Julie Andrews: A Musical Icon

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: A word to say when you have nothing else to say.

Thank goodness for Mary Poppins, because there is simply no words to describe just how amazing Julie Andrews is and what an incredible experience it is to be in the same room as her, let alone hear her speak; so I can think of no better use for this word.

Growing up with The sound of music and Mary Poppins and then seeing her in Princess Diaries (1 and 2); Julie Andrews is just one of those living legends who has defined so many amazing roles. So to have the chance to go and see her love, is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

So yesterday, on May 24th, we went to Sydney State Theatre to see Julie Andrews. This was part of the celebrations for my 23rd birthday the day before, when the dates were so convenient, I decided it just had to be a birthday present from the universe.

I spent all week watching every movie I owned with Julie Andrews in it as preparation. I've always loved Miss Andrews because from Mary Poppins to Princess Diaries 2, she is always beautiful, funny and elegant. She has this amazing presence on screen, and last night I discovered that presence carries across to stage and just reality. Julie Andrews just is royalty.

Which is why is she always "Julie Andrews", never just "Julie". She's just so elegant and regal that you must always refer to her by her full name. But she is also sweet and humble, soft spoken and gracious. She just makes you want to hug her, but also curtsey. Curtsey and then hug her.

The evening was hosted by Nicholas Hammond, who of course was Friedrich in The sound of music. And honestly, he has not changed a bit. He just looks older than he did in the movie! I admit, I shed a few tears when she entered the stage, I was just overwhelmed that this was actually happening. Miss Andrews spoke for the first hour, about her childhood and her early career. And it was fascinating, I learned so much I didn't know. I could have listened to her speak forever, she speaks so well.
It was so intimate, as though we were all just sitting around her living room or something. But at the same time, she speaks... exactly as she does as Queen Clarise.

I knew that she had been married before, but I didn't know that her first husband had designed the costumes and sets for Mary Poppins. It was really beautiful when she talked about her second husband, Blake Edwards, who she was married to for 41 years until his death. She just glows whenever she talks about him, you can tell how much she loves and misses him, its so touching to see and brought more tears to my eyes. She also spoke about her experiences visiting Cambodia and Vietnam in the 1980s after the war with Pol Pot had just ended, which was so moving.

After intermission (which she announced so sweetly, just "I could do with a cup of tea or something a bit stronger, so let's just meet back here in, say 20 minutes?", like we were all friends just meeting to catch up for a coffee or something and made me love her even more), she and Nicholas returned to the stage for more of a chat and for Miss Andrews to answer some of the audience's questions, which had been submitted prior to the show.

And the first question was mine!!! I honestly didn't think my question was that interesting so I wasn't expecting it to be answered. But for those interested, her favourite Mary Poppins costume was the white frilly one she wears when they're on the painting; and yes, she can still say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" backwards, and she did it!!

The second hour was as good as the first. There was some amazing footage that Nicholas' mother had shot during the filming of the "Do-re-mi" sequence and the boat scene, where they fall into the water. There were some excellent questions asked and the answers were so interesting. Again, I learned so much and it was so good to just hear Miss Andrews and Nicholas speak about the experience of filming the movie. She also spoke about her family and the books and projects she does with her daughter Emma, which was so interesting.

The night ended with the request from Nicholas and Julie Andrews that we all join together and sing "Edelweiss". Now, I don't usually sing out loud, but if Julie Andrews asks you to sing, you sing! No hesitations. It was the most amazing experience. It was like that scene at the end of The sound of music when they're singing at the festival right before they escape... and you just felt so honoured to be a part of that moment.

Of course, afterwards I thought of all the questions I should have asked Miss Andrews. Things like her favourite modern musicals, and the televised Sound of music stage production later this year with Carrie Underwood as Maria.

I will always cherish the memories of last night, and whenever I rewatch a movie with Julie Andrews in it (which I have already watched The sound of music again today), I will always remember that just as on screen Julie Andrews really is "practically perfect in every way" and I'm so glad I had this opportunity to see her.

My 22nd year in review

So, last year just before my birthday I did a big recap of everything that had happened in the past year- good and bad. And I found it really great to be able to just look back and reflect and see a year of my life on paper (figuratively speaking).

