Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews on broadway question

[aliceripleysnumber1]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:10pm

I was wondering, did anyone out there see Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria on Broadway? It was her last great glory before the terribly sad surgery that destroyed her voice. How was she on stage? I would imagine it would be quite an honor to see her performing live!

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:14pm

I saw Victor/Victoria on Broadway. Could not pass up the opportunity to see Julie on stage. She was everything one would expect from the great Julie Andrews except I don't think her voice was so wonderful at that point even though it was before all of her vocal troubles began.

I am still glad I saw her live on Broadway.

Updated On: 3/25/05 at 06:14 PM

[Phantom487]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:15pm

I didn't see it live... but I have the DVD of the stage version with Julie. She was flawless! It was a brilliant show... the sets were amazing. It's so tragic what happened to Julie's voice...

[magruder]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:17pm

Great to see her, of course, but Victor/Victoria was a really dreary affair on stage, particularly the new songs added to the score ("Paris Makes Me Horny," and "Louis Says" chief among them). The whole thing played really listlessly. There were some highlights...Andrews' tango with Rachel York, and an elaborate "cat and mouse" Act Two farce sequence. But it wasn't nearly as enjoyable a property as the film version.

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:20pm

I saw the pre-Broadway tryout and while the show was not the best, it was Certainly worth seeing for Ms Andrews performance. I myself saw it twice and, incidentally, MacGruder, I thought "Louis Says" was the best number in the show. Goes to show, different strokes....

[magruder]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:25pm

Clive Barnes called "Louis Says" the worst production number he had seen in his lifetime of theatregoing.

[jim coleman]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:27pm

I agree with Magruder that "Louis Says" was a bad number. But so see Julie Andrews on the stage was a dream come true for me. The movie is wonderful, and the show is just servicable. Without Julie it would not have run 6 months. But I loved it for the fact that it brought her back to the Broadway stage.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:33pm

She was out when we saw it. Anne Runealfson was great as her understudy

[paradox_error]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:37pm

This is what you get when you bring in someone like Wildhorn to replace a great like Henry Mancini.

The film is one of my most treasured DVD's. I absolutely love it, and love both Julie Andrews and Robert Preston equally.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:06am

Gee I posted this once already but I don't think it registered. I saw Andrews in the show during her last week in it on a Saturday night and she was having terrible problems with her voice. It just kept getting worse as the evening progressed. She had difficulty with reaching notes in her upper register and when she did they would crack. Little did I know then she would be singing for one of the last times. It was so sad to witness one of the theater's greatest sopranos from the "Golden Age" of Broadway having so much difficulty singing. She, Barbara Cook and Susan Watson had the most pure pristine qualities to their voices. The only other time I had a similiar experience was watching Patti Lupone in the pre Broadway tour of "Evita". It was the last performance of the L.A. run and she had been recording the cast album during the day. She barely made it through the "Buenos Ares" number when her voice gave out. By the end of Act One she wasn't even able to shout out the lyrics much less sing them. She was replaced for the second act. In both cases there was nothing worse than hearing that low audience buzz that travels through the theater when a performer can no longer hit the notes and is literally dying on the stage. Just the look on their faces was so upsetting but I guess overall that is what makes theater so exciting....the living in the now element.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:09am

It was amazing to see Julie Andrews onstage and to meet her afterwards (she was really sweet), but the show was a joke. So, so bad.

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:28am

I saw the show, but it was not a glorious moment. Her voice was long gone and the show itself was pretty lame. Tony Roberts was absolutely terrible. The only saving grace for the show was Rachel York.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 3:36pm

Here was another case where they took a sparkling film and mashed it into pulp to bring it to stage. Julie was a big enough star to rise above it all, but the rest was painful to sit through. I considered buying teh DVD but rented it and tried to watch it all the way through but just couldn't. I bought the movie instead.

And whose lame-brained idea was it to put Raquel Welch into the part after Julie left???? Some Broadway producers have too much money and not enough brains!

[MusicalDirector109]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 4:53pm

I credit Mr. Edwards for even letting the THR great Miss Andrews being in that mess of a musical. I kept thinking here is a legend who was in the original casts of "My Fair Lady" and even "Camelot". Didn't she know it was bad. If it hadn't been for Julie, I WOULD have left at intermission. The film is one of "my favorite things"

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 5:33pm

I don't think the show was bad at all. I have the DVD and it's one of my favorites of my collection. I love the book I think it's absolutely hilarious. Tons of great one liners and things like Norma's "impotence" monologue and the "King is living with a Polish Fairy!" and "My mother was a nun!!!" lines they're all hysterical. Julie is charming as always and the supporting cast are all fantastic. Especially Tony Roberts. I don't care what people say about him off stage his performance on stage was perfection. aslo, some of my favorite songs are "Luis Says" and "Paris Makes Me Horny". The later even more so because it's just such a funny song. Yes, it has a lot of odd rhyme schemes but it was obviously intentional.

The sets were beautiful. The costumes were fine and just the whole show is one of those I suppose "guilty pleasures" for me. I usually find myself wishing life was more like VICTOR/VICTORIA.

There were additional songs too. I know later in the run "Louis Says" was cut. and act two just began with the entr'acte and then what had been act two scene two. and later for the TUTS staging a new song was written called "Attitude" to replace "Louis Says". Also I've never heard the song that Liza sang in place of "Crazy World" which was titled "Who Can I Tell?" with music by Leslie Bricusse. I'd like to hear that.

The Broadway version also turns 10 this year on October 25th. The day after my birthday. Updated On: 3/26/05 at 05:33 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 5:39pm

I wanted to climb under my seat after hearing such leaden lyrics as "Paris makes me horny/It's not like Californy/Paris is so sexy Jack/It's such an aphrodisiac" and "Life is just a bowl of fraise/Oh Louis's screwy/Who cares what Louis says?" It's indefensible.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 6:03pm

I have the DVD, and while it's not what I would call a classic musical, it's harmless fluffy fun. I do think that Rachel York was the saving grace though. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

[junglered]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 6:09pm

I saw Julie in Victor/Victoria about 2 weeks after the show opened at The Marquis. I thoroughly enjoyed her performance - it was wonderful being within spitting distance of one of my favorite actresses. "Le Jazz Hot" was the musical highlight of the show for me. I enjoyed Rachel York's and Greg Jbara's performances, also. I am excited to see Greg again in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 6:17pm

one of my all time favorite films. i always thought it would make a great broadway show. when i finally got to see it on stage i was so disappointed. not one of my favorite shows. rachel york's performance is a total rip off of lesley ann warren's. warren should've sued.