By Jennifer Wydra
I was a cradle Catholic who attended Mass every Sunday. My family was on the larger side with four kids, though it often seemed more like seven, given the myriad of friends always hanging around. And music was prevalent in our household. My parents sang semi-professionally, and my siblings and I inherited their musical ability. We never had any fancy dress balls around a double-staircase hall nor danced the Laendler, but I do remember sneaking out to the landing after going to bed to hear my parents’ friends blow a pitch pipe and sing acapella in four-part harmony. I later realized how lucky I was; I thought all adult parties had talented people enjoying the camaraderie of making music together.
I have a confession to make, Reverend Mother: I’ve seen Robert Wise’s “The Sound of Music” dozens of times. I watched and rewatched Julie Andrews’ Maria struggle through a commitment to a religious order, answer the call to serve a grieving family, win the heart of a dashing Captain, and escape Nazi oppression, all while exquisitely interpreting the music, lyrics, and emotional beats of Rodgers and Hammerstein. While Ms. Andrews had won the Oscar for the “practically perfect” Mary Poppins a year earlier, I thought she deserved it for her perfect Maria von Trapp. I heard that Ms. Andrews was knocked over often by the helicopter wind achieving that infamous mountaintop twirl, but I’m grateful she took Reverend Mother’s advice and faced the problem head on.
My younger self would often fast-forward to my favorite parts of the film: the scenes featuring the children. I loved that Maria disrupted the household by defying the Captain, allowing the children to “roam about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes” to his consternation. “The Lonely Goatherd” allowed me to imagine my siblings and me putting on a show with that setup, and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” ruined me for young romance as I was hard-pressed to find suitors willing to dance in a gazebo in the rain. With “My Favorite Things,” Maria offered calm in the storm — that it’s important to remind ourselves about the simple joys to help us get through difficult times, a philosophy I have often taken to heart.
Later, I abandoned fast-forwarding as the Captain and Maria’s love story became my new favorite part of the film. Christopher Plummer’s gravitas was the perfect complement to Ms. Andrew’s ebullient performance. Whereas I viewed the Baroness as a villain early on, I later understood her frustration with Georg falling in love with this young nanny, and the strength it took to step aside.
Some may write off the story as romantic musical theater fluff, but I would disagree. As a child watching the narrative, I didn’t know that the Anschluss was the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938 nor why “the flag with the black spider on it makes people nervous,” but I certainly grasped the danger that faced the von Trapps as they huddled in a dark cemetery trying to evade capture. Later, the enormity of Captain Georg and Maria’s choice to defy a direct order, leave a gorgeous home behind, and escape into the hills came into clearer focus.
I always knew that I would work in entertainment, and my 20-something years included performing in NYC musical theater. Sadly, I have never played Maria. I was always cast as the goofy sidekick or the sultry diva or the like. But I did opt to walk down the aisle at my wedding to Rodgers’ wedding march from “The Sound of Music” while my music ministry friends threatened to sing as countermelody, “How do you solve a problem like Jen Wydra?” I’ve watched the film with my three sons, and while they may not be as obsessed as I am, the joy of sharing it with them is enough. I also continue my journey of faith and find great joy as a cantor for Catholic parishes. So I’ll let the final strains of the title song speak for me: “I go to the hills when my heart is lonely. I know I will hear what I heard before. My heart will be blessed with the sound of music, and I’ll sing once more.”
Jennifer Wydra is a story analyst whose Y/A and family-focused work includes Disney, Netflix, and Amblin Entertainment.