I decided it would be good to do the same thing for this year, I've just structured it a little differently than last year. Here goes:

Shows/Musicals/Concerts: 

•  Annie
• Legally Blonde (8 times)
• Beauty and the Beast (Amateur production in Sutherland). 
• Carrie Underwood "Blown Away Tour" at the Sydney Opera House
• Delta Goodrem "The Top of my World Shows" (well, half of it, but it counts).
• Hats Off to the Classics
• Adam Hills "Happyism"

Trips:

• Melbourne (x2)
• Adelaide (x2- I think. Maybe 3 times). 
• Sydney (that counts! It involves travel and I stayed overnight, so it counts).
• Canberra 
• Queensland

Celebrities I Met (That I hadn't met before):

• Rob Mills
• Erika Heynatz
• Cameron Daddo
• Helen Dallimore
• Anthony Warlow
• Mike Snell
• Idina Menzel (well, it was a tweet. But it's really hard to get a tweet off her, so I want to count it).

Fanfics Published:

• Stranger to Myself (Wicked)
• If I let you go (Wicked)
• Sitting on top of the World (NCIS)
• But for a Moment (Wicked)
• 40 Weeks (Wicked)
• Understanding (Anne of Green Gables)

Experiences Had (AKA Cool things I did or that happened to me):

• Hollywood Costume Exhibition
• Unemployed for 4 months (Hey, I didn't say these were all good experiences. But the bad ones shape us as much as the good ones).
• Moved twice.
• Made more friends via FF.net/Twitter
• Got my 2nd teaching job.
• Went to a taping of The Voice.
• Was on Hamish and Andy's Business Brunch on the radio.
• Got to meet more members of my Twitter family.
• Touched a dolphin and held a koala.
• Got and lost a duckling (RIP Fiyero the Duck)
• Jodi Picoult read my blog 
• Wicked ended *sob* (I know, I know, it's coming back. But it still ended and it was sad).
• I had a normal, sane, non-crying conversation with Jemma Rix (this was definitely an experience).

Overall, I think it was a pretty great year. And I'm hoping my 23rd year is going to be even more amazing!

Flying Without Wings

I love, love , love this song. In that, it is on the list of songs that I will one day give my future husband as a final option as a song to use in our wedding (because I have too many songs I absolutely love and want to use in my wedding, and this way he kinda gets a say, LOL).

I've been wanting to use it as a Fiyeraba (or just a fic really) for a while now, and I did sort of use it in a House fic I wrote, Twenty Three Minutes a few years ago, but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

I love the Westlife version, but the first time I heard it was when Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden sang it on her Visualise tour DVD and it's just... beautiful. It feels more like a love duet than the original version, and I can listen to it constantly. I'm including both clips below- feel free to offer your thoughts in the comments below!

Westlife version: Flying Without Wings

Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden version: Flying Without Wings

2013 Dream Birthday Tweet List

Yes, it's that wonderful time of year again when I make up a dream list of those celebrities who in a perfect world, I could get a birthday tweet from on my birthday (which on Thursday, FYI ;) The 23rd)!

I was completely stunned and thrilled last year when I received (thanks to the efforts of my beautiful friends) actually several tweets from some of my favourite and the most lovely and generous Australian theatre performers.

Now, half the fun of this is just listing people (celebrities) I love and admire- no matter how unrealistic. It's a dream list. So here we go:

1. Delta Goodrem
2. Tim Campbell
3. David Harris
4. Elisa Colla
5. James D Smith
6. Jemma Rix (OK, she doesn't actually have twitter, but it would still be awesome. Plus, her husband does).
7. Rob Mills
8. Erika Heynatz
9. Michael Weatherly
10. Idina Menzel
11. Gretel Scarlett
12. Lucy Durack 
13. Carrie Underwood

I had 13 on my list last year, so I thought I'd keep it at that number. 

Weekend Recap: Legally Blonde Opening Night

This weekend was another one of my whirlwind musical trips, but this one was for my very first opening night of a musical, Legally Blonde, in case the title of this post and the above picture were too subtle for you ;) So this post is just to recap my whole weekend... or Saturday, mostly.

