The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
#1The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/13/11 at 6:09am
What a wonderful article in the NY Times about Tommy Femia, Judy Garland impersonator. from RC in Austin, Texas
Tommy Femia Does Judy
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
#2The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/13/11 at 7:56am
The article is great, but I Googled his performance, and I'm not impressed.
Maybe I'm spoiled by the quality of Jim Bailey's interpretation of Garland, which I saw live twice. I don't think Tommy comes close to that. Not in visually or aurally.
Nice article, though.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#2The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/13/11 at 9:27amSomeone's got a helluva good publicist.
#3The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 1:32am
Tommy Femia does an amazing Judy Garland in both song and patter.
There are times during his performance that you swear you are seeing the real Judy. It's uncanny and amazing.
I'm not sure what video you are talking about but if you see Tommy live you will see what I mean.
Tommy is so talented and so dead on as Judy.
Catch his act!
He channels Judy so well.. it is surreal at moments.
brettarnett
Featured Actor Joined: 5/2/09
#4The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 2:55amYeah the clip on the NY Times article isn't very impressive, if i was not reading the article I would have never guessed that he was attempting to impersonate Judy. But maybe it didn't translate well into a different medium?
#5The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 2:57amWill he be starring in End of the Rainbow?
#6The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 6:41am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V8jmUiKSfw
You mean he's just like her, half an octave lower? He sounds like a guy doing Judy ... not Judy.
It's a bad illusion.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#7The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 6:43am
I'm Still He ... I mean Here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDuQdlrqwo
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#8The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 6:48am
Jim Bailey in a clip reel doing Barbra first, then Judy (at about 1:45). See (and hear) the difference?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJXs6QQKovo
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 11/14/11 at 06:48 AM
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#9The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 8:30am
While the article was a lovely read, I have no idea why anyone would devote ink to a performer of Femia's.... caliber.
Now, Bailey?? Damn. He's got it.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
#10The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/14/11 at 11:52am
There are times during his performance that you swear you are seeing the real Judy.
I detest when people say this--it makes my teeth grind and my skin crawl and big ugly veins pop out in my temples.
#11The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/15/11 at 9:01pm
Tommy Femia, in my opinion does a great Judy in person.
Another amazing performer who does Judy, Barbra, Marilyn, Peggy Lee, and many others in his own voice is Christopher Peterson.
TxTwoStep
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/24/03
#12The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/15/11 at 9:19pmi'm so old i still prefer Jimmy James.
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
#13The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/15/11 at 9:49pm
I remember Jimmy James. With regards to Tommy Femia, I've not seen him perform. But, he is obviously a talented individual and has crafted a career from performing as "Judy." No one can ever compare to THE Judy Garland. (However, towards the end, her decline was evident.) But the different persons who impersonate her give us a glimpse of her talents.
from RC in Austin, Texas
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Updated On: 11/16/11 at 09:49 PM
#14The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 12:57amYou should check out Peter Mac. He is spot on and incredible as Judy.
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
``oscar wilde``
#15The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 1:24am
I looked at the videos of Tommy on You Tube. First off, most of the video clips are of terrible quality filmed on cell phones.
Secondly, the illusion works a hell of a lot better in a theatre or cabaret setting than in an on camera setting. The camera does point out all the flaws while distance makes the illusion work so much better.
Please see Tommy in person--- and then judge. Cabaret and Theatre are Tommy Femia's venue.
#16The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 3:53amIf we're honest with ourselves, by the end, even Judy was doing a bad impersonation of Judy.
#17The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 9:45am
By the end, all any of us is doing is a bad impressions of ourselves.
I just ask, that when I'm dead and gone, if you see fit to imitate me, please imitate me as I was in my prime and not as I was on my death bed.
That would be an act of love. Anything else, I would consider an act of desecration, at worse, or necrophilia, at best.
#18The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 10:18am
Everyone is entitled to like what they like, of course, but I have to say that I did see Femia in person, and I thought it was kind of awful. It wasn't funny enough to be camp, and the impression, to my mind, was just okay. I wasn't sure why I was watching it.
"Dispiriting" was the word I walked out thinking.
TxTwoStep
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/24/03
#19The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/16/11 at 10:29am
what's challenging here is how "Judy" to be...accurate to her actual mannerisms, or as implied, "camping" it up to match what we've COME to think of as her...an exaggerated caricature, as all impressions are. i thought Isabel Keating was dead-on in BOY FROM OZ, but i can see how some thought her performance as either too understated or too over the top (and she didn't even have gender boundaries to cross). It all depends on how we view "our" Judy, and what attributes the tributist shares or discards from our memories.
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
TxTwoStep
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/24/03
#20The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/17/11 at 11:43am
not EXACTLY tangential:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/END-OF-THE-RAINBOW-to-Play-Broadways-Belasco-Cumptsy-Pelphrey-Russell-Join-Cast-20111117
and did anyone see the Barbeau Garland bioplay on Christopher Street? i knew most of the creatives but never got there while it was running.
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
philcrosby
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/04
#21The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times
Posted: 11/17/11 at 12:03pm
Tommy is a wonderful performer and his Judy is indeed magical.
Jim Bailey was legendary and deservedly so, but I never thought his Garland was the best of his impressions. His Streisand and Lee were A-mazing.
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