Judy Garland Musical "END OF THE RAINBOW" Headed To Broadway March 2012- Page 9

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:14pm

Algy, I always have to remind myself that "I Could Have Danced All Night" is not, in fact, about the ball; it's about her breakthrough with Higgins and follows "The Rain in Spain" scene.

But I agree with your point about songs that advance the plot versus those that "fit" the plot.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:17pm

Scripps, there's plenty of them out there to see! :)

[algy]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:20pm

Sorry Reginald *blush* - it's a long time since I've seen My Fair Lady, if that can excuse my mistake. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen it live, though I've got the Andrews/Harrison CD. My Grandad however, did see the orignal in the West End along with pretty much all the other Golden Ages musicals.

[hermajesty]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:22pm

@Scripps, I saw the play in the West End; afterwards I went in a bar near the theatre. I innocently asked the bar tender if the song that was playing through the speakers was from Bennett's new CD; his answer was..'No, this is Judy Garland.' That's how much Bennett sounds like Judy.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:23pm

Amen!

[Scripps2]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:24pm

Clap: don't patronise me.

Name the specific performances you've seen by which you can justify your statement that "Tracie is Garland".

Because at the moment I'm absolutely with PJ that your statement is nonsensical.


Updated On: 9/29/11 at 06:24 PM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:28pm

Wow, OK, so that wasn't meant in a patronising way. How on earth you got that tone from words on a screen is beyond me.

I've seen her performances in movies and one of my particular favourite thing of hers to watch is the DVD release of her CBS show: "Judy, Frank and Dean: Once in a Lifetime" :)

[Scripps2]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:34pm

"I've seen her performances in movies"

But those movies were made long before the 1960s, when she was at a very different stage of her career to that Tracie is portraying.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:44pm

She actually made 5 movies in the 1960's. And you also quoted a fraction of what I originally said, ignoring the fact that I was talking of how much I love her 1960's CBS show.

But the point is that fundamentally, her performance style never underwent a huge change. Most performers perform in a certain way. Michael Jackson's final videos were not of him in his prime in the 80's. They weren't Thriller or Beat It. But they were still Michael Jackson. That much is obvious. When Garland performed, it was obvious that it was Garland (as it should be with any decent performer); and when Bennett performs as Garland, there is no doubt how much she becomes her character and how closely their styles match. Vocally, as I've said, and physically.

P.S I am not suggesting that Judy at Talk of the Town was Judy past her prime, in case that lead to confusion. Updated On: 9/29/11 at 06:44 PM

[algy]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:47pm

This is all making me want to listen to the CD again. I've got it on my phone, but I'm not sure I've listened to it start to finish. I tend to end up listening to Judy! Judy! Judy! (or Rufus does Judy) when I feel the need for some Garland... I'll have to put it on on the way home from work in the morning.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:49pm

"her performance style never underwent a huge change."

I strongly disagree with this. I'd say there are at least three wildly distinct Garland performance styles over the years. The voice itself underwent a profound change in the late 50s.

[hermajesty]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:50pm

Scripps, just go see it for yourself; no one can really explain; as well as the voice, the mannerisms are there, Bennett moves like her, talks like her, well, she just is her. It's perhaps much different watching her than just listening to You Tube clips etc. Also one has to take into consideration that Judy at 47 didn't sing anything like Judy from the Wizard of Oz. On radio/TV interviews about this production, Bennett comes across as really modest, considering she's several awards to her name as well.
I hope she doesn't come on here and read the conflicting posts! LOL

Updated On: 9/29/11 at 06:50 PM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:51pm

Perhaps I could have worded it differently. What I'm trying to say is that despite the changes that did happen to her, she was still Judy at her core. And that was obvious more than anything.

Bennett has Judy at her core.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 6:56pm

Not to muddy the waters further, but PalJoey and I saw this woman back in the early 90s at Don't Tell Mama.

I don't for a second mean to put her impersonation in a class with either Davis or Bennett, but as a feat of mimicry, she was astonishing--and at only a few feet away.
Anyone seen Julie Sheppard as Judy?

[hermajesty]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 7:09pm

I've just thought of a way to explain it to those that haven't seen the play. Bennett's portrayal of Garland is as brilliant as Judy Davies' but in addition, Bennett sings the numbers live in each performance whereas Davies in the film, lip synced to Garlands records

Updated On: 9/30/11 at 07:09 PM

[TIGGOSAURUS]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 7:10pm

Not wishing to get drawn into some of the petty bickering evident in this thread and not being a Judy Garland aficianado, I'd just like to say I too was blown away by Bennett's performance at Trafalgar Studios - partly because of the manic energy she brought to the role, partly because of her soaring vocals and mainly because she was a complete tour-de-force. She made JG come alive for me and I felt huge sympathy for the tragedy her character's life became and the talent that went to waste far too early.