Now, confession: Kelly and I really only planned to go to opening night because we know that's when local celebrities attend and there was one or two people we were hoping to meet (ok, it was mostly one and that was Tim Campbell- because we adore him and I've been trying to meet him since I saw him in Wicked three years ago- and we found out a few weeks ago he wasn't even going to be there! Sigh).

But also because opening night, like closing, is something you should experience at least once.

So I flew into Melbourne from Tamworth after school on Friday, so I flew out at 5pm and landed at 9.30. And honestly, when I got to the airport and realised I'd left my iPod at school, I didn't think that was a great start to the weekend. But I amused myself between Tamworth and Sydney by reading the magazine on the plane, and then I bought a book (well, two) at Sydney but then Qantas give you iPads on their flights to watch TV and stuff, so I just ended up watching Family Guy, LOL (and it was hilarious).

Anyway, because no one cares about my inflight entertainment, I'll skip to the good stuff. 

On Saturday morning, Kelly, Holly and I went to the Hollywood Costume Exhibition, something I heard about only 3 weeks ago and inspired a major Audrey Hepburn kick on my part (story for another time). This  exhibition was smaller than I expected, but really cool. Most of the costumes there were replicas, but they had Audrey Hepburn's actual dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's and Marilyn Monroe's from The Seven Year Itch. You know, that one.

What the picture of Audrey Hepburn doesn't show is that her waist was freaking tiny. Seriously. I'm a size six and she was smaller than me. 

Other costumes included Dorothy's dress from The Wizard of Oz, Audrey Hepburn's My Fair Lady, Cate Blanchett from Elizabeth I, Kate and Leo's outfits from Titanic, and costumes from Gladiator, Cleopatra, Saving Private Ryan, The Bourne Identity, Camelot, 101 Dalmatians, A series of unfortunate events, Out of Africa, Harry Potter, Marie Antoinette, Antonement, Anna Karenina and heaps more.

They also had suits from Batman (The Dark Knight Rises), Spiderman (with Tobey Maguire) and Superman. It was pretty cool. 

My favourites were the little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's and this dress they had worn from Camelot. There were a lot of movies there I hadn't seen and then I felt bad that I hadn't seen them! 

This dress. It's amazing up close. And made with pumpkin seeds! But that train... ah.

So Kelly and I were at the theatre at about 5.30. The show started at 7.30 (we were a tad excited, haha). We hung around for a bit and just took photos and admired the theatre in all it's glory. Then we decided to go to the cafe next to the theatre to get a drink and pretty much almost literally ran into David Harris just inside the door!

We talked for a minute or two, and I had to thank him for writing on my birthday card (which Kelly had surprised me with 12 days early. It's been signed by David, Lucy, Erika, Helen and Mike!)

We also had a quick chat to Cameron, because it felt like half the cast was coming inside to grab food and/or drink between the matinee and the evening show. 

And then when we got inside the theatre, the first thing Kelly said to me when she sat down was "Jemma's here." Now, knowing Jemma lived in Melbourne, I had hoped she might be there, but I didn't dare get my hopes up. But to have it confirmed... um, I got a tad excited and overwhelmed. I may have squealed a bit louder than I intened (it was an involuntary squeal to begin with), and then- because Jemma seems to inspire that reaction in me just by being in the same room, I cried a little and simultaneously began to hyperventilate a little and felt incredibly nauseous. 

I think it was because I'd been dreaming, but not really daring to hope she might be there, and she's so amazing, and I haven't seen her in a year (since Wicked in Singapore), so... yeah. Kelly kept telling me to breathe, so there was a sense of deja vu! LOL. Then we had the big debate "can we go up to her and say hi? Is that weird? Will she have any idea who we are?" and then the show started.

I admit, I found it hard to concentrate on the show for most of the first act, because I was torn between a voice in my head just going "Jemma's here, Jemma's here, Jemma's here" and because I was trying to get a sense of how the audience was enjoying it, because I want them to love it as much as I do! 

When intermission started, we decided it wasn't weird to go say hi, so got out of the theatre as soon as we could and just pushed through the lobby looking for Jemma. And then Kelly saw Josh, so we figured Jemma would find him and then Stacey told us she was in the bathroom. So after she got out and met Josh, he disappeared and she was just standing there, so we figured it was okay to go say hi.

