“Sound Of Music” Finally Goes Home
I lol-ed heartily today when I read this story about how Salzburg is finally getting a production of “The Sound of Music.” That’s right: the picture-postcard Austrian city has never had one. Some of the locals are surprised at the show’s sell-out success because, according to a member of the local tourist board, “If you are not from around here [the musical] was all so beautiful and romantic and everything, but for locals it was just kitschy.” Salzburg, as you know if you’ve ever been there, long ago turned its local hero, Mozart, into the kitschiest commodity in creation: you can’t turn a corner without seeing his image on everything from chocolates to toilet-bowl cleaners. For Salzburgers to complain about kitsch is like gazillionaire Mitt Romney complaining about being unemployed.
