Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Slaying a tune with "Buffy"

While never a ratings blockbuster, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," became a wildly beloved cult television series throughout its seven seasons on the air. Though it has been gone for almost four years, its legacy lives on. Hardcore fans can still recite dialogue from memory or spout the most trivial of trivia from the episodes they cherish.

Few episodes of "Buffy" are more cherished by fans than "Once More, With Feeling," the musical episode that originally aired on November 6, 2001. Written by series creator Joss Whedon, the episode concerns a spell placed upon the heroes’ hometown of Sunnydale, California, forcing those within the city limits to spontaneously burst into song, pouring their hearts out in the form of snappy lyrics and rousing choruses.

On Friday night, March 16th, Sacramento "Buffy" fanatics got the opportunity to come together and sing their hearts out along with the Slayer and her pals. The Fools Foundation art gallery, in association with Shiny Objects Digital Video, Inc., hosted a screening of "Once More, With Feeling" as part of its "Movies on a Big Screen" series.

A packed-house crowd descended into the gallery, which is tucked away in a basement on K & 19th streets behind The Spaghetti Factory. Popcorn and soda were available for purchase, as were issues of the just-released "Buffy" comic book, written by Whedon as an official continuation of the television series.

A tip sheet was handed to all attendees, offering helpful suggestions of what the audience could do to accentuate each musical number, such as screaming when a villain suddenly appears during "Dawn’s Lament," or joining hands as the characters do during the climactic ballad, "Where Do We Go From Here?"

Elaborate costumes were not worn, but several attendees were observed with plastic vampire teeth in their mouths, and one woman was decked out in a replica of the red bra/skirt outfit worn by the character Anya in the number "I’ll Never Tell."

Shortly after 10:00 p.m., the announcer informed the crowd that a surprise was in store before the musical began. That surprise turned out to be the showing of another classic episode, "Hush," in which a spell is cast on Sunnydale that temporarily robs everyone of their voices. The crowd was quite pleased with this.

When "Once More, With Feeling" finally hit the screen, the fans were having a ball. The entire audience sang along with the characters, some more enthusiastically than others. People laughed heartily at all the jokes as if they had not already heard them all countless times before.

Humorous comments were frequently shouted out at the screen, including some snide words reserved for certain characters. The primary recipient of the meaner remarks was Buffy’s sister, Dawn, a character notoriously reviled by the majority of the fan base due to her propensity to whine. Every time Dawn spoke, a chorus of shouts of "shut up, Dawn!" erupted throughout the room.

The screening was an enjoyable communal experience, bringing "Buffy" nerds of all shapes and sizes together to sing as one. The event even brought out the inner crooner in those less inclined to belt out a song in public.

"Normally I’m kind of shy and I don’t like to sing in front of people," said Angela Graves, a first-year graduate student at San Jose State University who attended the screening. "But everyone there were "Buffy" geeks like me and it was really easy to get caught up in the moment."