Julie Andrews

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 2:52pm

What exactly happened to her voice? I know she can't sing anymore, but why? What did she do to it? It is so sad. I was watching Princess Diaries 2 and the part where she sings was really touching and moving personally, but it was hard to listen to it because I am used to her gorgeous voice.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 2:54pm

Really bad surgery botched her voice.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 2:55pm

That, and Victor/Victoria didn't help any.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 2:57pm

My understanding is she had polyps & had surgery. I am SURE she was warned of the risks but she said not & sued the Surgeons the Hosp et all for malpractice ( Ie did not meet an accepted standard of tx/care) He larynx is ok for speaking but she cannot put virtually any strain on it now.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:09pm

Was the surgery before or after Victor/Victoria? And what are polyps?

[BrdwayBaby]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:12pm

they are like calluses on your vocal folds. when you hear of people getting "nodes" this is what it means. nodules/calluses on your vocal foldes.

[SJ13]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:18pm

Updated On: 2/3/05 at 03:18 PM

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:25pm

So, she hurt her voice and then got the surgery, which ruined her voice for good? Is that it? Were the polyps or whatever caused by misuse/overuse? I know not from polyps...

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:27pm

Polyps are caused by misuse or overuse.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:31pm

Okay,got it. Thanks!

[pab]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 3:40pm

"Ms. Andrews suffered the loss of her singing voice, and for that matter, her normal speaking voice. Following an operation to remove a noncancerous cyst in one of her vocal cords, she was left with hoarseness that still has not gone away. The low register is more or less reachable, as are a few high notes, occasionally, but the middle register is gone. Ms. Andrews jokes that she can do a good "Ol' Man River." "Do-Re- Mi" would be a struggle.

A lawsuit against the surgeon charged that Ms. Andrews had not been warned about the full risk of the operation, and the case ultimately ended in a settlement. Ms. Andrews was left with a dual challenge, to simultaneously explore ways to restore her voice and also to refocus the expression of her art."
Article

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 4:14pm

I believe the damage was done to her voice mostly because of the vocal demands that VICTOR/VICTORIA put on her to do night, after night... she would sing in her high soprano range for Victoria, and for Victor would sing in the tenor range.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 4:40pm

Yeah I did notice that her voice was noticably..well theres no other word for it...worse...in the Princess Diaries movie compared to her in Sound of Music but I never knew why til now. Thanks for the info guys.

[RumTumTugger22]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 5:02pm

that's just plain old sad

[Joshua488]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 5:26pm

The doctor told her that there wouldn't be any problems with the surgery and that she'd be back to singing regularly in no time. She believed him and, unfortunately, she never got her singing voice back. It is definitely an awful thing. She went into a depression for a while, which is compeletely understandable. The only thing she'd been doing since she was a little girl was singing, and when that is so abruptly taken away, I can definitely see it causing some depression or mental problems. Poor Julie.

In happier Julie Andrews news, she is directing THE BOY FRIEND at Goodspeed this coming season! Julie Andrews... thirty minutes from my house... AAAAH!! I've got to see it!

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 5:56pm

Julie Andrews said during the PDII shooting that she has been working with professional voice teachers, and right now she has about a 5 note range. She is trying to work her way up, but she says she knows she'll never have the [amazing] range she had before the surgery. I think it's just awful what happened to her... she was an amazing singer, the best.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 6:01pm

Before we turn this into a horrible tragedy, let's remember that she had a long, prestigious career that most people can only dream about. By the time of this surgery, she was getting to the point in life where she would have begun to lose range anyway as a natural part of the aging process. This didn't happen when she was 30 or 35.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 7:03pm

Ok I do not know her surgeon but any MD knows that risks/ benefits MUST be covered for informed consent to proceed. Sadly tho many patients will say they understand cos they want the tx & after the fact are not happy.(OH YES ,I've seen it!) I believe she was actually in danger of losing her voice entirely and this may have been the best they could do. No contention that it was a traumatic loss for her and the listening public.

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 8:12pm

i still think it's sad...imagine if it were you....you base your entire life on singing (something you love) and then in an instant it's gone forever.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 8:21pm

Seeing her in VICTOR/VICTORIA is one of my greatest experiences with Theatre, it was so moving.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 11:16pm

The cyst on Julie's vocal cord developed during her 3 1/2 year run in MY FAIR LADY. It is a vocally demanding role (lots of yelling, singing in chest, singing sweet soprano), and no other actress ever did anywhere near as many performances of the role. What saved her voice, early on, was that she went onto "Camelot", which was a very simple role for Julie to sing, then she went to Hollywood, where her voice got lots of rest. The demands of doing "Victor/Victoria" an entire year prior to it even opening on Broadway, then another 2 years (give or take), made the cyst reappear. Because she was scheduled to take the show on the road, she opted for surgery, which she was told by the doctors, would restore her voice and be a quicker recovery than plain rest. It was on this advice (in writing), that she consented to the operation. The surgery was botched, Julie sued and won.

[Marquise]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 11:35pm

whether it happened when she was 60 or she was 35 is not the point. the point is that it did and to someone who has entertained us with her beautiful singing over the years.

[Lorelai]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 12:19am

"Before we turn this into a horrible tragedy, let's remember that she had a long, prestigious career that most people can only dream about. By the time of this surgery, she was getting to the point in life where she would have begun to lose range anyway as a natural part of the aging process. This didn't happen when she was 30 or 35."

You cannot be serious. Are you really trying to convince me (well, the board) that even if Ms. Andrews' voice was not damaged by surgery that her voice (and career) would have been lost anyway? There is a difference *losing* something to the aging process and having something so precious *taken* from you by because of a careless mistake by some doctor? That can be avoided. A good doctor should be very careful when treating a patient but you would think a doctor would use extra precaution while in performing surgery on Ms. Andrews voice. But that's just my opinion.

Seeing the huge amount of people that have read this thread, i've opened a new thread on this subject in order attempt to have a wider response because I know sometimes people read a thread once then never come back to it. So I would appreciate it if board members would care to take a second to read and respond..

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 12:19 AM