Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Happy 88th birthday to Julie Andrews! | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 11:54 am EDT 10/02/23 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 11:49 am EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| The incomparable legend of stage and screen turned 88 yesterday. She's one of the few remaining stars from Broadway's golden era. And ... it's high time the Tonys gave her a Lifetime Achievement award. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of Andrews' American and Broadway debut in ''The Boy Friend,'' which would be followed by her iconic roles as Eliza in ''My Fair Lady'' and Guinevere in ''Camelot.'' She would become even more world-renowned as Maria in the 1965 Oscar-winning movie of ''The Sound of Music.'' Among her many accolades: an Academy Award, a Grammy and Emmys (for her musical-variety TV show and for hosting ''Broadway: The American Musical'' on PBS). And Andrews would've achieved her EGOT, winning her Tony in 1986 if she hadn't spoken up for her overlooked cast and creatives in ''Victor/Victoria.'' I hope the Tonys don't wait to honor her after she's too frail to attend the ceremony or posthumously. She deserves to be recognized by the top tribute in the theater, where she began her career. Let's celebrate Andrews while she can still enjoy it. Wouldn't that be loverly? |
|
| reply to this message |
| She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 02:05 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:51 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: Happy 88th birthday to Julie Andrews! - WaymanWong 11:49 am EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| so she actually has an EGAD! Maybe even rarer than an EGOT. But sure, I adore Julie Andrews and wish her a belated Happy Birthday. Her landmark Broadway career and support for the theatrical community over the years would justify a special career award. That would make her a TEGAD (since folks tend to include Barbra Streisand's honorary Tony in her EGOT which doesn't include a competitive win). I think folks would have loved to have given her a competitive Tony finally for "Victor/Victoria" years ago, but for her speech when she decided to protest that other people from that production not being nominated pretty much cost her winning that award. However, many folks who have won Tony awards over the years aren't remembered and/or go on to big careers, which won't be the case with Julie Andews, not when "Mary Poppins", "The Sound of Music" and the OCRs of her Broadway shows will most likely continue to be enjoyed for generations -- even without getting that competitive Tony trophy. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 06:04 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - PlayWiz 01:51 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| My admiration for Andrews is second to none, but it's always interesting to me that people seem to think that she had, in your words, a "landmark" Broadway career. She appeared on Broadway in a grand total of four productions and off-Broadway in a limited run of one musical revue that later came to Broadway in a different production without her. She starred in one show that was an undisputed classic, another that is generally considered a lesser work, one that was an almost complete misfire, and one that is an almost forgotten early career work. It's her career in film and television that was so prolific as to be considered landmark. And I wonder if you pulled MARY POPPINS and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, two of her earliest films, from the list if she'd be all that iconic and remembered at all. Aside from those two films, people probably remember VICTOR/VICTORIA, and maybe S.O.B., but only for the fact that she beared her breasts for a moment in it, and maybe THE PRINCESS DIARIES. I'm not saying that she isn't in a lot of good movies, but what is she actually remembered for? She fled Broadway for a film career when Walt Disney came calling with MARY POPPINS (and might have done the same if she'd gotten the MY FAIR LADY film), and didn't come back until Hollywood didn't want her husband's films anymore. And only returned in that case because it was the only way her husband's next idea for a project was going to happen. As I said, I love her. But the bulk of her career has not been on Broadway. She did not have anything resembling a "landmark" Broadway career, something that one might say about Ethel Merman or Mary Martin or Angela Lansbury or Audra MacDonald or Sutton Foster. I wish she'd come back to the stage for the 30 years in the prime of her career that she spent making movies and doing television. She might have provided some absolutely thrilling and legendary performances. But she didn't. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Billhaven 09:24 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - JereNYC 06:04 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| But why would you pull two of most popular and beloved films of all time from her body of work?! One charmed and influenced many generations of children and the other is the most beloved musical film of all time. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 11:43 am EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - Billhaven 09:24 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| I was just making the point that, despite a 30 year career as a Hollywood leading lady, Andrews is largely remembered for just those two early films. I wonder if you asked a bunch of regular people to name a Julie Andrews film that's not MARY POPPINS or THE SOUND OF MUSIC, what most people would say? You might get some VICTOR/VICTORIA, but I imagine that, depending on the age of the person, it's likely that the most popular answer would be THE PRINCESS DIARIES. I'm not saying that she hasn't been in a lot of terrific films...just that most of them are largely forgotten today. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: bmc 02:25 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - JereNYC 11:43 am EDT 10/04/23 | |
|
|
|
