Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

While watching the sing-along version of “The Sound of Music” broadcast on a Sunday evening on ABC Channel 33-1 in Springfield, MO, thoughts returned to a live production of this musical. Before attending Southwest Baptist College and studying the Bible, high school studying journalism. Full-time Christian ministry was the change in focus that took the creative writing major from SMSU to Bolivar.

While a student at Central in the fall of 1968, “The Sound of Music” was the fall production by the music and drama departments. For some reason, it still holds a fascination that cannot be shaken. A love for live theatre was born and has been passed on to the next generations.

A critic was not created. One must be able to distinguish the good from the bad to judge. Tone deafness prevents this ability. However, it cannot restrict the enjoyment of the songs. Even though my voice does not bring applause, I do like to sing along with Oklahoma or any of the other musicals from which I still remember the lyrics.

“Sixteen Going on Seventeen” is my favorite from “The Sound of Music.” The sentiment of a young woman being told that a young man who is “seventeen going on eighteen” will take care of her is humorous to adults. As a young man, that sentiment was one to take to heart. To be the protector was a fond possibility.

“The Music Man” and its “Seventy-Six Trombones” and “Marian the Librarian,” among others, are also excellent. Growing up in the sixties and seventies, I remember the Elvis movies, which were not called musicals but were. If you went to a film starring a singer, you wanted to hear them sing.

And you had to have music so Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire could move around the floors, walls, or even ceilings. Grace Kelly was not Fred’s only partner in crime. Gene was also able to share the floor with Jerry, the mouse. You millennials think you have good movies. You have nothing on us, baby boomers. We lived during the heydays of cinema magic and creativity. They could not just punch a few computer keys to find special effects.

Life would be dull without musical entertainment, and we no longer must call friends and neighbors to join us. Thanks to Thomas Edison and Mr. Victor, we now have a band in a box, with their singers. That box has been shrunk to a size that fits in a pocket and doubles as a phone or TV screen.

I hope you enjoy all the clips I’ve included with this column. Maybe you’ll find ones you haven’t experienced before. These modern conveniences have been around for almost one hundred years now. Between sound recordings, movies, TV, the Internet, and our phones, we are good to go almost anywhere with the sound of music.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger