50 Words or Less (1992) - Julie Andrews
Channel: The Julie Andrews Archive
Date: 2020-03-01

Concert: Julie Andrews
By Stephen Holden (Nov. 20, 1987)

NEAR the end of her one-woman retrospective show at the Westbury Music Fair, Julie Andrews sings a piece of special material called ''50 Words or Less,'' by Larry Grossman and Buzz Kohaan, in which she rattles off a list of adjectives that have been applied to her. They range from ''sweet'' to ''wholesome'' to ''cold.'' Miss Andrews caps the song with her own adjective, ''lucky.'' Indeed, in hearing her tell her story, one has the sense that at 52 years old, Miss Andrews is a contemporary ''Cinderella'' living out a happily-ever-after existence.

In her show, which plays through Saturday, Miss Andrews uses Noel Coward's witty admonition, ''Don't Put Your Daughter On the Stage Mrs. Worthington'' to launch into a reminiscence of her childhood on the English music hall circuit, and she plays a scratchy recording of herself at the age of 12 when she was a budding coloratura soprano.

From a music hall performer in top hat and cane spinning through ''Burlington Bertie,'' she becomes a torch singer crooning ''Come Rain or Come Shine,'' then crowns the evening with a ten-song tribute to the lyric Alan J. Lerner that includes ''Almost Like Being In Love,'' ''I've Grown Accustomed to His Face,'' and ''I Could Have Danced All Night,'' among other standards.

If Miss Andrews's full-out lyric soprano voice isn't as a lustrous as it used to be, her singing still has plenty of fiber. As much as ever, the resolute optimism that she has come to symbolize in roles like ''Mary Poppins'' and Maria von Trapp seems not to be the superficial cordiality that so many show business people adopt but a deep-rooted and engaging character trait.


Source: https://nyti.ms/29zTjTA