Judy Garland Musical "END OF THE RAINBOW" Headed To Broadway March 2012- Page 5

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 7:51pm

Judy is dead [in the storyline] at the point Over The rainbow is sung

See? That's what I mean. Each time people actually describe this thing, they make it sound worse,

[landryjames2]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 1:25pm

I'm sure I will go see this play if it makes it to New York, but the clip of her as Judy (as a ghost?) singing Over the Rainbow is particularly horrid, and should be taken out of all future advertising. I am not so impressed with Bennett in any of her "judy's" that I have see on youtube. I suppose it could be that she is that type of performer that you have to experience LIVE. But not so with the real Judy (sure everything's better live, but Judy was overwhelmingly dynamic and magnetic and brilliant on both big and small screen as well--and still is a force of nature even on youtube clips).

[juggles]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 3:37pm

She's not a ghost, the radio announcer has just announced Judy's death and then 'plays' a couple of her records.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 4:20pm

Would someone who has seen the show like to tell us what is the dramatic arc of the piece? What is the conflict?

I saw "Judy Garland the Musical" in Phoenix in April. Paige O'Hara was brilliant in the title role; she sings better than Bennett and if the timbre of O'Hara's voice doesn't match Garland's perfectly, the audience didn't seem to mind. O'Hara was acting a role, not doing an impersonation.

That work, at least, tries to emphasize the good times in Garland's life, particularly in her relationships with her children.

But when I saw it (they are rewriting) it also highlighted the problem: biography and drama are different animals. Even Aristotle said the fact that something happened in someone's life doesn't mean it belongs in a play about him.

What's "the play" in The End of the Rainbow.

[juggles]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 4:41pm

I'm a bit scared to reply Gaveston, all my posts get slagged off. You'd be better reading the reviews about it, as they tell the gist of the play. It covers her last six months when she came to London, stayed at the Ritz for a while and played at The Talk Of The Town nightclub for five weeks. She arrives penniless [with her fiance Mickey Deans] as her ex had made her sign a contract that all her earnings went to him. He gambled all her money away. She couldn't even afford to pay the hotel bill. But read about it.

[landryjames2]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 4:52pm

I'm starting to feel a little bad for juggles (I mean this). He/she is trying so hard. I will give the play a chance when it arrives--just haven't been impressed with what is out there thus far. Perhaps I will find it to be a truly good performance. And is it possible the play itself isn't SO bad. We can hope so.

[juggles]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 5:02pm

@landry...Judy couldn't even sing as well as those clips towards the end. She'd smoked for years and was breathy/husky. Some nights at the Talk of The town she couldn't reach her top notes so talked them, she turned up late and got slow clapped. I am old enough to remember all that.
I remembered that the link with all the press quotes on was used as a TV ad early in the run. I suspect someone has recorded it and put it on youtube. The others,to me, seem definitely to have been put up there by a member of the audience, that had no right to record during a performance.
The play got a standing ovation every night for six months which is extremely rare in the West End [ I heard the US stand up each night] And was it paljoey that said London audiences are necrophiliacs? Well a lot of the audiences are 'swimming' with Americans and other tourists. There were a lot of young people watching when I saw it, and they wouldn't have been 'brought up' with Judy....so won't 'have heard it all before'. They loved it as much as the elderly.
Updated On: 8/29/11 at 05:02 PM

[frazer]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 5:14pm

It got great reviews and a great audience reception; Things which are hard to come by in London nowadays. Most of you have never seen this play, so I have no idea how you can be so dismissive!

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 7:12pm

Thanks, juggles. I feel sort of in the middle here. I am one of those people who is pretty much over Judy-Garland-as-train-wreck stories. I liked Gerald Clark's biography that stressed how funny everyone found her, onstage and off.

At the same time, I see no reason to insult those of you who enjoyed END OF THE RAINBOW. There's no way around the fact that the woman was drugged silly as a young girl and struggled with substance abuse ever after. And she died at 47, looking 70.

So a light musical comedy based on her life wouldn't make any sense either.

In any event, I appreciate the advance reports from those who saw the London production and I look forward to reports from those who see the show in New York.
Updated On: 8/29/11 at 07:12 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 7:42pm

^ Well said.

[juggles]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 4:39am

An American's write-up.

http://artsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/02/thats-broadway-somewhere-over.html

[Eos]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 11:03pm

So, thanks for this thread. As contemptuous as it may be (due to the passions of everyone involved, which I think is a good thing), it has re-ignited my fascination with Judy Garland. Yes, I've ordered the mini-series, and "Rock-a-Bye" may be my new fave for awhile! I'll also probably try to see it just out of curiosity if it comes to NYC.

So. Any recommendations of a couple of good bio-books out there?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 12:14am

Each one of the biographies has its own agenda, but...

Lorna Luft's memoir, which the miniseries was based on, tells Judy's story though an Al-Anon lens, with Lorna ultimately accepting her mother's legacy and "forgiving" her for her addictions.

Gerold Frank's "Judy" was written with Sid Luft's cooperation and kind of glorifies Sid's presence in Judy's life and whitewashes some (not all) of of the bad stuff at the end. But the book has the basic chronology and facts that all the others were based on.

David Shipman's "Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend" and Gerald Clarke's "Get Happy" will both leave you anything but happy. Each goes out of its way to paint pathetic portraits of Judy, digging up scurrilously sourced stories about things like oral sex. (No, I mean REALLY.) They're both very complete, but you'll need a bath after. And some Pepto.

Coyne Steven Sanders's "Rainbow's End" is an excellent portrait of the making and unmaking of her 1963-64 TV series. (He just wrote a "bio" of the Desilu studio, and it's just as good.)

