As deeply as it has touched many of our lives, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that some fans of the cinematic classic "The Sound of Music" have seen the film dozens, if not hundreds, of times since its release in 1965.

But as endearing as the film has been to one of its stars, Charmian Carr (who played Liesl "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" von Trapp), it might come as a surprise that she has only seen the film 10 times in its entirety. While the first viewing of the film is the one that will be forever emblazoned in her mind, there's no question that it's her most recent screening that is the most unusual.

The setting was Austin, Texas, where Carr was invited to a "sing-along" version of a screening. If this "sounds" different, well, it is: Think of it as "The Sound of Music" meets "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"It was quite different seeing it there than I've ever seen it before. It was hysterical," Carr told me in a recent interview. "I had the best time. The audience members dress up like characters from the movie and sing along with the songs, and they boo and hiss the Nazis, cheer on the family, and make jokes in between lines."

Of course, being "Sound of Music" royalty has its privileges.

"I had the honor of choosing the best costume at intermission, and I also sang 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen' for them," Carr said. "I got this wonderful standing ovation from 1,300 people who attended the film. They just loved it -- loved every minute of it. Those three hours went by so fast."

However, not everybody was quite so amused.

"I guess they had some people call into the local radio stations in Austin saying it was sacrilegious doing (a sing-along) to 'The Sound of Music.' But it really isn't," Carr said. "Those people there loved 'The Sound of Music' just as much as everyone else."

While that interactive version of the film won't be released on the big screen or video any time soon, the 35th anniversary edition of the Oscar-winning film -- in both VHS and DVD format -- will. The Rodgers and Hammerstein treasure has retained all its original glory, but the DVD takes viewers to an even higher mountain plateau.

Fans will revel in a special boxed two-disc set that features more than six hours of programming, including a 90-minute retrospective documentary that features such cast members as Carr, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, director Robert Wise and even members of the original von Trapp family.

Also featured is a director's commentary track by Wise, an audio supplement by screenwriter Ernest Lehman, a menagerie of storyboards, sketches and production stills, and a rarely seen 14-minute theatrical trailer from 1965. Called "Salzburg Sight and Sound," the trailer is really more of a mini-documentary, which features Carr on a tour of the Austrian city where the film was partially made.

"I worked seven days a week -- five on the film and Saturday and Sunday on the Salzburg documentary," Carr recalled.

And while it was Carr's first (and ultimately, last) feature film role, she really didn't approach making the movie with great trepidation. After all, how was she to know what would become of the movie?

"I don't think any of us had a clue that we were making a classic, and I just accepted everything as the way it was supposed to be," Carr told me. "Being my first film, I just assumed that this was the way all films were. But now I know differently. I just reported for work every day, and that was that."

From auditions to rehearsals, soundtrack recording to the actual filming itself, the production of "The Sound of Music" took a total of nine months.

Carr said she formed a strong bond with her "brothers and sisters" (Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner and Kym Karath, who played Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Briggita, Marta and Gretl, respectively), but nothing else was quite as certain.

In fact, Carr says, Andrews, Plummer and company really didn't know that they had a potential hit on their hands until they saw a cut of the "Do Re Mi" scene that director Wise assembled in the editing room back in the States.

"I actually got goosebumps at the end of watching that montage," Carr recalled. "I thought to myself, 'Gosh, if the rest of film is good as this, it is going to be a wonderful thing.'"

Julie, Chris And 'The Children'

An interesting fact about "The Sound of Music" is that Julie Andrews was an "unknown," from a filmmaking point of view, during the production. While she was a star on the London and Broadway stage, she hadn't quite yet earned her film superstar status.

It's ironic, because she had already filmed her Academy Award-winning title role of "Mary Poppins," which hadn't hit theaters yet.

Apart from Hammond, who had done previous work on Broadway, none of the children really knew who Andrews was. That's not to say, however, that they didn't sense her magic.

"She was so funny and had such a wonderful sense of humor that it was terrific being around her," Carr recalled fondly. "She was so good in every take."

While Andrews was a joy to be around, Plummer was a different story. Carr said that admires him, but revealed that he didn't quite share the same enthusiasm as Andrews when working on the film.

"He hated doing 'Sound of Music,' but he has warmed up to in his later years," Carr said. "He accepts it as a good film now. But he used to call it 'The Sound of Mucus' for a long, long time.

"He was great fun to be with, and he couldn't have been nicer to me. He had a great sense of humor."

