OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
JUDY AND ME
Reviewed by David Sanchez
Published 2008-10-15
Everyone needs their idols and heroes, and the gay community has taken this concept and run with it. From Cher to Margaret Cho, Madonna to Barbara Streisand, there has been a bevy of 'fabulous' performers with the glamour and the glitz to carry the torch for this marginilized group of misfits and underdogs. But no one, and I mean no one, is a bigger idol for them than Judy Garland. It's this relationship between the queer and the celebrity through a coming of age story that is at the heart of "Judy and Me", now playing at Theater at St. Lukes.
It's a highly original concept that is poorly executed. Where there was potential for true theatrical innovation, original and authentic stories, and even some of that old magic whom the lead character Anthony finds in Judy Garland, we the audience get a moral tale full of lessons and sentimental humor best left to after school specials.
To play devil's advocate, I am not the audience member that this show is geared towards. In its original incarnation in 2002, I can imagine the room packed with members of the gay culture in every size, shape, and color, all filled with pride and oozing love for Judy and Peter Mac. My audience was mostly senior members of the community who I'm sure found the show mildly charming but were not bowled over.
There are two things that make writing a review like this. *SPOILER: First is that at the end of the show, we find out that Peter Mac who has been playing Judy all night is in fact the boy Tony. This is perhaps one of the problems. Autobiography is the most difficult subject matter to tackle, filled with pitfalls and wrong avenues waiting to be fallen into or turned down. It's quite obvious as the show goes on that Peter Mac has become so invested in telling his story that he has lost a balanced perspective on his production. There are so many disparate elements with a seemingly out of place musical piece and the characters that we do or do not care about. It often falls into cliche and cultural references from the 90s that we the audience are expected to find clever but often just are clunkers. It's this glaring contradiction between a real story pulled of so inauthentically that is the most disappointing aspect of the show.
The second thing that makes this review difficult is the delicate subject matter of the play. There is no denying that stories about the gay experience are vital and important. In my opinion though, just because a subject matter demands expression does not give it a pass as to the craft and the competence of the work. Unfortunately, Judy & Me fails to become a true work of art about the trials and tribulations of the homosexual experience.
With that said, there are two performances that are worth noting. Chris McCabe who plays two roles is great as Anthony's two boyfriends. He's as funny and authentic an actor as anyone could want. Peter Mac also does a serviceable job as Judy Garland in her many different outfits.
Still, these two performances are not enough to make up for an entire production that had the potential to shine with color but ends up dully black and white.
Click here to buy group tickets.
