Aled Jones to Host Julie Andrews' UK Tour

Iconic star of stage and screen Dame Julie Andrews will be coming to the U.K. this May for a tour of speaking engagements, where lucky fans will enjoy a special evening with the much loved legend from the world of entertainment.

"An Evening with Julie Andrews" will be hosted by multi-platinum selling singer and popular presenter, Aled Jones. Andrews will provide a rare and unique insight into the life and career of the beloved international star best known for her stage performances on Broadway in The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady, Camelot and her award-winning screen performances in Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and the motion picture version of Victor-Victoria, to mention but a few.

This Academy Award recipient and winner of multiple Golden Globes, BAFTA's, Emmy's and Grammy's will weave in professional and personal anecdotes as well as showing highlights from her life during her live chat. She will also discuss her philanthropy and activism on behalf of various causes and charities. The second half of the program will include a segment of questions and answers from the audience, which Dame Andrews enjoys very much.

Dame Andrews has been entertaining multi-generational audiences for more than 65 years. She made her London debut performance at the Hippodrome - Leicester Square at the age of 12 and appeared in her first Royal Command Performance when she was 13 years old. Dame Andrews continues to delight a new generation of fans with more recent roles in The Princess Diaries, Shrek, The Tooth Fairy and Despicable Me. She is an accomplished best-selling author of children's books, several of which are currently being adapted for the stage and screen.

Aled said: "Like the rest of the world I have grown up watching Julie Andrews. From afar I have marvelled at her many enchanting performances on stage and screen. I am delighted to host the second half of the programme as we discover more about her incredible career. She is an icon and true heroine of mine."

Dame Julie Andrews said: "It is a great joy for me to be returning to my home country. I look forward to sharing stories of my career and providing the audience with a few extra nuggets that may not have been seen before."

The announcement comes after a recent sell-out 6 city tour in Australia and New Zealand.

U-Live (a division of Universal Music, Arts and Entertainment) are pleased to announce that tickets and VIP Packages for NIA Birmingham, Liverpool, Echo Arena, the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London and the Bournemouth International Centre are on sale now and available at www.U-Live.com or www.Ticketmaster.co.uk

Julie Andrews has been a beloved and much-honoured star of stage, screen and television for more than half a century. She was already a Broadway legend when she made her feature film debut in 1964's Mary Poppins. Andrews' iconic performance in the title role of the magical nanny brought her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award. The following year, she earned a second Oscar nomination and won another Golden Globe Award for her unforgettable portrayal of Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. She received her third Academy Award nomination and won another Golden Globe Award for her "dual" role in Victor/Victoria.

Today's young film audiences may be more familiar with Andrews as a Queen trying to train her teenaged granddaughter to be a princess in the hit films The Princess Diaries and its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement. Andrews also voiced the character of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third. More recently, she voiced the narration of the hugely successful Disney release of Enchanted. In 2010, Ms Andrews added to her multi-generational appeal with the release of films - The Tooth Fairy, Shrek Goes Fourth and Despicable Me. Her earlier motion picture credits also include The Americanisation of Emily, Hawaii, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Star!, Darling Lili and 10, to name only a few.

Julie was born and raised in England, where she first came to fame as a young musical performer on stage and on radio. She was still in her teens when she made her way across the Atlantic and to Broadway, in her 1953 debut in the musical The Boy Friend. She went on to create the role of Eliza Doolittle in Lerner and Loewe's Broadway musical My Fair Lady, which became an instant classic and the longest-running musical of its day. Andrews also won a New York Drama Critics Award and garnered a Tony Award nomination for her performance. She received another Tony Award nomination in 1961 when she originated the role of Queen Guinevere in the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. Thirty-five years later, Ms Andrews returned to Broadway to star in the 1995 stage adaptation of Victor/Victoria. Julie's career came full circle in 2005 when she Directed a revival of The Boy Friend which toured throughout North America.

Julie has also been honoured for her work on television, beginning in 1957 with her Emmy-nominated performance in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Cinderella. She later won an Emmy Award for her own musical variety series, The Julie Andrews Hour, and also earned Emmy nominations for Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (with her "chum" Carol Burnett) and her performance in the special Sounds of Christmas. Andrews' more recent television movies includes One Special Night with her friend James Garner, Eloise at the Plaza, Eloise at Christmastime and re-united with Christopher Plummer in the CBS live production of On Golden Pond.

Andrews, already an accomplished bestselling author (Mandy [1971], The Last of The Really Great Whangdoodles, [1974]), has joined talents with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, to pursue the publishing of books committed to stimulating a sense of wonder in children and young readers. The Julie Andrews Collection was launched in October 2003 and has released over 28 books to date, many of them bestsellers, including the Little Bo series, the Dumpy The Dump Truck franchise, The Great American Mousical "which was recently adapted as a musical for the stage and is currently being adapted for a feature film", Thanks to You and Simeon's Gift (the musical/stage adaptation of which toured parts of the US in 2008, including two performances at the Hollywood Bowl, and in London in 2010) and The Julie Andrews Collection of Poems, Songs & Lullabies. Miss Andrews' current franchise of books entitled "The Very Fairy Princess" has achieved rave reviews and best seller status. The 6th instalment of this wonderful children's series will be released in April 2014.

Aled Jones - Proud Welshman is a successful singer, actor, author, radio & TV presenter/broadcaster and part-time dancer, with a career spanning over 25 years. Aled is a daily co-presenter on 'Daybreak' with Lorraine Kelly and has a Sunday morning radio show on Classic FM from 9-12 as well as a chat show on BBC Radio Wales. He has also appeared on 'Songs of Praise' for over 10 years. Aled has recorded 29 albums, selling over 6 million copies, and has released two books: 'Aled's Favorite 40 Hymns' and 'Favorite Christmas Carols'. He has filmed for 'Escape to the Country' and 'Cash in the Attic', as well as filming for 'Classical Destinations' a series about famous composers.

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