Happy Birthday, Buffy. Can We Sing You a Song?
Posted by tim on 21 Jan 2007 at 6:03 pm | Tagged as: Television, Current Obsession, YouTubery
In New York City, we’re spoiled by pretty much everything. Just by living here, we have access to some of the world’s best museums, restaurants, and entertainment. The same accessibility translates to die-hard fans of one of television’s most critically acclaimed and misunderstood series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
One weekend every month, the IFC Center in Manhattan plays host to the “Buffy Sing-a-Long,” an event inspired by cult phenomenon The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but differing slightly in its welcoming, self-deprecating tone and a noticeable absence of provocatively costumed middle-aged men and women.
We all know that January 19 is Buffy Summers’ birthday (don’t we?), so Friday night’s event was a time for celebration. In addition to the entire musical episode being reenacted by a devoted troupe of Sunnydale’s finest thespians, the creative prompts to audience participation (I was especially excited about yelling “shut up, Dawn” every time she opened her mouth), and, of course, the singing, we were treated to an unusually entertaining exercise called “Buffy-oke.” Using select clips from a montage of birthday-related scenes assembled to honor the Slayer’s 26th year, four very brave audience members hammed it up on stage for our viewing pleasure. Interestingly enough, seeing Buffy played by a man is both highly entertaining and strangely convincing. I would definitely argue for this being an even bigger part of the program. It was a blast.
As fun as the whole evening turned out to be, what I enjoyed most wasn’t the singing, the irreverent reenactments, or witty host Quentin Travers. It was being surrounded by Buffy fans dedicated enough to purchase tickets days in advance, wait in a line in near-freezing temperatures for over an hour, and sing “Happy Birthday” to a fictional character. These are my people, and they are a hell of a lot fun.
Better to show than to tell, right? So check out some of the footage we shot at Friday night’s event. Special thanks to David for the video.
‘Buffy-oke’
Oh Yeah, They Handed Out Kazoos
‘They Got the Mustard Out!’
Happy Birthday to Buffy/Spike’s Gift
You can find more information about the “Buffy Sing-a-Long” by visiting BuffySings.com.
[…] Here are some scenes from Friday night’s Buffy Birthday Bash. Thanks to the fans in the audience who posted these on the ol’ internet. And who wrote this swell review of the show. […]
Thank you thank you thank you! Not just for the kinds words (thank you!), but for the video footage. Ah, the memories of that lovely Friday night…
Is that Alyson Hannigan doing the Angel impersonation during the ‘Innocence’ scene, and is it Emma and Nicky dancing to the OMWF scene? I absolutely love these videos! Great jobs!