Now that I am part of the Atenas Writers’ Group, I am aware of huge gaps in my reading background – works that would have proved useful to my skill as a writer. Since I was focused on dance and theatre in my teens and college years, I took only the absolute required courses in humanities, social studies and sciences. I have some catching up to do now, and I was thrilled when I saw that Dame Julie Andrews was reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice on the Noiser podcast channel. I subscribed and have loved every minute of listening to the 25 episodes. Here’s how Noiser describes it:
Jane Austen Stories is the new show from the Noiser podcast network, narrated by Dame Julie Andrews. In Season One, Julie reads Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, one of the most beloved novels in English literature. Join us twice a week as we journey through the grand estates and glittering ballrooms of Regency England. Meet the Bennet family, spirited Elizabeth Bennet, and the enigmatic Mr. Darcy, in a world where romance, wit, and social scandal collide.
I hope this is just the beginning and that Dame Julie Andrews will read more of Jane Austen’s classics.
This past December marked the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. She died very young – at the age of 41.
Julie Andrews celebrated her own 90th birthday on October 1st. As I began to think about writing this blog, I realized that not only has Julie Andrews had an amazing career, she has continued to do interesting things in her 80s and now as she is 90! I am in my 80s, and finding role models who continue fostering and sharing their creativity is important to me.
I have been following Julie Andrews’s career since I was 13, when my father took my Mom and me to New York City, where he had to attend a business meeting. Luckily, he had his evening free, and so off we went to see three Broadway shows: Diary of Anne Frank, Gypsy, and My Fair Lady. My parents patiently waited at the stage doors while I got autographs. The only program and autograph I kept over the years was Julie Andrews’s. I remember it was lightly raining and most of the actors rushed on, but Julie stayed to autograph my playbill, even sharing her umbrella with me. What fun I had over the next year playing the LP of My Fair Lady, pretending I was Eliza Doolittle and dancing enthusiastically to the songs in our downstairs playroom.
Over the years I have followed Julie’s career, seeing most of her films, including ones that are not so well known. While studying at Juilliard I saw her in Camelot and later, when I was living in the New York area, in Victor, Victoria.
While there is much I could write about how her performances entertained and inspired me over the years, what I want to focus on is what she has done since 2015 when she turned 80 and how that serves as inspiration to me now that I am in my 80s.
Voiceovers and children’s books are things that she started earlier and continues to do. This year she received an Emmy for her role as Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton. Among the films she has done voices for are Despicable Me, Shrek, Aquaman, Minions – The Rise of Gru, and (as narrator) The King’s Daughter.
Julie has written over 30 books, many of them with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. She began to focus more on writing when botched surgery damaged her amazing singing voice. She rallied when her daughter Emma encouraged her to write, and she reported she had found in writing a new way to use her voice. Most recent books with her daughter Emma include: Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (2019); The First Notes (2022); The Enchanted Symphony (2023) and Waiting in the Wings (2024).
In 2017 she and her daughter developed and produced Julie’s Greenroom, a 13-episode children’s program on Netflix, in which Julie appears with guests such as Bill Irwin, Idina Menzel and Tiler Peck. It is still available to watch.
In several interviews I watched, Julie talked about liking to direct. Some research led me to learn that in 2016 she directed a production of My Fair Lady for the Sydney Opera House. The program bill stated, “the 60thanniversary revival recreates the original Broadway staging under the direction of its original leading lady.” And in 2024 she directed a sold-out production of The Great American Mousical, based on the book she and Emma wrote. It wasn’t the first time she directed The Great American Mousical. What fun to see she directed it again in her late 80s.
In 2024, “Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames” was released, and Julie is interviewed throughout the film. It is a beautiful honoring of her husband of 41 years who passed away in 2010.
For the past four years I offered artist residency programs at my home here in Costa Rica. Part of my motivation for doing this was to have creative energy around me. Sometimes this force existed, and the house was filled with a freshness that was fun to be around. But I learned that I couldn’t predict when that would happen. Age was not the guiding factor, as I experienced this inspiring energy with artists in their 20s and others in their 70s and even 80s. Too often though there was a heaviness in the air. I’m not sure why. Was it the themes the artists were working on? Their frustration that their book hadn’t been published yet or a pressure that they needed to accomplish something special here, so instead of being playful and enjoying the opportunity, they were pressuring themselves? Sometimes the residency was just a convenience between residencies – having a place to stay without paying rent. (Yes, there are quite a few people who go from one residency to another, and rarely was the house filled with creative energy when hosting a residency hopper.)
Now that I’m taking a break from offering residencies, I find I am writing and painting more. I also delight in finding role models such as Julie Andrews who are older than I am, expressing themselves in new ways. It is invigorating to learn how they share their creative talents. A big thank you to Dame Julie Andrews for reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth. As I listened to each episode I felt like I was having a cup of tea with a friend and learning about the happenings of the Bennet family. With so much change and chaos in the world, these moments are most treasured.
I welcome you to share role models that are inspiring you, and special moments that are breaks from the chaos of the news. With wishes for 2026 that we might be inspired to explore new creative adventures.