Julie Andrews, AFTER SO MANY YEARS - SOUND OF MUSIC Options

[Nimii]

An Old One - but still good

Julie Andrews
To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, 2004
actress/vocalist Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was; My Favourite Things; from the legendary movie; Sound Of Music. However, the lyrics of the song were deliberately changed for the entertainment of her audience. Here are the lyrics she recited:

Maalox 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.
Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favourite things.
When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favourite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favourite things.
When the joints ache,
when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.


Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.

N reporting!

[catch22]

I presume Julie Andrews was suffering from a condition called vocal nodules, which are a common occurrence in singers, public speakers & children too i.e. all those who strain their vocal cords. Unfortunately the surgeon botched the operation & also did not inform her that the procedure may damage her vocal cords.
No, she did not have cancer. These are benign lesions. Here are some references:

[i]September 15th 2000 (bostonherald.com)
Hub doc may restore the Sound of Julie's Music
Let's start at the very beginning . . . a very good place to start. [/i]

Word from our hospital spies is that ``Sound Of Music'' songbird Julie Andrews has been slipping into the Mass. Eye & Ear Infirmary to see if reknowned ear, nose & throat man Dr. Stephen Zeitels can restore her pipes.

Andrews, who lost her famous singing voice after a botched operation, recently settled a whopping malpractice suit against the doc who destroyed her vocal chords when she underwent surgery to remove non-cancerous throat nodules.

And now she's trying to get the Sound Of Music back.

Zeitels' division of laryngology at Mass. Eye & Ear is on the cutting edge (so to speak) of voice restoration.

Word is, Andrews has undergone microsurgery on her vocal chords and doing follow-up with Zeitels to try to get the Do-Re-Mi's going.

File under: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria's Throat?

[i]September 7th 2000 [/i](nytimes.com)
Malpractice Suit
Lawyers for JULIE ANDREWS announced yesterday that the singer had settled her medical malpractice lawsuit against a Manhattan throat specialist, DR. SCOTT M. KESSLER. "I am delighted to have settled this case in a favorable manner and am glad to close this chapter on an event which was unfortunate for all concerned," Ms. Andrews, 63, said in a statement.

Her lawyers, ORIN SNYDER and PETER PARCHER, said the settlement reached last month specified that the terms could not be disclosed. Dr. Kessler declined to comment.

The case had been scheduled to go to trial Tuesday before JUDGE LEWIS A. KAPLAN in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The settlement was reached privately, without arbitration.

"She is still having profound difficulties singing as a result of the surgery," Mr. Snyder said.

Ms. Andrews was starring in "Victor/Victoria" on Broadway in 1997 when she underwent surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center to remove non-cancerous nodules in her throat. The lawsuit alleged that she was not told that the operation carried risks of permanent hoarseness and other complications that might leave her unable to sing.

At the time, her husband, BLAKE EDWARDS, was widely quoted as saying that her voice had been all but ruined.

Initially, Mount Sinai and DR. JEFFREY D. LIBIN, Dr. Kessler's partner, were named in the suit, but Ms. Andrews later agreed to drop them.