Apologies to those Judy Garland fans who think that this play/performance does JG a huge dis-service. If it was billed as a tribute act/concert then the quality of Bennett's acting would probably be of secondary importance. But as it stands, everyone I've spoken to who has seen EOTR has talked more about the quality of Bennett's performance rather than quibbling about alleged inaccuracies in the text.

Hopefully NYC audiences will give this a chance. I'm sure there'll be the usual polarised opinions divided between those who assume it will be great and those assume it'll be over-hyped dross just because of where it originated. :-/

[algy]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 7:21pm

TIGGOSAURUS - I thought Bennett was really really good, don't get me wrong, I'm just not sure the rest of the material lives up to the performance that she's giving.

I don't know how she gives that performance 8 shows a week and as far as my rather limited knowledge goes, she was doing a very good job of capturing latter-day Judy. But there were some bits, like the already mentioned Cocker Spaniel moment, where I wasn't sure about the material she was working with. The audience laughed, and I guess it was funny, and maybe play needed the comic relief but I wasn't sure that was the way to do it.

[hermajesty]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 7:51pm

The cocker spaniel scene made me laugh so much but I think the desperation of 'Judy', [just before that,] for drugs, was lightened by the dog scene, and displayed her wonderful sense of humour, even though she had so many problems in her life at that time.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 10:40pm

I don't know why, but...

Each time I read that the dramatic highlight of this play is a scene in which an overemoting actress imitates Garland imitating a cocker spaniel, I have the distinct urge to find the theater where this is playing and urinate on the set.

I dunno why. I just do...

I watched the clips again, and Tracie Bennett is NOT Garland. What Tracie Bennett IS...is Amy Winehouse. Or perhaps Joe Cocker.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 2:20am

"Each time I read that the dramatic highlight of this play is a scene in which an overemoting actress imitates Garland imitating a cocker spaniel..."

Trust me, that is not the dramatic highlight.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 4:06am

It may not be the dramatic highlight but watching Judy Garland portrayed as crawling around a hotel room floor pretending to be a dog urinating on the furniture made me realise I wasn't watching a play about Judy Garland: I was watching an episode of Shameless projected on to the life of Judy Garland.

And that's why I think the play is tabloid sensationalism.

As such I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of blind praise that this has generated. Everyone seems to think they know what Judy Garland was like at this stage of her career and personal life when there is relatively little evidence:

Remembering the publicity from the time of the Talk of the Town performances does not qualify anyone to judge that Tracie's is the definitive Garland performance.

Listening to a CD played in a theatre bar does not qualify anyone to judge that Tracie's is the definitive Garland performance.

Even watching a few short vids of Judy in the 1960s on YouTube does not qualify anyone to judge that Tracie's is the definitive Garland performance.

For the record I think that Tracie emulates Judy's style but I certainly knew I wasn't hearing Judy Garland sing.

I really wish Tracie was making her Broadway debut in something other than this. Updated On: 9/30/11 at 04:06 AM

[Scripps2]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 4:16am

"Scripps, just go see it for yourself"

hermajesty: I've made it perfectly clear throughout this thread that I've already seen this.

If you wish to debate with me please have the courtesy to read my posts first.

Otherwise you might find that Oliver Cromwell logs in!
Updated On: 9/30/11 at 04:16 AM

[hermajesty]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 5:31am

So sorry Scripps but at my age one has to be grateful that one remembers one has a computer, never mind who's posted what/when.
I don't think any poster has said 'definitive', it's that Bennett does an amazing portrayal of Judy; and she has said in interview that she is astonished at the accolades received but delighted, obviously, and adds that she is just doing her job to the best of her ability.
Regarding the dog scene, there is poetic license; but then again you are assuming Judy wouldn't behave like that, when it is well known her wit was so sharp and she had a great sense of fun. I feel sure the writer of the play did a vast amount of research and who's to say whether or not he knows people that were around Judy at that time, and from her time at the London Palladium too etc.
But let us at least agree to disagree.
And to Paljoey who said...
#I will go see this wretched thing if it actually opens here in March. If her performance rises to the level of Judy Davis's and overcomes the lazy and stupid "drunk Judy" in the script, I will eat my hat. And if it doesn't, I will say so.#

You seem to think Davis sang in the film; she didn't, she was lip syncing to Judy's records. Even I can lip sync. Maybe you can say you were wrong about that. BTW, I am no troll.

Updated On: 9/30/11 at 05:31 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 8:24am

I do not seem to think any such thing.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/30/11 at 8:26am

Hermajesty, since you've brought it up several times, let me assure you NO ONE thinks Judy Davis did her own singing.

That's not the reason she won the American Film Institute Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Primetime Emmy Award, the Golden Globe, the Satellite Award, and the
Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance.

It was because it was a great performance; not because she fooled anyone.