"Quiet Please, There's A Lady Onstage" — Page 2

What Tracie Bennett did was character assassination.The play was a piece of garbage, but it started out touring the British provinces as a fictional piece about a character who was an amalgam of every faded diva.

Then Tracie and her director got involved and decided that if they made it explicitly about ONE diva and called her Judy Garland, they would attract waaaaaaay more attention.

And then they decided that if she completely trashed Garland and debased herself onstage, they could maybe pull the wool over the eyes of some easily swayed but influential critics and maybe even get some award nominations. Hey, kids, it worked!

Rather than be handed awards, they should have been prosecuted for cold-blooded murder.

To lovebwy: I feel the same way. Of course I grew up with her watching her on the annual "Wizard of Oz" telecasts....but I never really, truly "got" Judy until I saw her performance in "A Star is Born" and heard her sing "The Man That Got Away". Incidentally I was also going through a breakup and it just gutted me. Then I went and watched every film she ever made and read (almost) every book written about her and of course listened to every thing I could get that she recorded.

JUDY

PalJoey said: "What Tracie Bennett did was character assassination...

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How so? It's no secret that Garland struggled with drug addiction. And no wonder! If I had to live trapped in a hotel room by crowds of paparazzi, I'd take ritalin, too.

My collection of Garland albums and DVDs compares to almost anybody's, but brilliant raconteur though she was, that too was a performance. If you want an evening of Judy telling funny stories, you could certainly write one. But if you want something more personal--if you want a show with character--then you almost have to show her, warts and all.