The Hills are Alive

Thursday night AVAM launched its Flicks from the Hill summer series inspired by their current exhibition All Faiths Beautiful, with one of my favorites The Sound of Music. I've never gone to Flicks from the Hill before and it was fun, fun, fun. Co-worker Lydia had come on the road with me as my adult safety partner (did i mention that we've started the summer season not one but two performers short?!?) and she told me about the screening. I sat with her, her boyfriend, his parents and her roommate. Just like any outdoor theater people bring blankets and chairs and picnics, but there has to be a twist since it is at AVAM : the screen looks like it is being held by a giant golden hand protruding from the building When i found Lydia and her group we noticed nuns milling about : nuns handing out lyric sheets Oh yes, it was the SING-A-LONG version of Sound of Music And there was singing, yes there was. Imagine one whole side of Federal Hill (non-Baltimoreans who have at least visited the city : that's the big hill overlooking the Inner Harbor with the ginormous flag on it that is directly behind my museum; other non-Baltimoreans : trust me, its a big hill) covered with people belting out show tunes. I think that the crowd was the loudest on "My Favorite Things" though "So Long, Farewell" was pretty rocking. No... "Do, Re, Mi" was sung rather lustily as well. I loved that people really got into it, cause you know i was singing my little heart out. Gatherings like this always bring out the most interesting cross-section of people. At one point we noticed a group of people dressed in crazy Alpine attire, complete with blonde wigs. Turns out that they were not just really into the movie; they were from the performance group Fluid Movement and they were handing out fliers to advertise their upcoming water ballet. Yes, i did say water ballet. Man, i love this city. And the very best part was that i realized that i actually knew one of the Helgas; it was co-worker Katie If you have a Thursday night free i encourage you to catch a Flick from the Hill. You can even get into AVAM for free from 5-9 before the screening. Who says you have to spend money to have a good time?