When the kids sing "So Long, Farewell", I assume they are actually singing a song (diegetically) that Maria taught them. However, if that is the case, why would the guests at the party join them in singing the last line of the song. It seems to me they are them bursting into song, but completing one that has been introduced diegetically.
Early in the show, the nuns sing "Maria" as a book song. However, at the marriage ceremony they seem to be actually singing the same song diegetically -- unless we are to assume that they are singing with their inner voices.
I have noticed similar small moments in South Pacific (when Emile tells Nellie he enjoyed the little song she and the nurses were singing, i.e., "Wash That Man", which is a book song) and also in Pipe Dream where Doc and Suzy are having dinner, a guy in a band sings a verse of "All at Once" obviously diegetically, but then Doc sings the same song to Suzy as a book song. |
