Seattle 'Buffy' fans sing their heroine's praises at 'Buffyoke'
05:36 AM PDT on Saturday, June 30, 2007
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Buffy fans at Seattle's Egyptian Theater hold up lighters and cell phones as Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) sings a heartfelt song in "Once More With Feeling."
SEATTLE – Forget your karaoke bars for Saturday night fun.
A different type of sing-a-long is in Seattle this weekend – one that's criss-crossing the nation. But it's one that only a distinct corner of the pop culture world gets.
Buffyoke.
No, it's not karaoke for valley girls. It's a place for fans of the cult, and now defunct hit series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer to come together to sing, dance, yell at and make fun of and celebrate the riskiest and most beloved episode.
Clinton McClung is the brain child of the Buffy Sing Along tour.
"I used to run a theater in Boston called the Coolidge Corner Theater," says McClung. "I did the midnight series there and this was one of the many programs I did."
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The 'program' is a combination karaoke, Rocky Horror Picture Show and trivia quiz that culminates with the playing of "Once More With Feeling" on the big screen. What makes this one episode so unique is that it's a musical – regardless of whether the actors could sing (and all but two or three are average at best), creator Joss Whedon did the unthinkable and put them in a studio to record one of the most revered episodes for loyal fans.
"This is just a little gem of wonder in TV land," says one fan standing in the middle of 600 people waiting to get in "Everybody who loves this episode is like a massive community."
The first Buffy sing along was in 2004, but the tour only recently gained steam. Now, it has a life of its own and is dragging McClung right along with it.
"This one just happened to take over my whole life," says McClung.
He's not the only one. Seeing the line wrap around Seattle's Egyptian Theater Friday night for a sold-out show proves that people not only love their Buffy, they want to live it.
Most people look as normal as you or me, wearing their jeans and t-shirts. But a few dressed the parts.
There were about a half-dozen wearing bunny ears in honor of Anya, the former demon who has a fear of bunnies, so on Halloween, she wore the scariest costume she could think of – a bunny,
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Most fans who show up at Buffyoke don't dress up, but Seattle fan Laura decided to dress in a costume similar to one worn in the musical by the character Tara (Amber Benson).
Another fan, Laura, was dressed up in British medieval-style outfit like the character Tara (played in the episode by Amber Benson, clearly the best singer in the cast).
"I've watched Buffy ever since I was in the seventh grade. I think Tara has the best songs in the episode," says Laura.
Standing out among all of the fans was a pair who clearly showed up as Buffy. With their blonde, flowing hair and pink spaghetti strap tops, they were ready to kick some butt.
However, I don't remember Sarah Michelle Gellar being this hairy.
The two Buffys were men.
"I love everything about Buffy. It's funny, it's feminist and it's the ideal television series," says Mike, one of our Buffy look-alikes.
Inside the theater, fans get goody bags filled with things like party poppers, bubble blowers, little finger monsters and a card with instructions on when to use them during the show. Before the curtain rises, fans get a chance to come up on stage and act out scenes from earlier Buffy episodes. Imagine the shock on one fan's face as he has to act out a heart-wrenching scene opposite Buffy (yes, the same hairy Buffy). The man opposite Buffy screws up a key line and gets razzed by the fans.
Finally, the show begins.
The Buffy musical episode spawned it's own CD.
"Once More With Feeling"
So what's the big deal is with this episode, besides the music?
Buffy dies – for the second time – by sacrificing herself to close an evil magical portal. But her friends, who were convinced she was suffering eternal torment in death, decided to resurrect her with magic. Problem was, the afterlife was a peaceful place for her and returning to her mortal life was like punishment. She told no one, save the vampire Spike who is head over heels for our heroine. In Once More With Feeling, a spell is cast over everyone that makes them sing, but the songs reveal the crooner's deepest, darkest secrets. In some cases, it gets them to dance – to the point of spontaneous combustion. Eventually, they learn Buffy's earthly torment.
Back to the show. The whole thing resembles half-karaoke and half-Rocky Horror.
Fans scream "hotness" when Spike the vampire shows up and "Burn, burn, burn" when a tap dancer goes to a fiery demise.
They dance while carrying dry cleaning in the aisles, throw underwear on cue (it's prop undergarments, not their own), pull out lighters and lighted cell phones when Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) sings a touching solo, and they scream "Shut up, Dawn" anytime Buffy's whiny little sister, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, opens her mouth.
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Fans sing along with the words as the demon "Sweet" (Hinton Battle) dances with Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg).
Not everyone who showed up was a die-hard Buffy fan. Some admitted they had only seen five episodes. For the most part, these people love the work of Joss Whedon, Buffy's creator. He has since gone on to do the Buffy spinoff, "Angel" and the short-lived sci-fi series "Firefly," which turned into the marginally successful movie "Serenity." He has been tapped to direct the big screen version of "Wonder Woman."
"I think Joss Whedon is amazing," says Laura, our resident Tara.
"I'm not a Buffy fan, I'm more of a Firefly fan. I just love Joss Whedon because he's a fantastic writer," says another fan.
What does Whedon think of all this Buffyoke hype? He loves it, although he has asked McClung what's up with the "Shut up, Dawn" thing.
So how did Seattle Buffy fans do on opening night?
McClung was happy with the response, including the acting chops of Mike our male Buffy.
"Seriously, male Buffys make the best Buffys," said McClung. "But he was way valley girl."
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A couple of Seattle Buffy fans get up in front of 600 of their peers and act out a scene before the big show starts.
While McClung admits he doesn't make a huge living off this, he still gives back by donating money to the Seattle Gay and Lesbian film festival.
The main shows are in New York, which happens about once a month. But Detroit, Kansas City and Tulsa are among the next cities that will get their Buffy on.
There's still one more showing tonight (June 30th) at midnight at the Egyptian theater, but the entire turnout it received already could bring the tour back around again.
McClung won't mind coming along with it. "I never get sick of watching this episode. I've seen it maybe 500 times and the great thing about doing a sing along is that it's different every time."
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