The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • Page 24

La 9 Judy Garland came back in London EDITORS NOTE: A legend in her own time. Judy Garland mesmerized her fans with her fragile presence and sustained vibratos. Racked by her self- confessed pill addiction, shattered by her expulsion from the Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer studios, and depressed by her second divorce, Judy was no longer the wide-eyed Dorothy of Wizard of The following excerpt from Anne book tells how Judy attempted, in the midst of failure, an impossible comeback at the London Palladium. All arrangements had been made and the booking confirmed. Judy would open at the London Palladium on a Monday night.

April 9, 1951. Abe Lastfogel handled all the details. Once in London, the Foster Agency, representing William Morris (Lastfogel), was to take over. A very nervous and overweight Judy embarked for England on the de with her secretary, Myrtle Tully, and Buddy Pepper, her accompanist. Pepper and Judy knew each other from childhood when they had both attended Mrs.

school. A product of vaudeville and a former friend of David Rose (who had been the one to encourage him to become a songwriter), he and Judy had much in common, though they had not seen each other for years; this eased the tension of the sailing. Reporters boarded the ship at Plymouth and seemed shocked at the weight she had gained. (The next day, after reading their comments, Judy told Pepper. From what I've read.

I feel like the Fat Lady from Barnum and and roared with laughter.) THE AUTHOR Formerly a screen and television writer in Hollywood, Anne Edwards attended UCLA and moved to Europe in 1957. She has recently returned to Stockbridge. Mass Edwards has written five novels, among them the When Judy disembarked, crew and passengers remaining on board hung out of portholes to wave her goodbye; ships in the harbor flashed signals spelling out her name; and the lie de France gave a long, thunderous blast of its horn. To look at her. it was hard to believe that less-than six years had passed since the filming of The for in that short time her soft beauty had become harsh neon.

She was 28 and looked 15 years older. She plump. She was fat. weighing more than 150 pounds the fat devouring her tiny frame, distorting her features into a gargoyle caricature of herself. Her hair was sparse and dyed an ugly rubber-tire black.

Dressed badly, but smiling winningly. she nonetheless captured the press. They loved her with a slavish devotion, and so, it seemed, did all of Great Britain. In spite of her feeling that she had been greeted with open arms, the night before the opening she was sleepless and terror-stricken. By daybreak she was pacing up and down her hotel room, still racked with fear 1 kept rushing to the bathroom to Judy has said of that night.

I eat; I couldn't sleep; I couldn't even sit When the Blitz was at its grittiest. when even the nightingales found it hard to sing in Berkeley Square, there had been Judy singing and dancing up the yellow brick road, giving English romantics a glimpse of happiness even in the darkest davs of the The day of the concert, April 14. 1951, the press gave her encouragement and wished her well. It was the first time any press had been kind to her in years, and she drew some confidence from it. Some of the nervousness began to pass, but she still felt she might not be able to sustain herself without Sid Luft.

her fiance and After several overseas calls entreating him to join her, he hopped a plane, arriving only a few hours before her first appearance. He stayed close to her side, helping her fight her way into the theater through a cold, gray drizzle hundreds of screaming, kerchiefed girls snatching at her. kissing her, shoving placards that read Luck, in her face, and scrambling for autographs. When Sid finally got her to her dressing room, she was only half conscious. She kept repeating her fears and reminding everyone that she hadn't worked at ail in almost three years and had given a show in public only a few times since she had been a child.

Talking to Joe Hyams (then of Photoplay magazine), she said of those last moments before she went onstage, were only minutes left. I had to get hold of myself. I said to myself. the matter, you If you don't cut this out. you won't be able to sing'.

Standing in the wings, waiting to go on. I became paralyzed. My knees locked together and I walked on (stage) should liave hail no professional doubts, for the only things off-key in her entire act were the two dresses she wore. The first, a flared lemon-yellow organza shot with glitter, made her look like a barrel of melting butter. It was still better than the black dress that followed.

But that hardly seemed to matter for when she finally stepped out of the shadows of the wings onto that huge stage, she was welcomed with a real Palladium roar that caused her to stumble. In a moment she had regained her footing. Good old yelled the audience. She blew them kisses; and when they had quieted, told them, This is the greatest moment of my Her voice trembled as she spoke, and her audience rose to their feet and cheered her. On of the most striking features of her show was its thorough-going music hall quality.

None of it was accidental. The early years were now paying off. All of training, Roger coaching, Mickey goading were put to use. She approached the act in a typical variety manner, treating it as pure entertainment, never allowing herself to be overproduced. placing herself on an equal footing with her audience, consciously working to give everyone a good time, and firmly secure in the knowledge that audiences reacted to good lyrics.

Clutching the mike, she joked about her size. More to her audience yelled back. In her first number she was so overly anxious that the fury of her voice made the microphone tremble with her. She opened with The Boy Next and Then she kicked off her shoes. feet she confided.

The audience laughed heartily. It was to be a retrospective performance of all her past hits, and she began by being casual, discreetly hoydenish. her voice rich and vibrant filling every nook and cranny of the gargantuan theater, expressing a new joyousness; a new aspect of herself. Toward the end. all lights but one went out.

There was Judy in her stocking feet, sitting on the edge of the stage, the microphone so close to her lips that each tremor was echoed. The eyes were wide with wonder, scanning the darkness overhead, looking for bluebirds. There was an incredible transference. Judy sat trembling in adolescent wonder and hope and trust. She was the universal child of dreams.

In the moment of striking blackness that followed the last soaring note of the song, she replaced her shoes and, doing a small turn as the lights came on. as she began to exit, tripped over a microphone wire and fell flat and hard on her rear. Sid immediately shouted from his box seat out front, great, baby. You're who. at the side of me" stage.

screamed, back up! They love The audience rose en masse as Buddy Pepper rushed to her and helped her to her feet. She was laughing nervously. probably one of the most ungraceful exits ever she said in that voice that often sounded as though it had tripped over microphone cords itself. Then she introduced Buddy Pepper. The audience shouted back at her, old as they had before.

She went offstage, but returned for an encore. Good she finally yelled out over their whistles and screams. night. I love you very But she was brought out again this time the stage looking like a conservatory, so filled with floral tributes was it. The next morning the London reported: Judy Garland not only tops the bill at the Palladium this week, she also runs away with the All the Palladium reviews were raves.

Not one faulted performance, though they humorously criticized her costumes. From the book Garland, A by Anne Edwards. Copyright 1974, 1975 by Anne Edwards. By permission of the International Famous Agency, Monica McCall. LOCAL Hardcover 1.

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