That British sensation, the sing-a-long "Sound of Music," is having some success in New York City. The bitchy pop culture paean to the sugary-sweet Julie Andrews classic will be featured during the four-hour NBC broadcast of "The Sound of Music" on Dec. 17. A week later, the sing-a long will move to a new home - the Loews State Theatre (aka the theatre inside the Virgin Megastore) in Times Square Dec. 22 where it will play through Jan. 11.

A sell-out success at London's Prince Charles Cinema and in a tour throughout Britain, this special "Sound of Music" gives audiences the chance to do what they've always wanted to do during the syrupy flick: dress up as nuns, wave edelweiss and sing along with the Rogers and Hammerstein tunes to the rhythm of the bouncing ball. A complimentary interactive pack accompanies the movie (a plastic nun is among the goodies) with a mystery host leading a vocal warm up, introducing a comprehensive list of shouted comments and gestures (a la "Rocky Horror") and judging the costume contest.

That final part of the evening has resulted in the most creative aspects of the "Sing-a-Long Sound of Music." Any costume, aside from those nasty Nazis, is welcome, and they have ranged from the usual (the Von Trapp children in their curtains) to the bizarre (goats -- with and without Lonely Goatherds -- to a young man in a gold lycra catsuit (give up? He's Ray, a Drop of Golden Sun)).

Future sing-a-long "Sound of Music" dates across the country include:

Jan. 16-21: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theatre
Jan. 24-Feb. 4: Philadelphia, PA, The Prince Theatre
Feb. 16-March 1: San Francisco, CA, The Castro Theatre — By Christine Ehren