Ronald Haver wrote an amazing account of the making, unmaking and restoration of the "Star Is Born movie called "A Star Is Born: The Making of the 1954 Movie and Its 1983 Restoration"--but it's more about the movie than about Judy. It's one of the great film books of all time.

Mel Torme's icky book is self-serving self-glorification, rushed out after her death. Avoid.

So is "Weep No More My Lady" by Mickey Deans, Judy's fifth and last husband. Also avoid.

Also avoid the ones by crazed obsessed fans like Lorna Smith and two of Judy's old gay "boyfriends" John Meyer and John Carlyle. Yes, they were gay, and, yes, they claim to have had sex with her. TMI! Avoid, avoid!

Not really a biography, Scott Schecter's "Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend" is scarily just that: a day-to-day chronicle of what she did every day she was alive. No--I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Well worth your money would be any of John Fricke's three illustrated books. Each gives a terrific overview of her achievements with fresh and insightful backstage and behind-the-scenes anecdotes:

"Judy: A Legendary Film Career" is just out this month.

The other two are out of print but available on Amazon: "Judy Garland: World's Greatest Entertainer" (my all-time favorite Judy book) and "Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote."

They don't dish dirt but they make you appreciate her talent, hard work, intelligence and wit even more.

Older bios to avoid: Michael Freedland, Anne Edwards, Brad Steiger and Sheridan Morley.

BUT...if you come across it, Christopher Finch's "Rainbow" was very well done.

Updated On: 9/1/11 at 12:14 AM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 3:18am

Thanks for the bibliography, joey. I've read a number of those and will look for some of the others you list.

I wish I'd known you a few months ago when I was going crazy trying to figure out what Garland was singing in her arrangement of "Chicago":

"I'm in a shindy for this wonderful windy town!"

I thought the word couldn't possibly be "shindy", but I'm sure you would have set me straight. (As it was, I sent a message to Seth Rudetsky on Facebook. I don't know him but we have a mutual friend. He referred me on to Marc Shaiman who figured it out and could not have been nicer about it.)

For anyone else who has wondered, "shindy" is indeed what Garland is singing. It means a "flurry of excitement" and is related to the word "shindig." I think of "shindy" as the WASP equivalent of "tzimmes".

[landryjames2]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:45am

I whole heartedly agree with Pal Joey on his analysis of each book. I particularly love John Fricke's books (again, not so much straight biographies as they are a celebration of her work). Sanders's Rainbow's End is fantastic.

I just wrote a whole paragraph on Heartbreaker asking PJ for his opinion on it, but I see he did touch on it below...opinion being "Avoid" so I won't disagree (although I found it entertaining).

[Eos]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 11:19am

Thanks so much for your recommendations Joey! I'll be making a trip to the online bookstore later today. I cannot wait to watch the mini-series as well.

[juggles]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 6:32pm

Since I last look on here, 3000 more people have had a look in on this thread!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:22am

I am too old and too lazy to check and see if anyone mentioned this, but I nearly fell off my chair watching Carly Craig's "Judy Garland Has an Orgasm" video on Funny or Die.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 4:32pm

I have seen Andrew Lloyd Webber interviewed and stating that he saw one of those performances Judy Garland gave at the Talk of the Town; he described the audience as "throwing pennies at her" by which I assume he means she was terrible. However I'm not sure the brains behind Starlight Express is best placed to define what terrible is.

Although I've seen End of the Rainbow, I can't comment on the "arc" as I'm a theatregoer and not a theatre professional. My opinions are based purely on the impression made on me by a performance.

One thing I did think was superb about this play, that is easy to overlook, was Hilton MacRae's nuanced and sensitive performance as the pianist: a disempowered gay man having to put up and shut up with the lot society had dealt him. It made me very glad I was born into a later generation.

[juggles]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 5:45pm

@Scripps2...Hilton has never been overlooked in this production. He is a brilliant actor and has done many roles but in this, he is a SUPPORT not a lead, so can't take all the accolades. Just like in Jane Eyre, Jane is the lead, the story is about her not any of the support roles. Hilton played the role of Gary Glitter in a UK TV drama; he was magnificent and just blew the mind but he wouldn't have been pleased had a support role taken all the accolades, etc Because it was all about Gary Glitter.





Updated On: 9/6/11 at 05:45 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:18pm

@juggles: Scripps2 was just stating in his post that he admired Hilton MacRae's performance. He in no way implied or suggested that he should get the spotlight over the actress who is playing the lead role whose name escapes me at the moment.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:23pm

Interesting. The same playwright wrote a play with music 10 years ago, back in the summer of 2001, more loosely based on Garland with a fictional character but also starring Tracie Bennett and also featuring her singing Garland songs:

http://www.rainbownetwork.com/UserPortal/Article/Detail.aspx?ID=3667&sid=53

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:24pm

@ PalJoey, thanks for the excellent notes on the various Garland biographies out there. I'm going to look into getting Fricke's books, even those which are out of print.

I think I'd rather much rather settle in reading about her immense talent, listening to her various recordings and watching any one of her classic films.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:28pm

But Quilter’s script doesn’t go deeper than superficial titillation.

Sounds like much has changed in the last 10 years or so....

[juggles]

Posted: 9/5/11 at 6:29pm

Yes Paljoey, it was called The Last Song Of The Nightingale and one assumed it was about Judy at the time. The playwrite has come up with a much better version..i.e End Of The Rainbow. It is on tour in the UK at present and is still wowing the audiences here. Still getting standing ovations nightly [according to write-ups].....unusual for UK audiences
Updated On: 9/6/11 at 06:29 PM