| Americanization of Emily\and DUET FOR ONE are two of her best performances' I wish I could get Duet. on a DVD theat's playable in th USA | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 12:43 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:42 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - JereNYC 11:43 am EDT 10/04/23 | |
|
|
|
| Not too many people of younger generations might know who Judy Garland is if not for "The Wizard of Oz", and some of them just might refer to her as "Dorothy". People who watch holiday films might know "Meet Me in St. Louis" but it's not of the same iconic renown by non-classic movie buffs. Andrews' two huge films do exist, as does Streisand's "Funny Girl". The latter's "A Star is Born" is now way in the past, supplanted by the latest one by Lady Gaga, which is already 5 years old and not iconic either (as in, shown annually like "The Sound of Music" is on broadcast tv). | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 07:02 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 06:46 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - JereNYC 06:04 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| A lot of shows she did, including "My Fair Lady", "Camelot" and "The Boy Friend" are still well-known properties, as there were film versions of them too. Two properties written for her, which have in somewhat altered form, appeared on Broadway were "Cinderella" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie". "Mary Poppins" and "Sound of Music" films also are musical theater stylistically, even if she did them on screen. She championed Broadway musicals in her recordings and in her tv work. After being the top (or among) box-office stars in the mid-60s, she had a couple of huge flops ("Darling Lili" and "Star!", the latter having a lot of musical theater content in it -- the best parts of the film -- and the soundtrack is terrific!). In her two autobiographies, she relates how she and her second husband made their lives very complicated by lots of moving between London, Switzerland, Los Angeles and New York over the years. Their choice, but theater wasn't top priority for years. Yes, she had less of a commitment to wanting to perform on the stage after a while unlike those other ladies you mentioned. She was planning on coming back for "She Loves Me", but Hal Prince decided not to wait and went ahead with Barbara Cook. Plus, Andrews had been planning to do a film version of that co-starring Dick Van Dyke, as well as doing an Irving Berlin musical called "Say It With Music" which were cancelled by management at her film studio -- so she was still committed to doing musical theater songs at that point. But when a lot of overstuffed musicals -- those of hers I mentioned above, as well as "Dr. Dolittle", etc. flopped, it spelled the end for the most part of big musicals on screen. Even though she didn't do as much stage work, she did a lot of musical theater material in film, television and concerts. Merman and Martin made films but hadn't a comparable huge hit in movies as Andrews on a number of occasions. Foster and McDonald have done tv but haven't really cracked the movies. Lansbury has some great breadth of movie roles as well as huge later in life tv stardom. But only maybe Barbra Streisand (with even less of a theater career) had that Broadway to Hollywood landmark kind of career as a musical star. The recorded performances of Andrews singing the scores of "My Fair Lady", "Camelot", "The Boy Friend" on Broadway and the soundtracks of "Mary Poppins", "The Sound of Music", "Cinderella", "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Victor/Victoria" to me still have a connection to Broadway which makes her seem landmark to me. I recall many years ago reading about her performance of Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" being considered already acclaimed as one of the all-time great performances, a landmark if you will. But you have good points, too. And yes, I wish she had come back years before -- her Liza in "Lady in the Dark" could have been great. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: Billhaven 04:25 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - PlayWiz 06:46 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| She seemed ideally suited to Lady in in Dark however, after the massive failure of STAR I hardly think she'd run back to Broadway to play Liza Elliot. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 05:13 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 05:06 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - Billhaven 04:25 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
|
|
|
| Though Broadway audiences some years after "Star!" would have been likely more open to seeing Andrews in a sophisticated kind of role than, say, the general movie-going public where she had been playing a role so unlike her two famous movie nanny roles which really made her a movie star. But you're probably right -- something associated with Gertrude Lawrence for a run by then could have been a kind of trigger for Andrews which she wanted to avoid. She later did do a recording of "The King & I"; Anna would have been another wonderful (Gertrude Lawrence) role for her on stage. