The diva to the rescue

A big night on Broadway. Expectations are high. Can Julie Andrews deliver? By Daniel Jeffreys

O Broadway! The glitter and the glamour, and how they love a diva. Which is fortunate, because now Broadway has three: Carol Channing (in Hello Dolly!), Carol Burnett (Moon Over Buffalo) and, now, Julie Andrews.

Julie Andrews opened in Victor / Victoria yesterday and a certain class of older celebrity - such as Joan Collins and Lauren Bacall - was out in force. The crowd was just right for a story which was almost fresh when it was a movie in 1982.

"I don't come to opening nights. I come to occasions." That was Roger Moore and he was spot on. Julie Andrews back on Broadway is something special - she made her debut in 1954 and last played here almost 34 years ago. It's a shame she didn't return in something more original, but Broadway is a cautious place these days.

Victor / Victoria is about transvestites and gender blending. All Nineties themes, but this production still has a Seventies air, as though the closet was still closed. "My character is a bit of a loser," explains Andrews on the phone the day before the opening. "She's been kicked out of her hotel and her job. She's facing starvation. Enter Toddy (Tony Roberts), who is gay and runs a bar which features transvestite shows. He persuades her to perform as a man."

This sets the stage for some cheap farce as Andrews impersonates a man impersonating a woman. Of course, the handsome nightclub owner King Marchan (Michael Nouri) is smitten, and convinces himself Victor is a Victoria, if only to save himself embarrassment. "The plot is a twist on a twist on a twist," says Andrews. "It's not about homosexuality or being gay. It's about being who you really are."

The 1982 film was just a comedy, but this being the Nineties it must be given a PC spin. It's a shame that that didn't extend to the jokes, which creak like an old Blackpool comedian. The audience must have been beamed in from 1961 and Andrews' last appearance, because they laughed heartily. The jokes, though, are not the point. You come for Andrews and her voice. That's why the show is sold out for the next three months at least. The fans will not be disappointed if Andrews survives her gruelling schedule - seven performances a week including matinees. As Michael Nouri puts it, "When I think of Julie Andrews I think of her voice and its purity."

In her opening number Andrews sounded a little tight, but by the end of Act 1 she was soaring. She sang "Crazy World" using every note in her wide range. She was strong and soulful with a little bit of hidden edge. After the show she admitted to some early tension. "It was the most exciting opening night of my life," she said. "It was also the most pressure I've ever felt. There have been so many high expectations."

Blake Edwards, her husband, director and producer, did not suffer this way. He said he spent the evening at dinner. "Then I fell asleep on the couch," he said. That might explain why some of the production feels so slow and old-fashioned. With Hello Dolly! playing right next door, it's tempting to say that Broadway has become stale and introspective. Except Carol Channing makes you feel Hello Dolly! is brand new. Victor / Victoria has never been on Broadway, yet at times it felt like a production in its umpteenth revival.

That may be the fault of the music, much of which was originally composed by the late Henry Mancini for the movie. The songs do not all translate easily to the stage, and none of them is memorable enough to become a hit in its own right. This may be the year of the diva on Broadway, but Hello Dolly! and Sunset Boulevard have much better tunes for their leading ladies.

The "Victor / Victoria" story can also be an obstacle. In the 1960s, Andrews was a one woman counter-culture with two movies full of sunshine as the world turned darker. Now she comes to the theme of gender-bending with ideas that have been picked over a thousand times. Again, she seems a little out of step. Both Andrews and Edwards deny this makes Victor / Victoria stale. "We've adapted it for the Nineties," says Edwards. "The musical is very much its own animal, it brings something fresh."

Edwards says he's especially proud of one new song, the King Marchan solo near the start of Act 2. Victor / Victoria has launched her successful career as a transvestite and finds herself the toast of Europe, performing in Paris. Marchan is there, too, and he's still unsure about the performer's gender but he's certain of his love. After agonising to Andrews, in what sounds like a musical version of a therapy session, he suddenly breaks. "I don't care if you are a man." "I think that line is very courageous," says Nouri. "When you hear King say that, you suddenly realise there's something bigger than gender and that's love."

In the film, Marchan knows Victor / Victoria is a woman; in the musical he doesn't know for sure. Edwards thinks this is risque. "This version is more in tune with the Nineties. We made major changes all the time we were on the road with the show, for over 100 performances. But this was always a constant, this uncertainty about gender."

In New York terms, there's nothing daring about this part of the musical. A thousand plays and musicals have already explored places that seem far beyond Edwards' reach. Rest assured, this does not bother the show's producers. Like most of Broadway's current offerings, Victor / Victoria will not rely on New Yorkers for support. More than 60 per cent of Broadway's audience comes from the suburbs, where sitcoms are popular and Victor / Victoria goes as far as they want.

This leaves one admiring Andrews' talent and wishing she could be given something really new to try which stretches her in a different direction. That's difficult when your main creative collaborator is your husband. Andrews admits that it's not always easy keeping everything in the family. "It's very trying when your husband says something was 'fine' but could you do it better."

It's hard to imagine Andrews improving on her Victor / Victoria. She is 60 years old now, and she has eight months of gruelling shows ahead. "I do nothing really now but get ready for the show" she said after her thunderous reception at the end of opening night. "Nobody knows we did a good show last night." Andrews admits this role is especially taxing. "One minute you're a man, then a woman. You have a make-up change and a costume change. It's a whirl and it requires a lot of stamina."

Which Andrews will have to maintain. Sources say her schedule was imposed on Edwards as a condition of the show's financial backing. Even with Andrews, Broadway production costs are now so high they will need her for eight months just to break even. It's a risky proposition to rest so big an investment on one woman's shoulders.

If anyone can cope, it will be Andrews. She's the quintessential trooper. After the show, she arrives for interviews apologising for being late and fussing about where the other cast members stand. The rumour is that the New York press will say Rachel York stole the show, but Andrews is gracious to her, just like a favourite aunt, which is what many feel she's always been - except for maybe some moments in the second act. There's a dark sexuality to her then, an electric sense of danger to her tails and slicked-back hair. That's when Dietrich in a tux comes to mind and you can forgive all the stale jokes.

n To end 1996. Marquis Theater, New York (booking: 00-1-212-382 0100)