And she remembered us! She even remembered that I'm a teacher! She said she was enjoying the show, and Kelly told her this was her 9th show. I said it was only my 8th and she laughed and said "only the 8th. I love that" (!!!!). So, of course, we had to mention Wicked and I told her how happy I was that she was coming back (I cried when I heard, but I didn't mention that). And then Jemma said "I almost wasn't." And I almost died. But she said the break was doing her good, and even though she had been doing it for so long, she had found she missed it (thank Oz). 

Then I said how we were hoping to get to NZ but it depended on timing, with school holidays and all (and then she said "oh yeah, you're still teaching in the country, aren't you?" I'm a different part of the country now, but I didn't tell her that either, haha. I figured it wasn't important). So I asked her how long they would be in NZ and she said at the moment, she was pretty sure it was only 10 weeks. But she said maybe if it sold really well, it might be extended. (NOTE: 10 weeks from September makes it the end of November/first week of December. I just need it to be extended until mid-Jan at least!) 

Kelly and I had checked tickets when we were in Brisbane the other week, for a weekend in September and there was 1 seat left at the very back of the stalls. We told Jemma that and she was stunned, she had no idea how well it was selling. She also has no idea who the other cast will be!

Mostly we just talked about what she had been doing in her break. We mentioned Prick (the musical she had done during the Melbourne Comedy Festival), and said we had a friend who had gone and loved it. Then I said that we had heard that she rapped in the show, but when I pictured that in my head, she was still Elphaba, which made the image both awkward and hilarious. I mean, can you picture Elphaba rapping? LOL. Jemma laughed and said it was just as hilarious for her to be rapping as Jemma. I was pretty stoked about that reaction, because just because that mental image makes me laugh, is no guarantee its actually funny. She could have just smiled politely or something, but she actually genuinely laughed and found that idea funny! 

Anyway, then we left her and said goodbye. Before we went in, we saw Gretel (Scarlett), so we had to say hi and congratulate her in person in landing the role of Sandy in Grease, and she remembered us from Singapore too so we had a quick chat with her too. Jemma and Gretel were both so lovely! We didn't ask for photos, because we thought that would be weird, we didn't want to bug them that much. 

It was only just before Act 2 started that we realised Gretel was sitting 5 seats away from us! We hadn't realised! After the show, we hung around to try and see if we could grab any of the cast, mostly Rob because this was the last time we'd be able to see him as Warner before he leaves the show. We saw David again, and said a super quick hello to Erika (seriously, it was a "hi" and a wave), but then we got to get a photo with Rob. 

And this (other than seeing Jemma) was my highlight of the night: After I got my photo with Rob, I told him that this was the last chance to see him in LB, but we'd see him in Grease. And then he said "aw, that's great. Thank you," and squeezed my hand. Seriously, going over it in my head again, I have no idea how or when he even grabbed my hand! But it was a lovely squeeze. It wasn't my whole hand, just my fingers, but it was all my fingers, not just the tips. And it was a really genuine, gentle squeeze and I almost died. 

Right before the hand squeeze. Haha.

Always love seeing David Harris. He's just always so lovely.

So that was my Saturday. And then I spent what felt like all day on a plane today. Totally worth it though. 

Musical Theatre Confessions

For the last couple of years, I’ve been really happy to add “Musical Theatre Fan” to my list of titles I use to describe myself. You know, Teacher, Christian, Writer... etc. Theatre has joined the list of my interests and hobbies, and that’s resulted in some great friendships and conversations.

But I have noticed that along with being a theatre fan, that comes with other connotations. For example, if you don’t like a show, especially one that’s deemed a “classic”, it’s a real big deal. I’m not really sure why, because no one is expected to be a fan of all books, or all movies, or all musicians. So why are musicals any different?

