Just Loverly
This is an appearance by Julie Andrews and her husband Blake Edwards on The Dick Cavett Show, where he eventually gets her to sing “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” My assumption is that, despite her protestations, it was set-up, but I’m not 100% sure because she says she’s not sure if she’d remember the words – and Cavett replies that just in case, they made up cue cards. And she expresses surprises when she sees them. I hold to my assumption, but it seems pretty off-the-cuff for real. Whatever it is – oh, man, the ease with which she just tosses the song off with such simplicity and texture.
Thank goodness she's able to transcend Dick Cavett being Dick Cavett at his worst, trying to horn in. (At his best, he’s informed, thoughtful and extremely interesting.) I mean, yipes, he asks her how low a note can she sing, and then competes with her! -- at which point (because his voice is just naturally lower) she stops, so we never get to find out. And then he starts singing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," until she makes an off-handed comment – not upset, but it sort of jolts him out of his reverie, and he finally stops.
Still, it's the singing here that's transcendent. Most especially in it ease.
By the way, if you haven’t seen it, a few months back PBS aired a terrific documentary on Blake Edwards, done for their American Masters series, which Julie Andrews narrates. The title is “Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames.” It may get run on one of their PBS+ channels, But if you have a PBS subscription and account, you can watch it on the PBS Passport section of their website.
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