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 02:58 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - PlayWiz 06:46 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| I read both Andrews' autobiographies and I am not in any way disparaging her choices in her career or personal life. If it's one thing that she made crystal clear in those books, it's that if you want a career and a family life, tough choices need to be made constantly. If anyone ever had the idea that being a major film star was all glitz and glamour, Andrews' second book will quickly disabuse them of that notion. And, of course, I realize that she did films with theatre content and sometimes performed in concerts. But none of that actually changes the fact that she did not have a major career on Broadway. It was a phase in her career and then she moved on. Any of us here on ATC could probably name 100 famous actors who started their careers on stage and made the choice to move on to film and/or television when those opportunities arose and who never came back. Andrews, at least, did come back once (or twice, if we're counting the brief run of PUTTING IT TOGETHER). That CINDERELLA and THROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE were later adapted for the stage had nothing to do with her. MILLIE was a mostly forgotten film and CINDERELLA, at that point, was more associated with Whitney Houston and Brandy. And, if VICTOR/VICTORIA had gone that way as well, meaning getting adapted by people not her husband, I doubt that Andrews would have returned to Broadway in that show at all. If she'd been interested in returning to the Broadway grind in the mid-90's independent of her need to help her husband finance VICTOR?VICTORIA, she would likely have returned in a show that wasn't as taxing on her as V/V turned out to be, perhaps a Broadway transfer of PUTTING IT TOGETHER or the 1996 revival of THE KING AND I. Maybe, if she'd made it known that she was interested in returning to Broadway, someone might have written a new show specifically tailored to her talents and limitations at that time. Maybe she might have had the same kind of late career Broadway renaissance that Angela Lansbury had with many roles over several years, all carefully considered and built around what she could deliver at that point in her life. But I agree that an Andrews LADY IN THE DARK would have been legendary. I'm also curious about what an Andrews Mrs Lovett (especially given her career origins in British music halls) or Witch might have been. I wonder what kind of spin she might have put on Norma Desmond or Desiree Armfeldt or Phyllis Rogers Stone. And, of course, she'd likely have inspired writers to write new material especially for her as well. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 03:49 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 03:37 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
| In reply to: re: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - JereNYC 02:58 pm EDT 10/04/23 | |
|
|
|
| Besides Andrews' stage roles (which we and many others are still discussing --- i.e. in this thread), the fact that many, many people wanted her to return to Broadway over the years, especially in the 1970s when she didn't make many movies at all, first trying tv, is akin to proof that her prior Broadway appearances were prominent in people's memory and LPs were played often on their Hi-Fis. What was there was considered pretty "cherce", as Spencer Tracy used to describe Katharine Hepburn. From the mid-60s to about 1970 she was also a big movie star, so I don't think folks expected her to interrupt that career momentum, at least till her films started to flop in a big way and studios canceled some of her planned films. But then she and Blake Edwards had other plans for many years. That "Cinderella" and "Millie" existed at all was because the originals were written for her. "Millie" was done because of her success in the 1920's-themed "Boy Friend" when possibly the rights weren't available or its plot was thought too simple or old-fashioned to fill out a film. Ken Russell certainly had an original take on it when he filmed "The Boy Friend". I do recall that someone talked about making a musical of "Dutchess of Duke Street" for her -- don't know if that was ever written or produced. I think it was director Vivian Matalon around the time he directed the first famous revival of "Morning's at Seven" and was prominent at that time. There was also talk of a "Merry Widow" film with Placido Domingo. Many folks did dream, kind of like the pop music fan's 1970s dream of a Beatles reunion, with Julie Andrews prime among stars who had started on Broadway returning. Unfortunately "Victor/Victoria" wasn't done well. She sounded fine in "Putting It Together" prior to that, but the keys she sang in V/V were too low for her, among other things contributing to her getting what turned out to be an unfortunate vocal operation and the subsequent loss of her singing voice. I guess she could have pulled off Mrs. Lovett, as she could do Cockney from her "My Fair Lady" experience, though she never really did what might be considered character roles until she got older playing older royalty (well, maybe Mary Poppins could be considered sort of a character role with a hint of a romance with Bert), unlike Lansbury who very much did them throughout her career. I think writers would have crafted things for Andrews if she had expressed a strong interest in returning to the theater though. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| Correction: Make that an EGOD and a TEGOD | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 02:27 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 02:25 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: She has a Donaldson which was the big theater award before the Tonys - PlayWiz 01:51 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| I was thinking Academy Award and not an Oscar when I wrote it. Now, if we can only think of a way to make Sally Field a GIDGET again! :) |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| Julie also has a Theatre World Award | |
| Posted by: steven_carter 06:53 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: Correction: Make that an EGOD and a TEGOD - PlayWiz 02:25 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| John Willis & Daniel Blum chose Julie as one of the winners for the 1954-55 Season, for THE BOY FRIEND." Many forget that Julie's talent had been noticed by many in the theatre community BEFORE "MY FAIR LADY." Other Theatre World winners that season included Barbara Cook for "PLAIN AND FANCY" and Anthony Perkins for "TEA AND SYMPATHY." | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: Happy 88th birthday to Julie Andrews! | |
| Posted by: schauspieler 12:17 pm EDT 10/02/23 | |
| In reply to: Happy 88th birthday to Julie Andrews! - WaymanWong 11:49 am EDT 10/02/23 | |
|
|
|
| Sending two dozen roses.....long stemmed....pink.....on the fat side. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.114485 seconds.