So, I’m putting it out there, and here are my Musical Theatre Confessions:

1.   I don’t like CATS. I know, it’s one of those shows that has so much hype, and is so well known... well, I think mostly that’s “Memories”.  I just don’t get why it’s a big deal. I’ve heard “Memories” and I don’t think it’s an especially amazing song, but I couldn’t tell you what the show is about or any other of the songs. I have seen the show (kinda), my grandmother gave me the DVD for Christmas a few years ago, knowing I like musicals. I watched the first fifteen minutes and was really bored.
2. Whilst on the subject of CATS, which of course was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber...  ALW is a composer who is such a big name in the Musical Theatre world, but none of his shows (that I’ve seen) are amongst my favourite musicals. And honestly, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ALW... ok, it’s Phantom of the Opera. But the second thing? The Nanny. Because even when I knew nothing about musical theatre, I knew from watching The Nanny who Andrew Lloyd Webber was because of his rivalry with Mr Sheffield.
3.   I don’t really like musicals that are mostly singing. I like my singing/speaking ratio to be more balanced. I have seen Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, the Broadway version of RENT and of course, the Les Mis film. And in three of those cases (save for RENT, which will be elaborated upon in my next point), I enjoyed the story, but really felt they could have done with less singing. Especially because in every case, few songs really grabbed me because there were just so many.  I remember watching Phantom of the Opera and in cases such when they’re reading the note from the Phantom? There’s a voice in my head going, “Why can’t you just speak this?”
4.     I like the RENT movie. Love it. Over the stage show. Now, maybe it’s because I saw the movie before I saw the stage show. But you know what? The movie works. They cut out a bunch of songs and proved that they weren’t needed. The film, the story, the characters work without those songs. I know there’s a lot of theatre fans who say film versions who cut a lot of songs out destroy the original show, and maybe that’s true. I’ve only seen shows where they’ve added songs (e.g. Mary Poppins. And yeah, the changes from the movie threw me at first and I didn’t think the original songs they added to the show were that great, but I still enjoyed the show), so I can’t comment.
5.  Also still on RENT... I only like about half the songs. I don’t even own the whole soundtrack, I just bought the songs I do like from iTunes (there’s 10).  And those 10 songs were accumulated over about 3 viewings of the movie. Only 1 of those songs permanently lives on my iPod (Finale B).
6.   Les Mis is really depressing, which OK, I don't really think is that shocking. And I do love a lot of depressing things. I saw the movie (haven’t seen the stage show) and before I did, I knew some of the songs (3, I think) and I had a faint idea of the story. And yeah, I wished there’d been a bit more dialogue. And no, Russell Crowe can’t really sing. And I know everyone is super excited that they’re doing it again... but unless someone I really like is in the cast... I probably won’t see it. Maybe once, because my Dad wants to see it, and I like doing stuff with my parents and sharing experiences with them- and if my Dad wants to see a musical, you take that opportunity.  But it’s another one of those shows that is such a big deal. And again, I know there was a lot of discussion from fans of the show protesting against well... Russell Crowe, and the changes that were made.  But did any of the changes really hurt or work against the story? Having not seen the stage show, I can’t comment on the differences. But whatever changes were made didn’t stop me from crying at the end, or from enjoying the film, or from recommending it and praising it to others, or from deciding that I will be buying the DVD (I haven’t had the chance to do it yet though. And I haven’t bought the soundtrack).
7. A lot of these big shows, CATS, POTO, Les Mis, etc, if it’s revealed that someone doesn’t like the show, it’s often met (in my experience) with a lot of exclamation like “What?! How can you NOT like this show?!” Which seems weird to me, although I can readily admit that when I hear of people not liking Wicked, I have that same reaction. Because well... it’s Wicked (to be fair, I also have that reaction when people don't like Harry Potter. Or something else I love). And yeah, my Wicked is someone else’s... CATS, or whatever.  I guess this one isn’t so much a confession... or it is, but just that I can be a bit hypocritical even though it annoys me when I get this reaction from people about other shows.  Come talk to me once they’ve made the Wicked movie (eventually. I’ll probably be 50 by the time they get around to that -_-) and I’m sure I’ll be one of those people complaining about any changes they’ve made (honestly, my main concern is casting- but that’s another issue).

For me, whether or not I go see a show depends mostly on the story. Addams Family is in Sydney at the moment and there’s a lot of hype and friends who know me and know I like musicals (mainly Facebook friends) keep asking me if I’m going to see it. And you know what? I’m not. And not just because I’m now living several hours away from the city, which makes it more difficult. It’s just... I have never really been a fan of the TV show.

