I remember the experience like it was yesterday and how they gushed unapologetically about the show and this must-see musical bonanza. In the summer of 2004, I worked as an intern for a local stage theatre company and befriended resident Buffy stans Allison and Alan, two good friends still to this day. I knew I was in for quite a ride, but I never expected such thrilling musical compositions befitting a high-budget Broadway show. Those words, that performance, Gellar’s command onscreen sent a shiver down my spine. “I just wanna be alive!” Buffy bellows, as she wanders aimlessly through a fog-imbued cemetery, knocking off various dead things. Picture this: a wide-eyed, very green, and totally “straight” 18-year-old witnessing the sweeping, orchestra-driven opening number and being transformed as one is after a baptism. So, imagine my wonderment in beholding “Once More, with Feeling” for the very first time. I grew up transfixed by such landmark cinematic feats as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Wizard of Oz, as well as Broadway productions like Into the Woods and Rent. Twenty years later, it remains one of the greatest episodes of television and musicals ever created. More than any other episode, it’s the much-lauded “ Once More, with Feeling,” a musical extravaganza bursting with heart-pounding choruses and aw-shucks quirk, that I hold most dear.
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I have, of course, come around to the show since, and its fantastical storytelling holds a special place in my ghoulish, cold heart. During the show’s run (1997-2003), I tuned it on occasion, finding great delight in Sarah Michelle Gellar’s wonderfully empowering turn as the titular vampire hunter, but it was never an obsession among my core group of friends. I admit: I was only a casual Buffy the Vampire Slayer viewer.