Peter Mac fulfilled a lifelong fantasy — and he let his audience share it — in a fantastic evening in which he re-created Judy Garland’s entire Carnegie Hall concert, song for song and note for note. Mac is already considered in some Southern California circles to be THE definitive Garland impersonator, or tribute artist, as he prefers to be called, and he proved his claim to the title — along with his talent — with this show, performed 50 years to the day of Garland’s record-breaking concert.

Mac as Garland was absolutely stunning — in his look, in his delivery, in his gestures, in his every breath — belting out or caressing song after song in Garland’s Carnegie Hall canon and getting every nuance right.  Some of his between-songs patter also re-created Garland’s word for word, though some of it simply acknowledged that the homage was occurring 50 years later. For example, in “You Go to My Head” (J. Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie), Mac didn’t “forget the gol-darn words,” as Garland did — a point he mentioned at the end of the song, saying, “Last time I forgot the words.”  He also joked that, although he was having a good time, “Nobody likes a happy Judy Garland.”

But a happy Judy is Mac’s take on Garland — in a lifelong love affair with the singer and her music, he prefers to put a positive spin on her life in all his performances rather than dwelling on the negatives.  And his bubbling enthusiasm throughout this show — re-creating what was obviously a triumphant, happy moment in Garland’s life — totally reflected Judy’s upbeat side.

Mac bears a striking resemblance to Garland once he puts on the makeup, the black wig and the costumes.  And he is a stickler for authenticity.  In this show his first-act attire was a black sheath dress and a replica of the blue satin coat with sequined floral appliqués that Garland wore at Carnegie Hall; and in the second act he wore black satin pants and a black jacket with red sequined flowers, the same as Judy did in the original concert.

Mac as Garland “sang ‘em all” — all 26 songs — and there was not a single one among them that disappointed or failed to live up to the original.  Among the standouts: the deep emotion of “Alone Together” (Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz), with Mac rising to the occasion on his magnificent final notes; a devastatingly effective “The Man That Got Away” (Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin); a perfect, moody rendition of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields); and the Arlen/Johnny Mercer stunner, “Come Rain or Come Shine,” which left Mac gasping for air at the end, so committed was he to being note-perfect on the quick-paced arrangement.

Although it was not possible to re-create the full orchestral sound of the original in a cabaret setting, Bryan Miller on piano and Kevin Widener on drums (including effective bongos on “Come Rain or Come Shine”) were good stand-ins, utilizing orchestrations taken from the original charts.

There was only one Judy Garland, but Peter Mac has the talent and skill to bring her back to life, and for that we can be very thankful.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
April 23, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org