Andrews offers stories from a life on stage and screen
By Del Stover
05/09 -- Everyone remembers the iconic opening to “The Sound of Music,” when the camera sweeps across the magnificent Austrian countryside and eventually closes in on Julie Andrews as she stretches out her arms to sing, “The hills are alive . . . .”
What people don’t realize is that Andrews was really ticked off at the time.
Speaking at the third General Session of the NSBA Conference, Andrews recalled that the opening shot was filmed from a helicopter, and as it would swoop down on her, “the downdraft of the engines completely flattened me, dashing me to the ground. It was absolutely impossible to stand up. Time after time [as the scene was reshot], I bit the dust, spitting out mud and dust.”
With each pass, she said, “I found myself getting angrier and angrier, and I was shaking my fists and signaling to that pilot to take a wider swing around me. All I got was a thumb’s up from the helicopter before being dashed back to the ground.”
Warmly greeted by the audience, Andrews returned the compliment with an equally warm recognition of the hard work of school board members and superintendents.
“I feel very honored to be here today, among friends and colleagues who share a passion for young people and education,” she said. “You represent the finest and most dedicated citizen volunteers in this country.”
An award-winning star of stage and film, Andrews said her career began when she joined her mother and stepfather in vaudeville during the 1940s. By 1954, on the eve of her 19th birthday, Andrews debuted on Broadway in “The Boy Friend.” Two years later, she starred in “My Fair Lady” opposite Rex Harrison and later starred in “Camelot” with Richard Burton.
A movie career followed when she moved to Hollywood to star in Walt Disney’s “Mary Poppins,” a role that won her a Golden Globe and Academy Award. She later cemented her career as Maria von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.”
Andrews shared a number of behind-the-scenes stories that she joked would ensure the audience would never look at her movies quite the same way again.
She recalled, for example, that no one had told the producers of “The Sound of Music” that Salzburg has one of the highest annual rainfalls in Europe, and most of the outside scenes of the movie were filmed between downpours or during a slight drizzle.
“We’d dash out from our tarpaulins and warm blankets, as quickly as we could,” she said, suggesting the audience members take a look at the sky when they next view the film. For her, the towering cumulus clouds that can be seen in the background of many scenes add to the film’s enchanting atmosphere.
Yet there was a serious side to Andrew’s talk. Over the years, Andrews said, she has volunteered with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and she recalled her visits to refugee camps.
“I felt ashamed,” she said of her tours. “By what right did I have to look into those tents and witness the misery? But the refugees welcomed me. They were grateful that I’d come all that way to see for myself. I returned . . . with deep emotional turmoil, guilty that I had the choice to leave.”
Working to help women worldwide, however, has proven satisfying and has some link to the work of educators, she said. “It is a fact, if you save 400,000 women, at least a million children automatically benefit.”
Andrews also took time to speak strongly in favor of the arts in school. “Studies have shown that young people who participate in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, three times more likely to be elected to class office . . . three times more likely to read for pleasure, and four times as likely to perform community service.”
“The arts require us to open our minds to new ideas,” she said. “They strengthen problem solving and critical thinking skills . . . and cultivate awareness, compassion, and social consciousness.”
In recent years, Andrews has written numerous children’s books with her daughter, Emma, and has launched a new book collection she hopes will promote literacy and create a sense of wonder and magic in young readers.
She closed her talk by applauding school board members for attending the conference.
“It’s important for us all to keep learning and growing,” she said. “Conferences like this one offer an invaluable opportunity to learn form one another’s successes and failures, to exchange ideas, and return to the task at hand with renewed energy and focus.”