The Victor/Victoria/Julie Andrew story? (Tony & losing voice)

I just finished watching the DVD of Julie Andrews' Broadway production of VICTOR/VICTORIA (I have not yet seen the movie) and have to say that I was actually quite impressed. Her performance was great, the ensemble was great, and the staging/choreography was fantastic!

Now, I have heard glimpses of the stories involved with Julie Andrews and this production, but can someone enlighten on the details? In regards to her denying a Tony nod and losing her voice.

Thanks!

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Just to reaffirm Logan's comment on her Tony nomination:


http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/05/09/1996-05-09_the_great_slight_way__julie_.html

Footage of Julie Andrews' entire curtain call speech declining her Tony nomination after a matinee performance of VICTOR/VICTORIA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKqdq2EFPI8&feature=related

I love the Broadway number of Le Jazz Hot, she is a DIVA!

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Le Jazz Hot is L'amazing!!

That is a devastating tragedy. I know that she can't really get paid to sing because then the hospital has grounds on their side of the lawsuit that she can still get work as a singer.

At 64, her VICTOR/VICTORIA stage performance was incredible!

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Did the nominee comitee ever comment on her not accepting the nomination/over looking the other aspects of the show?

Didn't she sing in the second Princess Diaries movie? Why are we saying she never sang again?

Yes, she did sing in PD2, but her voice was no where near the level it used to be. It sounded - to me, that is - more like she was speaking the song rather than singing it.

I recall reading that her song in Princess Diaries 2 was the first time she had sung since the surgery and everyone who was on the set that day was quite moved to have been there to witness it

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It certainly was a better show than generally given credit for. Blake Edward's book is a masterful adaptation of his screenplay. What really sank it was the less-than-mediocre score -- "Paris Makes He Horny"? Oh, please.

With the plot intact, the mediocre or worse score truly sank the show. Mancini was gone, and they had to use some interchangeably dreary ballads by Wildhorn. Good or bad, the character of Victoria's tune stack was too ballad heavy. It made the show feel sluggish and too 'introspective,' when it should've been livelier. The character wasn't joyful enough in her musical expresion. It frankly needed more of the Kander and Ebb treatment.

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Ummm, when you compare what you had THERE on the PD2 soundtrack to what it was before—yes, it was destroyed. And she knows it. She herself said "I've got about five good bass notes. So if you wanted a rendition of 'Old Man River,' I can manage it." That's why she's never tried to sing in public again.

This was one of the most captivating voices of stage and screen, reduced to a croak. My sister and I grew up listening to "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins" soundtracks on my record player over and over again. Hell, "The Sound of Music" is my favorite movie EVER. (Imagine the looks when you're black and THAT'S you're favorite movie!) Whenever I have to sing legit with a British accent, I always end up sounding like her.

So yes, I did cry. And promptly deleted it from my Zune, never wanting to hear my childhood hero sound like that again.

And I'm sure when they say they recorded the top notes, they're talking about that G5 she hits over and over.

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Julie is TRUE CLASS. Her curtain speech is complete proof of that. She could have been nasty, but she was just in complete support of the creative team she was working with on Victor/Victoria.

That being said, the only things that MAYBE should have been nominated that year (but weren't) were choreography, sets, MAYBE Nouri PERHAPS York. That being said, York was really just rehashing what was already on screen. Nouri wasn't really a revelation in the role. So I'm fine with them not being nominated.

I thought Julie did a fabulous job with some pretty unremarkable material. I was blown away by her dancing, and wished that she would have been used a bit more in production numbers. I think the creative team was trying to modify the material to cover up the vocal problems Julie was having. For example, I HATED with Le Jazz Hot that she was basically wheeled out on a piano, sang a few notes, was wheeled off stage while the chorus danced, and came back on for a bit more. I think they were concerned about her being on stage and NOT singing, so they just cut her out of the numbers. She could have handled the dance (IMHO) but the vocal problems limited her singing ability.

The new numbers all were mediocre. The existing numbers were modulated down so low to deal with Julie's vocal problems, that I think they felt flat (IMHO).

I was THRILLED to finally see this legend perform live, but just disappointed for the most part in what she was given to perform.

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