Judy!

By this time it must be no secret to anyone how much of a Judy Garland fan I am. I found that living in Fairbanks, Alaska was a little limiting when considering my desire to be a super fan, however, it was a lot better than I imagined that it could have turned out to be. Let's face it, I was kind of a weird child. I mean there are not a lot of kids out there who instead of playing with barbie dolls and Disney figurines would listen incessantly to their mother's Judy Garland albums. I remember when the internet first came out the first thing that I looked up online was Judy Garland. There was a big exhibit in the Great Hall of the University and the first thing to pop up on my search engine was the Judy Garland database. It featured many different Judy Garland facts, which over time I memorized. It also included a lot of Judy Garland memorabilia and even featured his Judy room that displayed a plethora of magazine covers as well as 8X10 prints. Some day I hope to have my own Judy room, and I am on the right track, and have found that Judy Garland memorabilia is something people love to give me. I also have gone through many collecting phases. There was the Movie Collector's World phase where I used to read through this hard copy sales paper that would inform me of the current memorabilia that was available to buy. I also went through a definite Ebay phase, where I used to obsessively look over all of the Judy Garland memorabilia that was available. I was hard core enough to at age ten to find the Judy Garland festival in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (Judy's birthplace) and participate in the living history program cast as Mary Jane Gumm.

For this role I definitely had to wear a wig where I was required to cut the bangs ridiculously short. At the time I had pneumonia which remained to be undiagnosed, but just like any true veteran of the stage I knew that the show must go on! Since this is a free platform I am not able to post videos on this site, but someone posted to YouTube a video of me singing "Danny Boy" to Baby Gumm, which now I find to be hilarious and showcasing my talent and passion for old-timey music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNQ_qZliiAw&list=RDDNQ_qZliiAw&start_radio=1. Here's a link to the video.

So, my life is pretty darn awesome! I am so lucky to have a wonderful supportive family and friends, in addition to having this unceasing determination to conquer my dreams. One day when doing a little research for the job hunt, I actually began to brainstorm about getting a job in the theatrical realm. I was able to dig back to last summer at a mixer I had attended for "Getting the Band Back Together" and I remember that I had talked with the coordinator of this show called "Chasing Rainbows." This was a show that featured the journey that Judy Garland went on before landing the role of Dorothy. Suddenly I found myself to be facebook messaging the page for "Chasing Rainbows."

They told me that unfortunately they did not need any help with the production, but they hoped that I would see it. Well, my timing in this case was impeccable. The show was to open at the Paper Mill Playhouse in two days, and for some reason my intuition told me that I just had to get a ticket for opening night. I ended up buying one, and sure enough it led to good things. One of those great things was being able to see a pre-show talk given by John Fricke (my absolute hero!) John Fricke is the Judy Garland/Wizard of Oz authority. He travels all over the world and talks about her. He is the commentator on DVDs that is able to tell you all the random facts that went into making the movie and also knows what was going on behind the scenes. He has devoted his life to the study of Judy Garland and is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Of course I bought the most recent book that he is selling and he went ahead and signed it, here is what he said:

When studying in Wichita, KS, I had learned through the grapevine that there was a festival every year that was titled "Oztoberfest." After I learned that John Fricke would be there I knew that I had to go. At the time I was partially manic but this enhanced my enthusiasm and made sure that my note taking was even more feverish than usual. I found that I was definitely in my element, and even though I may have been slightly spiraling out of control, who better to be surrounded by than a bunch of loving Judy/Oz fans? Here's a photo taken of me and Fricke and some other guy who showed off his Judy Garland rose to Fricke. Yes, there is a rose variety that has been named after Judy Garland!

So, back to "Chasing Rainbows." My overall impression was that the show was that it was incredibly well done, and they definitely didn't shy away from any expense. The show was extremely technical and at one point they had to stop the show and fix one of the many tracks that the furniture was placed on. In order to do a Judy Garland show, it was necessary for them to purchase the rights to the Judy Garland catalogue, which means that they had to purchase the rights to songs like "Over the Rainbow," "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," "Dear Mr. Gable/You Made Me Love You," and many more of her early works. But on account of being such a Judy fan, I couldn't help but be critical. Although young Judy was talented beyond words, she did not remind me of Judy in the slightest, and there was no point in time where my belief was suspended into thinking that I was watching young Judy emerge into a star. The young man who played Mickey Rooney was fabulous and had all of Mickey's mannerisms down pat. He was totally convincing as well as extremely talented. I don't know it's kind of indescribable the amount of energy that Mickey Rooney possessed, however, this young actor was able to capture his persona completely.

Here is me pictured in the audience at "Chasing Rainbows," which has been endorsed by her family and is truly appreciated by the Judy Garland community. Ironically the René Zellweger film came out the very same weekend. Even though John Fricke warned us that it would most likely not be good and that he was not consulted to provide research, I knew that I wanted to see it. So, on a Sunday night, I went to the movie theater at Lincoln Center and watched it. I must say coming from quite a harsh Judy Garland critic, I was not convinced and did not really like it. I feel like the whole movie was really devoted to illustrating Judy Garland as this tragic figure, which I really do not enjoy. They had these weird flashbacks to Judy's days at MGM where she appeared to continually be molested by Louis B. Mayor. These flashbacks really didn't connect with the Zellweger storyline, therefore I didn't really appreciate them. The film concentrated on Judy Garland's final attempt to stay afloat financially as she headlined in a series of London concerts. The photo at the beginning of this blog was taken at the movie theater and illustrates my excitement as I waited outside of the theater in anticipation to watch this film.

I remember as a child I went through many phases. There was the "Winnie the Pooh" phase, the "Beanie Baby" phase, the "American Girl" phase, but my Judy Garland and MGM phase has never ended. Judy and the old MGM movies are able to bring so much joy to my life. I believe that the 1940s and eary '50s represents such an age of innocence, talent, beauty, and that je ne sais quoi (I don't know what), but it was truly a special time and so many wonderful moments were captured on film.

I feel like Broadway is the closest thing that is able to capture this beauty and raw talent and that's probably the reason that I ultimately want to be here. My dating anthropology is just a phase that I hope to eventually escape because it is exhausting to constantly be a cynic who has to seek out humor in virtually everything. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed writing my books, but I hope that someday the subject matter will change.

Peter Mac- the great Judy Garland impersonator, who once again I went to see told his audience that Judy Garland virtually saved his life. As a gay boy living in Long Island he used to go down to his basement and play her albums and old MGM movies. After his show, which was incredible, he generously did a photo opp. with any member of the audience who wanted to pose with him. Of course I lined up and to their amazement they exclaimed "You came back!" I then went to tell him that he was far better than René and thank you so much for keeping Judy's legacy alive.