A Spoonful of Julie – Review

Since Nicola Mills was a little girl she just LOVED Julie Andrews films and ‘The Sound of Music’ is still her favourite. She used to sing along to them as a child, know all the words and would watch them over and over again. Little did she know where that might take her!

Nicola, a down to earth Northern Lass is a Soprano with initially (and still) a lover of Opera after being introduced to it at 15, she went on to study The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and then worked all over Europe in prestigious Opera Companies, and that could have been a great life BUT Nicola want more, she wanted to take Opera to the people, by singing in the streets. See her ‘in action’ …..

She did not know that it would change her life. It established her passion for singing and developed a wonderful connection with her (random) audiences. She recently spent 6 months of 2019 in New York where she put on her own show ‘A Soprano and a Suitcase’ at The Triad Theater.  Check out her website, where there is also a great blog about it

The nagging idea for a Julie Andrews tribute show she could not shake, so whilst still in New York she spent hours in the Performing Arts Library at The Lincoln Center researching her and watching videos. A few things conspired to think ‘Life’s TOO Short’ to NOT do the things you really want to do, so shoving all obstacles aside, she decided to GO FOR IT!

The show is called ‘A Spoonful of Julie’ and it’s full of songs and medleys of Julie’s most favourite things and there are some  wonderful Julie stories along the way too.  Stuart Barham who worked in the West End as a musical director for years with the likes of Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh, has done an amazing job of the arrangements and Nicola is super excited to be premiering in Lytham in the New Year, honouring her idol Julie Andrew, who brought so much pleasure to people of all ages. She hopes she will bring pleasure to you too.

Here’s my review

A practically perfect way to spend an evening or afternoon

From the moment Nicola Mills and her accompanist Gary Branch (at the time) burst onto the stage with a short compilation of everyone’s favorite tunes we were then immersed in anything and everything Julie Andrews from charming anecdotes of Julies early life and a musical meander through the films and stage shows, such as Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Camelot.

What Nicola brings is sheer joy, as well as an amazing voice, that she is fulfilling a long-held dream and letting us be part of it ………some fabulous sing a long moments too!

I personally laughed out loud and shed a tear, Nicola is the most charming down to earth ‘diva’ you will ever meet!

If you cannot catch a performance of this one woman show (see below), she can be seen gracing the streets of Lancashire and bringing Opera to the People.

Check out her website www.iamnicolamills.com/