A year since the successful relaunch of her Legendary Icon Series, local playwright Beth McMaster returns to Showplace’s Nexicom Studio with two new entries in the series: The Many Colours of Judy Garland on Monday, June 15th, and Johnny Mercer: I Remember You on Monday, June 22nd.
Written and narrated by Beth McMaster and directed by Gillian Wilson, Beth’s Legendary Icon Series has been delighting audiences for years. A lighthearted multimedia presentation filled with history, trivia, imagery and music, previous shows have profiled entertainers such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and Noel Coward.
Featuring the musical talents of Wayne Robinson, Kate, Suhr and Bob Trennum, along with a Powerpoint presentation by her husband Stuart McMaster, Beth’s well-researched shows highlight the history and stories behind some of the greatest entertainment icons of all time.
This time, Beth is bringing the music of two of Hollywood’s most celebrated performers to Showplace: Judy Garland and Johnny Mercer.
The Many Colours of Judy Garland
One of the biggest icons in the history of show business, Judy Garland was the original triple threat — she could sing, dance and act. In her lifetime she won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony and a Golden Globe, and was the youngest performer ever to be awarded the prestigious Cecile B. DeMille Award.
However, she will always be most remembered for her iconic role of Dorothy Gale in the film classic The Wizard of Oz and for her performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, which has gone into history as being one of the most important recordings in the history of music.
“The Man That Got Away” – Judy Garland
“She had such a fabulous voice and she could relate to an audience so perfectly,” Beth says of Garland. “When she married Sid Luft and he decided that she should go on tour — which is when she did her famous concert at London Palladium — she was terrified. She had not given a live show in years. But the Londoners had listened to her during the Blitz, and she walked on to that stage and she had them in the palm of her hand immediately.”
While she’s beloved for her music and on-screen charisma, Garland’s tale is also one filled with darkness.
“I debated for a long time about doing Judy Garland because everybody always says that it’s such a tragic story,” admits Beth. “She did make one bad decision after another. As her daughter Lorna said, ‘She was like a phoenix rising from the ashes from her latest disaster all the time.'”
“I went with the premise that she herself did not see herself as a tragic figure,” Beth continues. “She was happy and she made everyone around her happy. She felt that she had a very good life. Her kids were crazy about her. Using those positives, I worked the show around it. I had a little trouble bringing a little humour to the show, but I was able to find it in other ways — which I feel is always very important to the show.”
Beth brings the show from Judy’s roots in vaudeville, through her career as a Hollywood star, and beyond her tragic death in 1969 from an accidental overdose of barbiturates.
“I take the story right up to her death, and then talk about [her daughter] Liza Minnelli, because Judy died right before Liza came into her own and did Cabaret,” Beth says. “In fact, Judy Garland, Vincent Minnelli and Liza Minnelli are the only husband, wife, and daughter combo that have taken home Academy Awards.”
Johnny Mercer: I Remember You
In her second show, Beth explores the music of American songwriter Johnny Mercer.
With four Academy Awards and 18 nominations in the category of best song, Mercer continues to be the most celebrated Hollywood songwriter of all time. Penning the lyrics to virtually hundreds of compositions — songs such as “Fools Rush In”, “Moon River”, “Hooray For Hollywood”, “I Remember You”, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, “Jeepers Creepers”, “My Baby Just Cares About Me”, “That Old Black Magic”, and countless others — Mercer’s work has become part of the classic American song book.
“One of my problems with developing the Johnny Mercer show is that I’m so crazy about him, I’ve had one of his songs in every show I’ve done so far,” Beth says. “For instance, I had Wayne Robinson do ‘The Summer Wind’ for the Frank Sinatra Show. Kate Suhr is going to be doing the song this time.”
“His music is still played because it went past the big band era and it lends itself to jazz so beautifully,” Beth adds. “I’ve heard Chelsey Bennett and Rob Phillips do ‘Come Rain and Come Shine’, and it’s just wonderful what you can do with it. It stays fresh.”
However, as Beth explains, Mercer didn’t always feel the same way about his music as she does.
“He was really worried that his music was not going to be remembered,” she says.
“Moon River” demo by Johnny Mercer (lyrics & vocal) and Henry Mancini (music & piano)
A big part of her exploration of Mercer’s music is the way he interacted with other composers and songwriters.
“It amazes me how they created these songs, moving from one lyricist and composer to another,” Beth says. “There were a number of songs that Johnny Mercer rewrote the words for.”
“For instance, he wrote the lyrics for ‘Blue Moon’,” Beth explains. “Originally, the melody was used for a song called ‘The Bad in Every Man’ for the movie Manhattan Melodrama written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It starts off with ‘Oh Lord, what’s the matter with me / I’m just permitted to see / the bad in every man.’ Everybody came to the movie, but nobody paid any attention to the song. So Rodgers and Hart took the song to Tin Pan Alley and Johnny Mercer took it and said ‘I like it, but I don’t like the words’ and so he rewrote it into ‘Blue Moon’. For our show, I have Wayne Robinson sing ‘The Bad in Every Man’ and then move into ‘Blue Moon’.”
The Many Colours of Judy Garland takes place on Monday, June 15th and Johnny Mercer: I Remember You is presented the following week on Monday, June 22nd. For each show, there are performances at 2 p.m and 7 p.m. Tickets for each performance are $17, available at the Showplace Box Office, by phone at 705-742-7469 or toll free 1-866-444-2154, or online at www.showplace.org.
