I ask Andrews if she had princess fantasies as a child. It’s an admittedly loaded question, since her 2008 autobiography, ‘Home’, painted a picture of poverty and deprivation with an alcoholic stepfather who tried to sexually abuse her on several occasions.
“Did I ever believe I’d become a princess?” she asks. “Please. I think that given my story, it was a miracle and a godsend that I found a talent that gave me an identity. I think it saved my life. I could have been a very lost individual.”
She pauses a long time. “Although I do recall driving past Buckingham Palace one day and asking my mother, ‘Do you think I could ever have tea with the queen?’ And she said, ‘If you play your cards right and you’re a decent young woman, it might happen.’ And she was right. It did.”
May 8, 2010: Julie Andrews live at the O2, London.
And I was there. I can’t believe it’s been 2 years already… It was a truly magical evening. Never in my life did I imagine I would end up seeing Julie Andrews live on a stage. SINGING. I can still remember all the excitement… the moment we arrived at the O2 and saw all the posters with Julie’s face and started to freak out. WE’RE HERE! THIS IS HAPPENING! JULIE ANDREWS! WE’RE GOING TO SEE JULIE ANDREWS! and the moment when we finally took our seats in this enormous venue, waiting for The Queen, fidgeting, holding hands and DYING. and then when the lights went off and the music began and the big screen started showing Julie’s movies and songs… I was crying already. Then she appeared. Julie Andrews was there. This legend of a woman was there and she was gonna sing for us. I really can’t find the right words to explain what this evening was like. As you know “The Gift of Music” is not a real concert, it’s a show where other singers perform and Julie joins in singing small parts and reading. BUT. She did have her solos: My Funny Valentine and A Cockeyed Optimist. This last one left everyone speechless because we did not expect a) that she would sing it and b) that she still had so much power in her voice. I mean, what about that belting at the end?! The Queen still got it. I was crying SO. HARD. This moment alone made the whole concert worth it for me. Julie was back, as if she never had the damn surgery. She gave us her all, and we loved her for that.
It’s that time of year again: we are told that the Super Bowl is the most watched program in U.S. television history. (Some stories, like on ew.com, have egregiously misleading headlines like “Most watched show in history!”) But the football/Madonna numbers aren’t quite as impressive as you think. Here’s why. Money quote: “In terms of scoring the potential American audience, the 2012 Super Bowl doesn’t come close to all kinds of TV broadcasts throughout the 1950s. For example, the March 31, 1957 broadcast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” starring Julie Andrews, pulled in an American audience of 100 million, at a time when the country’s population was about 175 million — around 57 percent. By contrast, the 2012 Super Bowl was watched by an average of 111.3 million, when the country’s population is 312 million — a little over one-third.” Rodgers and Hammerstein rule!
MY FAIR LADY :: Lerner and Loewe’s legendary classic
If you’ve never seen a production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, then you can probably hum a tune or two from this show. This London import was one of the best received and show’s of all time, and almost every household owned a copy of the original cast recording.
Rex Harrison opened the show with rhetorical question, “Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak,” in his trademarked sprechgesang or “speak-singing.” Julie Andrews followed in a cockney accent singing, “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” The rest of the story continues as George Bernard Shaw wrote in Pygmalion, with a different, more romantic ending for the musical. Perhaps my favorite part of the show is Eliza’s first trial as a lady at Ascot. Her conversation topics of ladling gin down Mother’s throat and her overexcitement cheering for the horses made for an excellent comedy of manners.
Unfortunately, a filmed production of this musical does not exist. A few musical numbers were performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, but the fully staged version of the show is mostly a memory. Thankfully, the show’s popularity generated plenty of publicity, leaving us with production stills to give us a glimpse of the original Broadway show.
It’s too much asking for a time machine? Just to enjoy the one and only Julie as THE Eliza! AWESOME!
Yes, a time machine is overdue.
if I had a time machine that’s one of the first things I would do. (btw, My Fair Lady was not a “London import” as said above: it’s an original Broadway production, eventually moved whit its original cast to London)
