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Julie Andrews ‘looking forward to’ another New Year’s in Austria for PBS
December 27, 2011 2:15 PM ET
“It’s kind of a wonderful picture-postcard,” Andrews tells Zap2it, “particularly the way PBS frames it. I do get to travel around, and it’s a joy. And, of course, the music is spectacular and so is the hall (the Musikverein). In this case, I’m doing it right up to the moment … going to various spots and taping for four or five days, then hosting the concert itself on New Year’s Day.”
Andrews has done little singing in recent years, a byproduct of throat surgery she had in 1997, but she maintains her appreciation of great music. When she was a young performer, she sang Strauss compositions with what she now recalls as unfortunate lyrics set to the classic melodies.
“With ‘The Blue Danube,’ for example,” she says, “there I was, piping away, little guessing that I would be in Vienna and hearing it for real. And in that beautiful hall, too, which is exquisite. It’s filled with flowers, and the people are wearing the traditional costumes of the country. It’s lovely.”
Though she also was scheduled to host “From Vienna” last year, Andrews had to bow out due to the death of her husband, “The Pink Panther” and “Victor/Victoria” filmmaker Blake Edwards. (News personality Paula Zahn was the last-minute substitute.) Though she allows that she and her family are still coming to terms with his passing, Andrews is glad to be involved in the special again.
Before flying to Austria, she anticipated leaving “a lot of wrapping paper around, and I hope somebody gets it cleaned up before I return. I’m looking forward to this, and it’s a good thing to be doing this year. It helps.”
ABC aired “The Sound of Music” on Christmas Eve, and the Disney studio’s “Mary Poppins” — which earned Andrews her Academy Award — is being shown twice daily through Friday (Dec. 30) in a holiday-season family film festival at New York’s Lincoln Center.
“I’m so proud to have been a part of them,” she reflects. “That may sound a little Pollyanna-ish, but it’s the absolute truth. I mean, how lucky can anybody be to be asked to be in those movies? I’m thrilled that every seven years or so, a new generation gets to see them.”
DURATION: 1 HOUR
An episode from Julie Andrews’s weekly variety series from 1973, starring Sammy Davis Jr and Rich Little. The stars perform several standards from well-loved musicals, including We’re a Couple of Swells, If I Were a Rich Man, Sue Me and How Are Things in Glocca Morra. Additional numbers include… SHOW MORE
A spoonful of sugar isn’t doing anything for Julie Andrews’ four-octave range. Instead, the actress is finding a new voice through writing children’s books and directing theater, reports the AP.
The Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actress said that she underwent a surgery in 1997 to remove non-cancerous throat nodules, and that her voice never recovered. “The operation that I had left me without a voice and without a certain piece of my vocal chords,” she said.
The Sound of Music star said that she can still speak “pretty well” and can nail a few bass notes, “So if you wanted a rendition of `Old Man River’ you might get it, but I’m not singing as much these days.”
The 77-year-old actress has sung since the 1997 surgery, including a performance in 2004′s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and at a 2012 London concert, but Mary Poppins says that these were “speak-singing” performances, and that her singing days are mostly behind her. She talked about her discovery of a new voice through authoring children’s books and directing theater.
Her latest children’s book, Little Bo in London: The Ultimate Adventure of Bonnie Boadicea, is the fourth and final entry in a series about a magical ship’s cat that travels around the world. This i the 27th book that she has co-written with daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.
She’s directing a musical theater adaptation of another of her books, as well. The Great American Mousical is about a group of thespian mice who live underneath the floors of a famous Broadway theater. It’s being performed at the Goodspeed Theatre in Connecticut through Sunday. Andrews thinks the show would “do very well on Broadway,” and has her eyes on directing and producing shows there one day.
Though the loss of her voice may ring somewhat tragic, Andrews is somewhat grateful for it because it pushed her to find a new path and a new voice. Paraphrasing The Sound of Music‘s Maria von Trapp, she said: “When one door closes another window opens.”
MARY POPPINS is the UK’s favourite festive film – with the average Brit having watched it more than eight times over past Christmases.
The film, starring Julie Andrews as the nanny who is “practically perfect in every way”, trumped the next Christmas cracker, Home Alone, which has been watched just over seven times on average.
A poll of 2,000 people, by TV company Freeview, also saw The Wizard Of Oz come third, followed by another Julie Andrews classic, The Sound Of Music, in fourth.
Strictly Come Dancing star Denise Van Outen is fronting Freeview+ Christmas campaign.
She said: “It’s no surprise to hear that we’ll be tuning in to our family favourites once again. For me Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without Mary Poppins.
“Having missed so much TV recently with rehearsals, I’ll definitely be taking charge of the remote control this Christmas.”
Rachel Ray Show December 6th 2012.
Who wants to be cooking for a holiday party at the last minute? Chef Ryan Scott has three recipes you can make ahead of time! Then, got an over-sized tree? Too many cooks in the kitchen? We’re sharing quick fixes for any holiday dilemma! Plus, we’re getting the royal treatment with a visit from Dame Julie Andrews!
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/view/1679/
