Search - Julie Andrews :: Julie Sings

Young Julie at the height of her early Broadway stardom

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 01/29/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The second album under her contract with RCA Records, JULIE SINGS was Julie Andrews at the peak of her early musical powers, performing the kind of repertoire that had established her with musical theatre audiences.



Her first album for RCA (entitled THE LASS WITH THE DELICATE AIR), released in 1957, was a collection of traditional English ballads and folk songs. For her second platter, Andrews sang the kind of musical theatre material which had first established her talents with audiences. Pieces like "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Come to Me, Bend to Me", "He Loves and She Loves", and "Matelot" suit her blooming young soprano voice to a tee. This album was recorded in 1958, towards the end of her run in Broadway's MY FAIR LADY--and released just as she was opening in the London run. There is a marked difference in the quality of Andrews' voice if you compare the cast albums for the Broadway and London MY FAIR LADY's. During the long run of the musical, Andrews' voice matured and transitioned into the one you hear in later movies like THE SOUND OF MUSIC.



Under the lush musical direction of Irwin Kostal (who'd later guide her through her first movies MARY POPPINS and THE SOUND OF MUSIC), Andrews glides through a most giddy "Falling in Love With Love", the feisty "You're a Builder-Upper", and the gorgeous "My Ship" (a decade before she'd play Gertie Lawrence and sing the song once more in STAR!).



Bonus tracks include cuts from the cast albums of THE BOY FRIEND and Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA; "Pedro the Fisherman" from her earlier LASS WITH THE DELICATE AIR album, and a live medley of MY FAIR LADY songs taken from THE JACK BENNY HOUR.



[FLARE ROYCD-284]"