As 1973 began I was full of dreams and excitement for the
new year. 1972 had been wonderful. Now, I was hoping for even greater things.
January 1st, after more than a week in West
Covina with my family, my mother drove me back to my International House, my dorm
in Hollywood. The next morning, I had dance class, piano and a prompt script to
turn in. Then, my scene partner, Cydel, and I worked on our final, a scene from
Stage Door. I was playing Terry and
she, Jean. We rehearsed from early afternoon until around 7pm. It was exciting
to realize I was finally doing the kind of work I’d spent hours over the last
few months watching Julie Andrews do. The only problem for me was that I had
been sick. “I don’t think I will be able to sing tomorrow,” I wrote.
On January 3rd, I went downtown to try to find the
music store Elizabeth
Two days later, Cydel and I performed our scene. Cydel was
so nervous she was shaking, but it went alright. For once our teacher, Mr.
Butler, said nothing about my not being alive enough. He only said our blocking
was no good. Even though I knew I had a lot of work to do, I felt everything I
had witnessed on stage at The Julie
Andrews Hour had helped me loosen up and do better in class.
After class, I went
back to my dorm and decorated the walls on my side of the room with pictures of
Julie and Liza. I also tacked up my cue cards from Julie’s last show. One of
them said, “Don’t Sit Here.” I put that all the way up at the top of the wall,
next to the ceiling. I though it was funny to have a sign saying “Don’t Sit
Here” next to the ceiling. Likely, that cue card had originally been on Julie’s
chair, or perhaps the director’s chair. I don’t know what my roommate, Lynn,
thought, but my side of the room had quite a display.
During this time, I started to develop a crush on a young classmate named Chris.
I wrote in my diary, “He has the bluest eyes I have ever seen.” One day I was
walking down the street with my arms full of books and groceries when he
stopped and said, “I’ll carry your books for you. Really I will!” Of course, he was flirting with a lot of the
girls and my years of my shyness did not put me in a good position, either for
meeting a cute guy or doing well on stage. This same day I found out that I was
being left behind in acting class. I went back to my room and had a long cry. It
seemed as if I would never belong; I would always be left behind.
After a weekend at home, with my mother’s mother-in-law
complimenting my singing, I returned to Hollywood for another week of school.
***
Monday, January 8th, I decided to walk home after
school. As I got close to my building, I became aware that someone was
following me. He came up and acted as if he would pass me. Then, out of the
corner of my eye, I saw that he was holding something in his hand—it looked
like a gun! I was so frightened! I had almost reached the front walk to
International House when, suddenly, someone came between us and I got away.
(Looking back now, I can only think it was an angel who came so suddenly, out
of no where. I did not look back.)
On Wednesday, January 10th, I went downtown to see Alice, my
best friend from high school. After our visit, I went over Hollywood Music and
bought some more sheet music. Wonder of wonders, they had four copies of the
original A Star Is Born sheet music
book. It was only a dollar, so thrilled, I bought a copy. The man there was so
nice, just as Elizabeth had told me.
While I was walking back to Sunset to catch the bus, I passed
RCA. I thought I saw Tony Charmoli, the choreographer. I couldn’t help
wondering if Julie was rehearsing nearby. As I was getting on the bus, I saw
the English actress, Elizabeth, walking sadly down the street in her long, black
cape.
 |
| View from the Hollywood Hills |
That night, I had my third singing lesson with Eugene
Loring. From his small cottage in the Hollywood hills I could see all of the
lights of Hollywood twinkling below.
Mr. Loring made me sing all the way up the
scale as far as I could go. He also gave me lots of exercises to do. I must
have told him about seeing Julie Andrews and loving My Fair Lady because after that he taped “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”
for me. He told me that the goal in singing is to bring a picture to the
listener who cannot see what you are singing about and to bring feelings as
well (my notes are not too clear). About the lesson, I wrote, “I didn’t sound
too bad except I didn’t come out on the high notes. Mr. Loring told me, “You
can’t sing like Julie Andrews over night.” I almost broke out laughing because
I didn’t think I could ever sing like Julie Andrews period!
Returning to my dorm, I was able to watch the last half of the
show with Keith Michell. We all watched television on a little black and white
TV in a sort of den/kitchen. I commented in my diary,
 |
| This photo from Star! always stood on my dresser. Unfortunately, like many other things, it got a bit flooded in storage. |
“Julie’s show with Keith Michell was on tonight.
I screamed with laughter when they said the lines on my cue cards. I loved “On a
Clear Day” as much as ever.
Thursday, January 11
At school I had to stand on line for five hours to register
for the new semester of classes. I got everything I wanted but dance. Then, I
rehearsed with my scene partner. Our acting seemed very silly to me this night,
and as the evening went on, it seemed to get worse, instead of better! Back at
International House, I worked on a speech from The Mad Woman of Chaillot –practiced it all night.
I wrote in my diary: This whole week has dragged on -- I
cannot wait for Friday!
Yes, it had been nearly a month since I spent eighteen hours
on the set of The Julie Andrews Hour,
nearly a month since I had seen Julie. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow!
Coming Next: Back at the Studio
A list of The Julie
Andrews Hour blogs with links to this page can always be found on: http://www.JulieAndrewsHour1972.com
Note: All photos here are for entertainment purposes only.
If
you think The Julie Andrews Hour
should be released for the public on DVD, along with music releases of Julie
and her guests, please e-mail a polite request: dan.gopal@itv.com
If
you prefer, you may look up ITV in London Los Angeles
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