The first week of March 1973, beginning with March 5th,
was a busy week for Julie Andrews. She would be taping the last episode of her
television series, The Julie Andrews Hour.
Doubtless, this was a time of mixed emotions. Since August of 1972, Julie had
worked incredibly hard on the show, so a break would be great. But knowing that
the show had been cancelled was sad. The cast and the crew, who were now like a
family; would go their separate ways.
Monday and Tuesday that week were busy with learning
the material for the show. Then, on Wednesday morning at 9:30am, Julie headed
to Western Costume to try on and fit a costume or two for the special bits in
Episode 24.
Henry Mancini would be the only guest on the final
show. Besides his reputation as a brilliant composer and musician, Mancini was
also a family friend. He had first worked with Julie’s husband, Blake Edwards,
on the 1950s television series, Peter
Gunn. Mancini had also written the songs for Julie and Blake’s first
picture together, Darling Lili.
Working with the talented and easy-going Henry Mancini would make the week all
that much more pleasurable.
At 11am that Wednesday, Julie arrived at the
recording study, ready to clean up some of the musical work with Priborski and
Ian Frasier. Also present for this rehearsal were Henry Mancini and the eight
Tony Charmoli dancers.
At noon, the entire cast had a run-thru of the show.
Then after a break, at three, they began the musical pre-recording work in
Studio B of RCA at 6363 Sunset Boulevard.
Thursday, March 8th was an equally busy
day. Julie Andrews was on the set and
ready to run through the blocking with the dancers at 10 am. They were
scheduled to work on the Pink Panther
dance for an hour and a half. Then, at 11:30 Julie and Henry worked on the “suspense
scene,” At 1:00, they had an hour lunch break.
The afternoon was busy with work on the Peter Gunn segment, followed by what was
called “the Tea Party Spot.” After that, Julie rehearsed her song, her final
dance with “her guys,” The Tony Charmoli Dancers. The music was to be “This
Guy’s in Love with You.” They were
scheduled to quit at 6pm, but likely worked at least a bit later. The show
itself was not going to be overloaded with bits. It was simple but rich with
Mancini’s music.
By 10am the next day—Friday, March 9th--
Julie was back on the set with the dancers. The schedule was much like the day
before, ending at 6:30pm. It seems likely the finished on time. Though an
audience was not scheduled, that evening Julie was giving a big party for more
than 300 people.
And then it was over.
© Michelle Russell
To
request that The Julie Andrews Hour be
released on DVD, please contact: dan.gopal@itv.com at ITV and let your voices heard!
Be
sure to ask for the release of the music on CD as well!
Photos appearing here are for
entertainment purposes only!
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