King Kong is also coming to Australia. I have no interest in that either. If an actor I really loved was in the cast, I might go once, and you never know, it might surprise me and I might like it enough to go again. I am however, super psyched for Grease (love that movie, and has a totally awesome cast) and The Lion King (it’s Disney. Enough said). I wasn’t sure how Legally Blonde would work as a musical, but I love the movie and the cast, which was enough to get me to want to see it, and I loved it.

Really, this post was inspired because a friend is watching RENT (the filmed Broadway version) and tweeted the following:

Now, I don't think this makes her a bad musical theatre person. And whilst I don't think I have trouble understanding RENT, there were bits I had to ask about. Like would people in 1989 New York be that openly casual about their drug use, or HIV/AIDS. It turns out yes, in that part of New York, they would. And that's fine and now I know. All I was going off was from watching Philadelphia with Tom Hanks, because he definitely wasn't open about having AIDS and for good reason. 

And I don't think we should be ashamed for being a musical theatre fan and not liking certain musicals- even (or maybe especially) those that are heavily hyped, referenced and discussed in musical theatre fan circles. Hence, my above confessions. 

It's like when people release those lists of The 100 Books you must read before you die, and I haven't even heard of half of them. Does that make me a bad reader? I don't think so. I read a lot of books, all different types. From classics (Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, JRR Tolkein) to books that probably should never have gotten published (*cough* Twilight *cough*). Same goes with movies- I like a lot, all different sorts and genres. So, why is it a bad thing or something I should be ashamed of to admit I don't like CATS or that I didn't love Les Mis. And despite the many critics (and I am still finding and reading less than raving reviews about Wicked even now), I'd rather see Wicked than Chicago a hundred times. OK, I haven't actually seen Chicago (stage or screen), but you get my point (basically my mum can't stand Catherine Zeta-Jones or Renee Zellweger, so there's no way Chicago the movie would ever be played in our house. And since moving out of home, I just haven't seen it). 

These are just my opinions, so I hope no one is offended by what I've said. I just got thinking about it, and thought it needed to be said. That's all. 

Feel free to share your own thoughts/confessions, etc. 

The Happiness Box

Today is ANZAC Day- the day when we commemorate all those who served and died for Australia in battle from World War I up until the present. It's 98 years today that the first ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers arrived on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915.

Today I read a book. Now, that's nothing unusual, but this book is special. It's called The Happiness Box.

The Happiness Box was written in 1942 by Sgt David Griffin, an Australian solider who was a Prisoner of War by the Japanese in Singapore. I first came across it last year when I was in Singapore and took the Changi World War Two tour.
Basically, in 1942, some of the POWs wanted to make Christmas gifts for the children who were interned in the prisons alongside them. Some of them made toys, but David Griffin, knowing he had no talent for making toys, decided to write a book for the children instead.

The Happiness Box tells the story of three friends- Martin the Monkey, Wobbley the Frog and Winston the Chi Chak (a Malayan lizard) who live together in a little house in the jungle.

A Chi Chak... pretty much a gekko

All the presents had to be checked by the Japanese. And when they saw that one of the characters was called Winston, they became suspicious that the book was actually a code for the Allies (you know, Winston... Winston Churchill. Get it?).
Some of the POWs managed to grab the book, and they hid it in an ammunition container and buried it somewhere in the grounds of the prison camp. After the war, they dug the book up and took it back to Australia, where it made its way to the State Library of NSW.

It's a sweet little book, but it's really amazing to read it and know what the author went through, why he was writing the book and the people he was writing the book for- children living imprisoned in a crowded and awful gaol.

It's only been available for public purchase since 1991. I assume you can buy it in Australia... I'd never seen it or heard of it (I don't think) until I went to Singapore, but our tour guide said it was a pretty big sale for tour groups and visitors.

The best example I can think of to sum up the essence of the book, is this quote. All you have to know is that Martin, Wobbley and Winston found a box in the jungle. Inside were 3 books, one for each of them.

Then Winston, who was very clever, said, "I will tell you what they mean. They mean that we three must go out into the world and teach our neighbours how to be clever, industrious and kind, so that they can all be as happy as we." 

I think that pretty much says it all.

Lest we forget.