With a speaking voice as musical as her singing, Julie Andrews chatted with an estimated 400 fans on Thursday as she signed copies of her latest book, “The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart,” at the Fairfield University bookstore.
This was one of the many stops the mother-daughter duo of Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton have been making to promote their book release, which is part of “The Very Fairy Princess” series.
Knowing that their only chance to interact with the film and stage icon would be with a book in hand, eager fans arrived at the downtown bookstore at 8:30 a.m. last Friday to claim a ticket. Tickets sold out in less than two hours.
When asked by The Mirror whether she preferred the theater or Hollywood, Andrews made sure she gave a thorough response, though she could not say which medium she preferred because they are very different.
She enjoys the “instant gratification” of the theater, but the work is the same every day. Films, her handler helped her conclude, are more about perfection.
Reporters were told that Andrews wasn’t giving any interviews, though Jim Fitzpatrick, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and the University liaison to the bookstore, arranged for students from The Mirror and The Ham Channel to stand with the press while Andrews posed with her book.
One of the singer-actress-writer’s handlers had to approve each photo before they could be published. A journalist representing the Fairfield Citizen did not agree with these conditions enforced, and opposed the five-minute photo shoot.
The strict photo ban did not diminish the enthusiasm of the fans that attended the event. Even before Andrews arrived, the crowd began a spirited version of “The Sound of Music” classic, “Do-Re-Mi.”
At 77 years old, Andrews still manages to captivate a crowd while making each fan feel like only their conversation matters.
One of the most touching fan encounters occurred when a young girl presented Andrews with a bouquet of roses. The star graciously hugged the girl, her sister and overwhelmed mother while exclaiming, “How lucky am I!” and “Come and see me again one day. I love getting hugs.”
Sally Smith of Litchfield, Conn., attended the book signing with her daughter, Terri Gilroy, and granddaughter Shannon Gilroy ’14.
Smith was 14 when she first met 19-year-old Andrews, who was at the time making her Broadway debut in 1954’s “The Boy Friend.” While Smith babysat for a family in Pound Ridge, NY, Andrews arrived for a cocktail party with a producer, she told The Mirror.
Many of the party’s attendees were much older than Andrews, so she talked to Smith about her homesickness, confiding that she would listen to the horns of the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth leaving New York Harbor to return to England.
Smith shared this encounter with the entertainment legend nearly 60 years later.
When asked why her daughter was absent from the book signing by an eager fan, Andrews said, “I’m subbing for the two of us today.”
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