While Carr deeply admires her real-life siblings (she has two sisters, Sharon and Darleen), she also remains close to this day with her celluloid siblings; reunions among the seven have happened quite often. They were even joined by Andrews at the 25th anniversary celebration of the film.

"The last time we were all together was two years ago, when the Salzburg government honored all seven of us as well as the remaining von Trapp family members," Carr said.

'Sixteen Going On Seventeen'

While the film is filled with many wonderful moments featuring Carr, perhaps her best-remembered scene is the playful romantic number "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," featuring Carr and Daniel Truhitte, who played Rolf.

The scene was almost filmed with a double substituting for Carr because of a freak accident on the set.

Hear clips from the "Sound of Music" soundtrack.

The Sound of Music

Sixteen Going on Seventeen

"I had a disaster and a thrill in the same day," Carr recalled. "The disaster started in the morning when I jumped up on the first bench during the dance. The wardrobe department forgot to put rubber skids on the soles of my shoes, and I went straight through one of the glass panels of the gazebo."

Amazingly, Carr wasn't cut by any shards of glass that surrounded her while she lay flat out of the floor of the soundstage where the scene was filmed. She did, however, suffer a badly sprained ankle. But since this was the last day of filming for her, she wasn't about to let anything get in the way of finishing the scene.

"They put a bandage on my ankle that you can probably see clear enough on the DVD," Carr told me. "Then they put makeup on my legs and the bandage and tight nylons and gave me a vitamin B-12 shot and two aspirin for the pain. I danced the entire day, and even received a standing ovation from the crew. That's a feeling that I will never forget. To be honored like that is a thrill."

Forever Liesl

Earlier this year Carr released "Forever Liesl," the first-ever book memoir from a "Sound of Music" cast member. Featuring stories and interviews from the cast, crew and fans, the book offers a revealing look behind the scenes of not only the film, but of Carr's bittersweet personal experiences.

As the title of the book suggests, Carr is completely comfortable with her lifelong identification as Liesl, which is not always the case with a lot of actors associated with one role.

"I am very comfortable with it right now; however, in the beginning I wasn't," she said. "After 'The Sound of Music' came out I would wonder, 'Now am I being invited to things because I'm Liesl, or because I'm Charmian?' That went on for years until I finally decided that I am Charmian and I am Liesl and I just have to accept that. When I did, I stopped worrying so much."

In the book, Carr also reveals why she didn't do any feature films after "The Sound of Music." While she certainly would have gone on to a promising career in films, she chose instead to forgo the career and dedicate the time to her two young daughters instead.

"I knew that I could not do both things well," Carr told me. "Filming was emotionally involving. It wasn't just a 9-to-5 job. You're in makeup at 5 in the morning and finish at maybe 8 or 9. In the case of 'The Sound of Music,' it took us nine months to make that film. I know actresses do this. I know they have children and I know they raise them. But I knew in my heart that I could not do both things well.

"But to me, the most important thing to me was to raise healthy, happy, well-adjusted children and I feel that I have done that.

"I cannot tell you how proud I am of my daughters. They're happy, healthy and have good careers, and I have a granddaughter. No amount of film acting after 'Sound of Music' could have made me that proud."

That's not to say that Carr didn't find a career that allowed her to live two dreams simultaneously. For the greater part of her adult life, she's earned a living as a successful interior designer in Encino, Calif.

"The career just sort of happened in my life," Carr said. "I had been dating a interior designer when I was filming 'Sound of Music,' and I loved what he did. And when I decided not to act anymore and just do commercials, I wanted a job that I had more control over my life with.

"I didn't want to want to wait for some director or producer to hire me; I wanted to be my own boss. So I went to UCLA for my studies and then decorated my own home. From there, the business grew from word of mouth."

Since her book came out, the design business has slowed down a bit, but once she finishes touring to support the book at the end of November, she promises to get on the stick again.

But somehow I sense that Carr won't have trouble finding work. Some of her clients include Michael Jackson and "Sound of Music" sister Menzies and husband Robert Urich.

So, if you are looking for a designer, that name again is Charmian Carr (not Liesl), who is happily 57 going on 58.

"It is still amazing that people still recognize me. But now they are not sure what they recognize me from," Carr said with a laugh. "A lot of people will say, 'Gosh, we must have gone to high school or college together' before they figure it out.

"After all, this is 35 years later and I don't exactly look the same. But it's people that have seen the film so many, many times and really feel like they are a part of it -- it's truly amazing that people still recognize me and that people still do love the film. We had no idea that this was going to happen. The fans made 'The Sound of Music' what it is. They deserve a lot of the credit."

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