THE HILLS ARE STILL ALIVE

Julie has had a lifetime of experiences that can be brought to bear rhythmically with a true representation of life with musicals such as Mary Poppins, The Princess Diaries, Cinderella, and many, many more.

It was fitting that Julie’s final public encore, as her career as a soprano singer was ending, could be replaced by a self-spoken, fun-filled, and hilarious lyric of her most favourite song reaching out to those of us who have fun-filled memories of our own as the years close in:

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favourite things

And then I don't feel so bad

Well said, Julie. We ageing fans agree:

Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses

Polydent and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses

Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings

These are a few of my favourite things

By: Andrew Herriot

Those of you who are retired, over 30/40/50 or thereabouts, will remember (in 1965) the movie: “The Sound of Music” starring that wonderful 4-Octave soprano, Julie Andrews, who, with Christopher Plummer, captured Movie Buff’s attention with the TODD-AO COLOR DE LUXE screen version of one of the most memorable tuneful movie entertainment evenings at the local cinema, or should I say, as a foreigner, the bioscope.

Oscar Hammerstein II produced a most iconic musical statement for Richard Rogers to set to music as a holiday classic and for Julie to sing to the von Trapp children, who were frightened and ran to her room during a thunderstorm to be comforted with her clear soprano voice:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favourite things

Words such as those agreeable thoughts for young, frightened children can only lead to images such as:

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver-white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favourite things

Julie is now 87yrs not 30yrs and she has had a rethink about not what soothing images she can bring to bear with song, but what timely thoughts and portrayals represent today’s world after 55yrs of living. Of course, she thought, I have lived and remember:

Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting, Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings, Bundles of magazines tied up in string,

These are a few of my favourite things