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The 'Sound of Music' evokes touching memories for visitors

Posted 7/28/15

When GayLynne Brummel first viewed “The Sound of Music” film, she decided at the young age of 11 that she wanted to wear a long, flowing veil similar to the one worn by Maria at her wedding to …

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The 'Sound of Music' evokes touching memories for visitors

Posted

When GayLynne Brummel first viewed “The Sound of Music” film, she decided at the young age of 11 that she wanted to wear a long, flowing veil similar to the one worn by Maria at her wedding to Capt. Von Trapp.

Her dream came true when she and Bradley Roon married in Denver, Colo.

Forty-two years after their marriage, GayLynne packed her treasured, preserved veil in her suitcase for their trip to Salzburg, Austria.

She accompanied Brad, a bass singer in the Fountain Hills Community Chorus. Several chorus members visited various locations of “The Sound of Music” in June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film.

While “The Sound of Music” production team chose beautiful Mondsee Cathedral for the wedding location, Georg and Maria were actually wed Nov. 27, 1929 in Nonnberg Abbey where Maria had been a novice.

The film veil was reportedly 14 feet long and took actress Julie Andrews, portraying Maria, a half a day to learn to walk with it on.

“I thought ‘How often are we going to be in Salzburg?’” recalled GayLynne. “It was a must do.”

The morning of the group’s visit to St. Michael’s Cathedral in Mondsee, GayLynne’s hands trembled as she unfolded the veil. She bought a sprig of edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps and the subject of a song in the musical.

The couple captured the moment with photographs and then GayLynne walked down the aisle before the Fountain Hills chorus sang “Maria” and “Sound of Music.”

Photograph

On the morning excursion to Untersberg, a peak jutting 6,473 feet above the Salzburg basin, the weather could not have been worse for sightseeing. Fog and sleet greeted the tour members as the 50-person gondola whisked the tourists to the summit in nine minutes.

The chorus had been scheduled to sing “Climb Every Mountain” and “Sound of Music” at the summit. Instead, they performed in the terminal.

The Untersberg mountain is seen twice in the movie -- in the opening and in the escape scene when the von Trapp family climbs the mountain to flee the country.

Once again, the Hollywood version was not accurate. The family actually took a train to Italy; the other side of the Untersberg would have delivered them into Germany.

In the film, Maria referred to the Untersberg as “her mountain.” Whether it was said in real life or is a line from the movie, the experience was heart-warming for Larry Haddy, who sings bass with the chorus, and his wife, Stephanie.

Larry’s mother, Marge, loved the film and probably watched the movie as many as 32 times after the couple gave her a video copy, said Stephanie.

Every time the film appeared on television, Marge Haddy would remind her children to watch. She passed away about five years ago.

In memory of her, Larry buried a framed photo of her on the mountain.

“She would have been ecstatic to go on this trip with us. Somehow, I know she was with us though,” said Stephanie.

Bonding

Thirty-three years after Julie Tribbey and her daughter, Tamara DuBois, visited Salzburg during an Austrian ski trip, they returned as members of the Fountain Hills Community Chorus.

Julie is a soprano; Tamara, an elementary teacher in the Paradise Valley School District, sings alto.

When Julie learned of the trip, she described the opportunity as “a chance of a lifetime” to return to Austria and share the experience again with her adult daughter.

On her initial introduction to “The Sound of Music,” Tamara said she didn’t know at the time she visited Salzburg that the film was based on a true story of a family.

Several years later, the mother and daughter attended a lecture at Gammage Auditorium where Julie Andrews talked about filming the movie and her relationships with the children actors.

“Our lives have been so intertwined with “The Sound of Music,” said DuBois.

Social media

Maureen Midura’s initial awareness of the trip came through a Facebook posting.

A former chorus member, Midura has been living in Litchfield, Ky., for the last four years. Tour manager Betty Frable reached out to her when a vacancy opened and invited her.

“I felt very blessed that she asked me to join the group,” said Midura.

“It’s been a lifetime dream,” she added.

As she separated from other Fountain Hills travelers in Chicago to fly home, Midura said the experience was “one of the most perfect moments in my lifetime.”

Several chorus members said the trip was on their “bucket list” but never dreamed that they would actually visit the city and experience “The Sound of Music”.