Peter Mac is magic when it comes to paying tribute to two of his idols — Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Though he could not quite pull off the trick of appearing as both legends together at the same time, he nearly pulled it off in his latest show by appearing as Garland, then Minnelli, then Garland again and creating the illusion that one was backstage while the other was out front. It was a neat trick, but, alas, there were no mother-daughter duets — “not until Tom Rolla puts in a green screen,” Mac as Garland told the audience.

His Garland is absolute perfection.  While he has some fun with the character in his between-songs patter — with references to her marriages, her movies and her years at MGM, all based on word-for-word interviews Garland gave or comments she made during her lifetime — he is totally serious when he sings the songs. Those included note-perfect versions of “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” (James F. Hanley), “After You’ve Gone” (Turner Layton/Henry Creamer) and, of course, “Over the Rainbow” (Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg).

Performing the show on September 11, Mac also sang a deeply moving “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to mark the event — just as Garland had used the song in 1964 as a tribute to President Kennedy.  He also did a simple, straightforward version of a song Garland never actually sang — “I Wonder What Became of Me” (Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen from St. Louis Woman)—using the Garland-Mercer love affair to justify its inclusion.

When Mac comes back onstage as Minnelli, it’s hard to believe it’s the same performer under the wig and drag.  The voice is deeper, with its own tics and affectations; and while Mac as Judy projects emotions from the inside out, his Liza is all outward excitement, including lots of nervous laughter and the occasional malapropism.

Mac as Liza did mostly Kander and Ebb songs — including “Liza with a Z,” "But the World Goes Round” and the always delightful “Sara Lee” — but it was two exceptions that stood out:  a stunning Charles Aznavour piece called “What Makes a Man a Man,” about a gay man defending his right to live his life as he pleases, and “Faraway Land” (Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen), which a 16-year-old Minnelli sang in an animated sequel to The Wizard of Oz called Journey Back to Oz (that wasn’t released until 1973, ten years after she recorded the tracks).

Sammy Williams, the Tony-winning actor from A Chorus Line, was Mac/Minnelli’s guest — the sparkle in his eye matching the sparkles on his shirt as he performed a sweet, expressive solo on “Tomorrow Morning” from Kander and Ebb’s The Happy Time, in which he appeared. He also sang “I Don’t Remember You,” also from The Happy Time, with Mac’s Liza singing “Sometimes a Day Goes By” (Kander and Ebb) from Woman of the Year.

Also guesting between costume changes was a quartet called The Four Friends — Wayne Moore, Brenda Moore, Gilmore Rizzo and pianist Brian Miller, who served as Mac’s musical director — who created gorgeous four-part harmonies on “Liza” (George and Ira Gershwin). They also performed two group songs with aplomb — Sondheim’s “Comedy Tonight” from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and the Sondheim-Richard Rodgers song, “What Do We Do? We Fly!” from Do I Hear a Waltz?

Mac as Garland is scheduled to be back at the Gardenia Oct. 28 with “Judy’s Halloween Treat,” Nov 26 as himself in What Makes a Man a Man?,”and Dec. 10 and 11 in Have Yourself a Judy Garland Christmas!  Don’t miss him — whoever he happens to be on a given night!

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
September 11, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org