[rating=5]Several years ago, I went to a venue in Uptown called the Uptown Underground ( I think) on Broadway, just South of Lawrence Avenue. This is or was a Cabaret theater where you walk down the stairs to a basement that takes you back in time. Maybe even so far back that you feel that some of Al Capone’s men might be at the doors. I saw a show that night that was Judy & Liza” starring Nancy Hays as Judy Garland and Ms Alexa Castelvecchi as her daughter Liza Minelli. It was a tribute to the mother and daughter act that was done at The London Palladium in 1964. By the way, Liza was just a teen-ager. What a show it was! The previous show at the “Underground” was called “Over The Rainbow” and the role of Liza was handled by Michelle Lauto ( who is currently in “Grease” at Marriott Lincolnshire in the role of “Marty”), but I must say, Ms Castelvecchi “nailed it”!
Last week, these lovely ladies appeared on my radio show and as they left, I felt that I had indeed experienced their performances before. When you see 250 productions a year, over a period of years, it gets hard to remember what the heck you saw and who was in it. Thanks to the beauty of the internet’s “memory”, all one need do is look for a reference, such as name, and it will trun up anything on the site that has their name in it. After watching the show they do, “Judy & Liza-Once in a Lifetime: The London Palladium Concert”, a tribute today at the Greenhouse theater Center, it started to come back. They have fine tuned the show ( Robert Ollis handles the musical direction and has rearranged some of the old tunes and added new ones.
The musical selection, as previously stated has been expanded and there appears to be more story telling as to the events that brought this mother and daughter together this one time, live onstage. I loved it far more than in the earlier version. The new venue for this slick production is the revamped studio theater at The Greenhouse on Lincoln Avenue. This is the small , under 50 seat, room right next to the lobby bar. It is cozy and intimate and the perfect place for shows of this nature. We get to see the faces of our two stars and we get to hear every note. Because f the intimacy of the space, both “Judy” and “Liza” can walk into the audience area and stare us right in the eys, evoking the drams that one can feel from the emotions these tow wonderful performers bring to their roles.
The song book that they use to tell the story is powerful- “Once In A Lifetime”, Just In Time”, “Gypsy In My Soul”, “Who’s Sorry Now”, a fab Liza Medley featuring songs like ” My Mammy”, “They Can’t Take That way From Me” and “Take Me Along” and many more and this is only in the first act. They start Act two off with “Two Lost Souls” from “Damn Yankees” and do a duet featuring the two solos of “When The Saints” and “Brotherhood of Man” blended. followed by many additional show tunes and classics including a special rendition of “Over The Rainbow” and an amazing encore duet of “Chicago”. In all 24 songs done over 93 minutes ( with a ten minute break) that will have you smiling, crying, remembering things and feeling the emotion that this mother- daughter combination brought to life on that stage. You now get the opportunity to learn about it, feel the emotion and for 90 plus moments of your day, forget about all the political and social injustice in our world. Yes, you can forget your troubles and just be happy”!
This amazing performance will continue on the studio/Cabaret stage of The Greenhouse Theater Center located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue thru April 5th with performances as follows:
Thursdays 8 p.m.
Fridays 8 p.m.
Saturdays 8 p.m.
Sundays 2 p.m.
On Thursday, March 19th and March 26th they will perform at 2 p.m. INSTEAD of 8 p.m.
Ticket prices are $25 ( $20 for seniors), so this is probably the most affordable theatrical performance in town. DO NOT MISS this golden opportunity
For tickets call 773-404-7336 or visit www.greenhousetheater.org/judyandlizatickets
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Judy & Liza-Once In A Lifetime: The London Palladium Concert-A Tribute”.
More Stories
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
“How I Learned What I Learned” reviewed by Julia W. Rath
“How to Know the Wild Flowers: A Map” reviewed by Julia W. Rath