one way or another, she was different. She didn’t conveniently ‘fit in.’ So the Mother Abess assigned her to several months working as a governess to a family of over-disciplined children, who had apparently chased off one or more prior ‘gover-persons.’
More below.
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When Maria entered the household, she told the children straight out that she had no experience as a governess. In the show, they exchanged conspiratorial looks, as if to say ‘this one would never last,’ would be a piece of cake to treat as they wished. Particularly ominous was the attitude of the eldest daughter, Liesl, who felt she needed no governess, no adult supervision whatsoever.
So without any hesitation Maria took off into her comfort zone, music. Since the death of his wife, Captain von Trapp had forbidden music in the house, in his quest of denial. So Maria was unable to get the children to engage with music of their own, music they already knew. Undaunted, she set forth with music that reassured and bolstered her, first and foremost, (as she had in the abbey, in the touring version, with ‘My Favorite Things’ ).
The song she chose was Do-Re-Mi.
In the show last night that song was the vehicle she chose to sweep them away into a world of creative activity, of group unity and harmony. Liesl was initially aloof, but the compelling and unifying nature of the music overcame her resistance, as well, and a great friendship and creative collaboration began.
Initially absent, when the Captain next appeared, he was upset at the lack of discipline the children showed in their singing and joy. He found music in the house to be provocative, in his grief, until he stopped to really listen to what the children and Maria were doing, until he opened himself to the fine energy they projected, the brilliant sound and rhythms. And he conceded to Maria that, in his grief, he had ‘forgotten.’ Forgotten the healing power of music, the capacity for attuning members of a loving family. It was this great epiphany that led him back to himself and to the possibilities of parenting, life and love.
Not surprisingly, music, in the festival performance by the ‘von Trapp Family Singers,’ was the mechanism that delivered the family from the oppressive Nazi regime that threatened them.
The role of Maria was played by a young woman named Kerstin Anderson. She was just terrific in the role, with a voice and a manner that honored the Julie Andrews performance.
The show opens tomorrow in St. Louis, soon to visit Detroit and Chicago, and still more cities from there. If it comes anywhere close to you, I can’t recommend it highly enough. You won’t regret it.
I suppose I should really answer the question posed in the diary title before closing. For me, the answer is, you don’t HOLD a moonbeam in your hand. You let the light play around you, you savor it, enjoy it for what it is, and then smile as it flits away. It is as likely to return to you, in one form or another, throughout life, more so if you let it and don’t anticipate it. Because the light can live on within you, just like the music can, and does.
Thanks for reading! On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by my dear friend, brillig!
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