From the first season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," creator Joss Whedon wanted to write a musical episode. In the sixth season, he did: "Once More, With Feeling," an episode about celebrating the golden age of Hollywood musicals as much as it was about Buffy's stress at coming back from the dead and Willow's abuse of magic. Shot in widescreen with vibrant colors, lengthy tracking shots and elaborate group-dance sequences, the episode evoked the palatial cinemas of the '40s and '50s. Though it was originally aired on the small screen, "Once More, With Feeling," has lately found the inevitable second life of all cult followings: the midnight movie.
Clinton McClung began the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sing-a-Long" in Boston in 2004, and since last September has been staging it once a month at the IFC Center. Actors portraying Buffy, the Scooby Gang and the villains dance and sing beneath the screen, while the episode is screened with lyrics for those who don't know them by heart. McClung himself plays Giles. In the "Rocky Horror" tradition, goody bags are distributed to the audience members who use the kazoos, party poppers and finger puppets according to McClung's guidance.
"There's not too many theater experiences these days where you're not just a passive watcher," McClung said. "For an hour when you're all together and you're watching this episode and singing along, you feel like everyone's your best friend."
The New York show was the first one to feature a live cast, which helps make up for the relatively small space at IFC, where the theaters are only half as large as those where the "Sing-a-Long" began. Director Caroline O'Conner, whose red hair made her a natural for the part of Willow, said that by introducing actors, McClung "was trying to do more than recreate the show. He wanted to have an actual separate theater performance. The actors don't just mimic what's on screen."
NYU alumnus Joshua Ziesel has been playing Xander, Buffy's friend and fighting companion, since the second performance in New York. "I'll Never Tell," Xander's duet with ex-demon Anya, involves complex, very retro choreography - the sort that studying politics and psychology at CAS didn't prepare him for. "I was scared out of my mind the first time," he said, "but after that I realized that everyone who's coming loves 'Buffy,' and that they're very supportive."
But it's not just "Buffy" fanatics who turn out for the show. McClung observed that the audience members coerced into coming by friends or significant others enjoyed the interactivity and community of the event. The backstory of "Once More, With Feeling" is established with a simple "Previously on..." at the start of the episode, and no prior knowledge of the characters is necessary.
"A lot of people are coming who aren't "Buffy" fans, but they all have a good time," McClung said. "That's really my big goal."
The monthly "Buffy Sing-a-Long" happens tonight and tomorrow at midnight, at the IFC Center. $15 gets you a ticket and a goody bag, and the show will probably sell out, so consider buying in advance.
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