Song:I Could Have Danced All Night
Album:A Little Bit Of Broadway
Julie Andrews was probably the most popular star of the mid-60s with the monster film musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music. But many fans became familiar with her when she appeared in the Broadway musical My Fair Lady. I Could Have Danced All Night is from that show. But she didn't get to be in the film version of My Fair Lady. Though the film was successful, Jack Warner's decision not to hire Julie is still controversial. And what if she had done that film instead of Mary Poppins. She was born Julia Elizabeth Wells Oct. 1, 1935 in Walton-on Thames, Surrey, England. Her mom was a piano teacher. After her parents divorce, her mom married vaudevillian Ted Andrews. She started performing with them as Julie Andrews. Julie performed at a 1948 royal command performance. And as a teen, she appeared in several children's shows on the London stage. She made her Broadway debut in the 1954 musical The Boyfriend. Then she starred with Bing Crosby in the 1956 musical adaptation of the Maxwell Anderson play High Tor. This was the first filmed made for TV movie. Then she was hired for My Fair Lady. It premiered on Mar. 15, 1956 and ran for 2,717 performances. And the original cast album was a best seller. She also appeared in the London production. She also appeared in a musical adaptation of Cinderella that aired on live TV Mar. 31, 1957. And she appeared in the musical Camelot in 1960. And she recorded albums for RCA and Columbia. When it came time to cast the film version of My Fair Lady, Warner Bros. president Jack Warner decided that Julie wasn't a big enough star and he cast Audrey Hepburn. But Audrey couldn't sing and Marni Nixon was hired to dub her voice. My Fair Lady was a success. But then Disney hired Julie for Mary Poppins and the success of that film made Warner look foolish. And of course Julie had even more success with The Sound Of Music. Julie recorded enough for RCA and Columbia that Sony could do a box set. Obviously they wouldn't be able to include Mary Poppins. But they have never done that. A Little Bit Of Broadway was released in 1977 and is available as a budget CD. It contains songs from Cinderella, Camelot and the London cast of My Fair Lady. Beware of poor quality foreign CDs. Being a star for family films became a problem for Julie when she wanted to do more mature films. The late 60s musicals Star! and Darling Lili were flops and she wasn't able to revive her career until Victor/Victoria in the 80s. Julie Andrews had a vocal cord operation in 1997 that damaged her voice. She still performs occasionally. Here's Julie Andrews performing a medley of The Sound Of Music, My Favorite Things and I Could Have Danced All Night on The Julie Andrews Show 1965.
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