The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

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The 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)

The 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

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/13/11 at 9:27am

Someone's got a helluva good publicist.

The 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.

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/14/11 at 2:55am

Yeah 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?

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/14/11 at 2:57am

Will he be starring in End of the Rainbow?

The 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

The 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

The 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

#10

The 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

#11

The 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.

#12

The 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.

#13

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/15/11 at 9:19pm

i'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..."

#14

The 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

Updated On: 11/16/11 at 09:49 PM

#15

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/16/11 at 12:57am

You 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``

#16

The 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.

#17

The Boy Who Became Judy Garland : NY Times

Posted: 11/16/11 at 3:53am

If we're honest with ourselves, by the end, even Judy was doing a bad impersonation of Judy.

#18

The 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.

Updated On: 11/16/11 at 09:45 AM

#19

The 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.

#20

The 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.

#21

The 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.

#22

The 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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