Seasoned Bay Area theatre chameleon Connie Champagne has won just about every award possible for both her acting and singing. So it's no surprise that this very unique and original show, featuring songs Judy Garland may have sung had she not sadly died so young, is garnering the same critical and audience praise that has followed Champagne's career.

Now I own up to being a Garland fan and I've seen my share of good and bad Judy impersonators, but what Champagne and director F. Allen Sawyer (with accompaniment by Joe Collins) have accomplished is a creative, satisfying, intimate re-imagining of what might have been. This is not the over-exaggerated, showstopper-belting Garland of the late sixties complete with the nervous ticks, slurred banter and forgotten lyrics. This is a carefully constructed, funny, often bittersweet homage that feels natural in both the performance by Champagne and the wonderful musical selections "Miss Garland" gets to sing in this two-act show.

Opening with the poignant "As If We Never Said Goodbye," the number is a perfect choice of lyric that instantly becomes a Garland tune reminiscent of the many, many "comebacks" Judy Garland endured. Because of Champagne's commitment to this character, the similar vocal style, the look, the audience connection, one buys the concept and settles in to hear what 'Judy' will sing next. Two songs from this generation's greatest cabaret composer, Rufus Wainwright, that follow, "Oh What A World" and "I Don't Know What It Is" are a natural, with Judy remarking about how she's been asked back to perform at Carnegie Hall in an evening of Wainwright's material (a very funny reference to Wainwright's recent Carnegie Hall recreation of Garland's historic 1961 concert).

Judy sings the material of contemporary songwriters Tom Waits, "Take It With Me," Janis Ian's beautiful "When I Lay Down," "Wig in a Box" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch and I'm thinking, yes, Judy would like to have sung these. Garland's great sense of humor (e.g. her ridiculous version of the novelty song "Flying Purple People Eaters") are illustrated with renditions of Aerosmith's "Dream On," Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" all song with mock earnestness and great theatricality. "Unusual Way" from the Broadway show Nine and Grey Garden's haunting "Another Winter in a Summer Town" mines the type of material Garland would certainly have chosen for her cabaret act.

The show closes out with Jerry Herman's "I Am What I Am," Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and" I Am Changing" all now 'owned' by Judy Garland.

This is, I believe, the second re-incarnation of this show (the first was Imagine Judy Garland: An Evening with Connie Champagne) and the most satisfying. It brings back the fond memories of one of the last centuries most enduring and beloved performers, continues the success of one of our generation's finest performers, and delivers on the show concept potential. Fans of deceased performers often wonder what they would be doing now. I'd love to see what Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Frances Faye or Carmen McRae would be performing these days. At least I don't have to imagine Judy!

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
July 14, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org