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THURSDAY

Some things simply beg for parody. In the case of many movies made during the ’60s and ’70s, that meant Mad magazine’s adaptation overtook any memory of the films’ realities. Remember opening the pages to the sight of Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music, skipping toward the hapless reader, suitcase in hand, dirndl skirt aflounce, ready to sing her little heart out? So like the original ad for the 1965 film, but somehow…crazier. The singing family, the feel-good anti-Nazi-ism—what kind of culture would produce such a thing? Welcome to the distilled reality of “Sing-a-Long Sound of Music.” What began as a Rocky Horror-style wheeze in England has become an international phenomenon, complete with bags of props and subtitled song lyrics so that each and every audience member can be a von Trapp for a day. Hitch on your lederhosen and frolic down, this evening to Sunday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. $20. (202) 467-4600. (Arion Berger)