GET HAPPY! To 26 August.
London.
GET HAPPY!
by Debbie Saloman.
King's Head Theatre 115 Upper Street N1 1NQ to 26 August 2007.
Tue-Sat 8pm, Mat 12 & 26 Aug 3.30pm.
Runs 2hrs One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7226 1916.
www.kingsheadtheatre.org
Review: Geoff Ambler 1 August 2007.
Getting happy down memory lane with Judy Garland and some great music.
Debbie Saloman wrote this one woman (plus accompaniment) musical while studying for a Performing Arts degree, turning it into a full show on the advice of her lecturer, and now director, Adam Zane. Thoroughly researched, its combination of studious adherence to Judy Garland’s mannerisms, gestures and vocal style, with its little-known, true stories and memorable music, lets Saloman make you believe you’re enjoying an evening, as a friend, in the company of Judy Garland.
While the anecdotes vary from intriguing through rambling to hilarious they are always enjoyable and help set the scene, the 1960 preparation for the London Palladium concerts. And they allude to Garland’s state of mind following her return from a debilitating illness to the stage and touring circuit. In one story, she recounts how her doctors prescribed Ritalin and Blue Nun wine for her alcoholism (Blue Nun was also available for the press night audience, although without prescription.)
Running through the rehearsal room and the Ad Lib Club Saloman draws you into an understanding of Garland during a period when her career could have stalled completely, yet went on to one of its highs. While the show never becomes heavy there is sufficient information, through the commentaries, to give an understanding of the problems Garland overcame, what the return to performing live meant to her, following her doctors’ advice that she would never perform again, and, more importantly, what it was like to sit and be entertained by a legend.
The music is always lively and, at only 23, the vivacious Saloman has a captivatingly mature take on Judy Garland’s singing and humour, both self-deprecating and immodest and with strobe-like flashes of brilliance; “Come Rain or Come Shine” is delivered with a power and emotion that are intensified by the King’s Head cosy confines.
It’s as if Garland’s soul is bared on stage and after the evening closes with “Over the Rainbow” and an encore of “Chicago” you leave with the ageless tunes reverberating around the head and a desire to find out more about Garland’s life - and hear lots more of Debbie Saloman.
Judy Garland: Debbie Saloman.
MD/Keyboards: Brendan McCormack.
Drums/Tony Crombie: Jules Fenton.
Director: Adam Zane.
2007-08-06 00:28:40