50th Anniversary of the Sound of Music Celebrated at the Oscars

Monday, February 23, 2015

Last night at the Oscars, Lady Gaga sang a medley of songs from the Sound of Music as a 50th Anniversary tribute to this beloved film. This movie won five Academy Awards in 1965, including best picture. For me, it was a surprise to see Lady Gaga looking glamourous as herself, and not in a wild costume or disguise.  The second pleasant surprise was that she was singing this type of music and doing it beautifully.  She is truly a versatile singer.

After Gaga’s musical rendition, there was a magical moment when Julie Andrews, lead actress of the Sound of Music, came on stage to a huge round of applause.  She was elegant as always and certainly does not look old enough to have starred in this film 50 years ago.

I was fortunate to have photographed Julie Andrews years ago when she was at the American Booksellers Association convention in Chicago as co-author with her daughter of a children’s book.  Peter Sis, the author/illustrator who preceded her on stage, presented her with a yellow umbrella with illustrations from his book Madlenka.  Andrews held the umbrella overhead for a split second.  I saw this photo in-the-making and was ready - recognizing that this instant reprised her famous Mary Poppins character.  Later, I digitally painted the image -  realizing that this, too, was reminiscent of the Mary Poppins film  in which live-action was combined with animation.