XPost: rec.arts.tv, rec.arts.theatre.musicals   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   It was a Thursday night in 2001. My friends and I were gathered in a   
   dark, dormitory lounge in Ithaca, NY. Ithaca didn’t carry UPN, so my   
   mother would tape three episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer on VHS   
   and mail them to me at college so my friends and I could watch.   
   Everyone had heard about this “Buffy musical,” but we were   
   skeptical. A musical? Seriously? Had Joss Whedon lost his damn mind?   
      
   And then, Sarah Michelle Gellar sang her first note, and the world   
   changed.   
      
   We sat in the dark, delighted by the clever lyrics, stunned by Amber   
   Benson’s beautiful voice, and enthralled with the story. The people   
   of Sunnydale were randomly bursting into song, and sometimes   
   bursting into flame. A demon was forcing everyone to sing their   
   darkest emotional secrets, sometimes in a retro pastiche that’s   
   never going to be a breakaway pop hit. Xander and Anya revealed   
   their mutual fear of getting married, Giles soliloquized about   
   leaving Buffy on her own, and Tara discovered that Willow had been   
   using magic to alter her memory.   
      
   In the climactic number “Something To Sing About,” Buffy finally   
   admitted the secret she’d been keeping from her friends this whole   
   time: When they resurrected her at the start of the season, they   
   ripped her out of Heaven, not some Hell dimension.   
      
   And of course, this happened:   
   http://giphy.com/gifs/kiss-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-1041PhUHlC0tJC?   
   utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=tag_click   
      
   It was 15 years ago today that “Once More With Feeling” premiered.   
   It was the first time a musical television episode didn’t feel like   
   a gimmick. There was nothing spoofy about it because, although   
   witty, it was produced in complete earnest. There was a reason why   
   people were singing rather than “just because we can do it.” In an   
   episode about a lack of communication, music was a unique way to   
   force that communication. The plot–   
      
   Sorry, I’m getting distracted by that GIF.   
      
   The plot was deeply integrated into the overall story, and it   
   brought to light the issues these characters had kept inside all   
   season long. It was a pivotal episode to so many storylines. It was   
   the first time the audience learned that Xander had doubts about   
   Anya which culminated in him leaving her at the altar later that   
   season. Giles and Tara both decided that they needed to make the   
   difficult decision to leave loved ones behind.  We were all stunned   
   (and delighted and maybe even a little turned on) when Buffy and   
   Spike kissed, which started an entirely new B-plot that was so right   
   yet so wrong. Although as an audience we wanted to see Buffy with   
   Spike, we also knew that she would never love him like he loved her.   
   And at the end of the series, when she tells Spike she loves him, he   
   replies with, “No you don’t. But thanks for saying it.” To this day,   
   it’s still heart-wrenching and beautiful.   
      
   buffy2   
      
   15 years later, Buffy fans still remember “Once More With Feeling”   
   fondly. They still rewatch the episode on its own. They still play   
   the soundtracks in their cars. They still sing the songs at karaoke   
   night. They still put on secret underground productions because 20th   
   Century Fox won’t release stage performance rights. They still   
   create ballet choreography for Willow to “Under Your Spell.”   
      
   Oh, that’s just me? Hmm.   
      
   What made “Once More With Feeling” special to you? Share your   
   favorite moments in the comments!   
      
   --   
   BREAKING NEWS   
   In other news, somehow Crooked Hillary still isn't in prison...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)