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The closing performance of Judy & Me, the brilliant Off Broadway creation of Peter Mac, who both wrote and starred in the production, closed yesterday and the emotion in St. Luke's Theater was palpable, not only as evidenced in the heartfelt closing speech given by Mac to his audience, but also in the tears that welled up in the eyes of a number of audience members as well.
Judy and Me, produced Dr. John Schafer, had an impressive run of 67 performances in this off Broadway venue, especially considering the fact that Mac and company had to work amidst a host of contingencies— including casting changes, production challenges, and a theater season when Broadway biggies have been folding faster and earlier than expected, and ticket sales have been steadily sliding downward.
As an Off Broadway venue, Judy and Me did not have the benefit of being in the tailwinds of an active and surging Broadway season this fall, when theater crowds are plentiful and Broadway buzz is humming. Based on the quality of the performances given, especially the ever so charming and ingratiating role of Peter Mac as the ethereal Judy Garland, this show certainly deserved a longer run, and hope remains that the venue might yet tour nationally.
At last night's performance, as Mac explained to the audience prior to the show, all three actressed who had rehearsed for the show to play the young Anthony's mother, were suddenly unavailable, with two shows left. The question loomed large over the entire cast and crew: "Who could they get on such short notice, with no rehearsal time, to play such a big role?" The answer they came up with—Peter Mac's real life mother herself.
Despite being an untrained actress, and having to rely at times on her hand-held script, Mac's mother pulled off both performances with hardly a hitch. Given the autobiographical nature of Judy and Me, which recounts a young boy's coming out story in a troubled family and a homophobic school environment with the spirit of Judy Garland as his guide and fairy godmother, Ms. Mac's performance gave the finale a personal touch that made the troubled life of Judy and Me's young protagonist all the more poignant and authentic. The audience in attendance loved it.
Following the finale performance, Peter Mac treated audiences who were able to stay a little longer, to a few more Garland numbers in an intimate and informal setting as a special bonus-- as if to say if to say this Judy isn't going down just yet, somewhere over the rainbow there's another stage she will play on once in a lullaby.
Tags:
coming out, homophobia, john schafer, judy and me, judy garland, off broadway, off broadway closing, peter mac, st lukes theater
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Posted on 12/15/2008
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