The
final episode of The Julie Andrews Hour
taped in 1972 was to be a show to end all shows. Keith Michell was the only
person on the show with Julie Andrews, except for the opening “Two on the
Aisle,” where the dancers appeared as ushers.
Keith
Michell, best know for the PBS series, The
Six Wives of Henry the VIII, would receive his Emmy Award for this PBS
series on Julie’s show. During the previous six months, he had been too busy to
pick it up.
The
creative team had created a show where the pair would perform everything from
Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde to re-creating an A.A. Milne children’s verse, “The
King’s Breakfast,” along with some modern scenes and a few musical numbers. Julie
and Keith Michell were well paired; both were multi-talented, and this show
would reveal far more of Julie Andrews’ capabilities than the pubic had seen
previously.
Yet,
as wonderful as the show idea was, it put a huge burden on the two stars. They
were going to cover the history of theater in one hour, and they had only a few
days to prepare for this huge task and one day to shoot all of it. Julie was
leaving for Gstaad the next day, so they had no choice. No one who worked on The Julie Andrews Hour would ever forget
that twenty-four hour shoot.
Morning
After
class, I rushed off to ABC. I got there at 11:30 am but was stopped at the
gate by the guard. This show as a “closed—closed set.” He told me he had to
call someone to see if I could go in. That person, I found out, was “head of production.”
I was relieved when the guard told me I could go through.
They
were taping “Mack the Knife” when I came into the studio. It was a street scene
with Julie and Keith, during which, suddenly, they turned on these machines
that made clouds of fog (probably dry ice). The fog came out in waves, rolling
across the stage with such density that the floor disappeared, and one of the
camera men tripped over the camera cables!
....
***
Afternoon
The
next scene they set up was a garden scene with a silver tree. Julie came out
wearing what looked like a little girl’s pink dress with knee socks and funny
little girl’s hat with ribbons on the back.
The
scene was about the future; a time when everything, even trees, would be made
in a factory.
This blog has been edited out toward a future book...
(c) Michelle Russell
Note: All photos used on this site are for entertainment purposes only.
No comments:
Post a Comment