Saturday, January 09, 2010

Sing it, Angie, do sing it.

The sixteen episodes of "The Julie Andrews Hour" ran on television from September, 1972 until March, 1973.  A variety show, Julie's featured guests were, among others, Robert Goulet, Angela Lansbury, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Mama Cass Elliot, Donald O'Connor, Harry Belafonte, Jack Cassidy,  Joel Grey, Carl Reiner, Alice Ghostly and Rich Little.

I first saw episodes at the Paley Center for Media ( the "TV Museum").   In my favorite episode, which aired on  February 10, 1973, Angela Lansbury, Steve Lawrence and Rich Little were guests.  It's full of silly comedy skits - including one in which Angela plays Mae West - but the best bit is when they are just lounging on the sofas, ala talk show style.  Julie sings a song cut from My Fair Lady but then Angela BELTS out "I Don't Want to Know" from Jerry Herman's Dear World.   She talks about it beginning at minute 2:04 of this youtube video.  Notice how relaxed she is as she builds and builds the drama of this anthem.

Dear World only ran for for 132 performances in 1969 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre (don't miss the Theatre Aficionado's essay on this bygone theatre), but Angela's powerful performance earned her a second Tony for Leading Actress in a Musical.   For a more in depth discussion of Dear World, also see Theatre Aficionado'essay, "Angela Lansbury in Dear World".











2 comments:

Kevin Daly said...

Thank you for the shout-outs my dear.

I'll never get over how Angie can sit back in a chair and just belt one out of the park with such nonchalance!

Bob said...

That's fantastic. Thanks for directing my attention to this clip!