Julie Andrews on Singing for a New Generation in Julie's Greenroom, Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins and the Importance of Arts

Julie's Greenroom premieres Friday, March 17 on Netflix

By Chris Harnick Mar 16, 2017 1:35 PMTags
Watch: Julie Andrews Returns With "Julie's Greenroom"

Julie Andrews is coming to Netflix with Julie's Greenroom, a children's show, and she's got one goal in mind: To educate the next generation about the arts.

"There's nothing like the joy of the arts and promoting the arts early in children is going to give them such a start in life in a way," Andrews told E! News during a recent interview.

And she's not doing it alone. Along for the ride are a slew of guest stars like Alec Baldwin, Sara Bareilles, Idina Menzel and Carol Burnett. Plus, Andrews has her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton at her side. The two created the show and wrote episodes together.

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Julie Andrews' Best Roles
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"My background is in arts education and we know, absolutely for a fact, that there is no better way for kids to learn critical thinking skills, communication skills, things like empathy and tolerance. This is true across every boundary, across cultural boundaries, across socioeconomic, it's a great leveler in terms of unifying our world," Walton Hamilton said.

The series follows Andrews as a theater veteran teaching a new crop of students—all of them puppets from Jim Henson Company—all aspects of the world of the the arts, from set design and writing to acting and singing. The episodes feature a special guest star and normally a song or two. After going public with the loss of her vocal range following an operation, the Mary Poppins and Sound of Music star is singing again for a new generation. Even if she won't call it singing.

"Well, I'm not—Thank you, that's lovely of you. I didn't think it was exactly singing, but faking it or using the three base notes that I have and sing-speaking in a way," she said.

Click play on the video up top to hear about the differences between animated penguins and duck puppets, which guest star had the most fun and whether or not Andrews imparted any advice on new Mary Poppins star Emily Blunt.

Julie's Greenroom premieres Friday, March 17 on Netflix.