Joan Ellison: Get Happy! Judy Garland 1944-54

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Joan Ellison

Get Happy! Judy Garland 1944-’54

Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, June 2, 2016

Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes

Joan-Ellison-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212For a singer who’s been obsessed with Judy Garland since childhood, who is Judy-esque in appearance, and who’s a near voice double for her idol, the path is clear: Don’t fight it. Thus, Joan Ellison’s cabaret homage to Garland proved to be a captivating evening of song, featuring many enduring Garland favorites such as “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe,” “The Boy Next Door” and “Get Happy.
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” With the opener, “The Trolley Song,” it was immediately apparent that Ellison, while closely reminiscent of Garland, is by no means a carbon copy (even clad in a gorgeous 1950s Judy-style party frock). The voice is big and clear with plenty of range. Ellison can belt with the best of them, especially evidenced in “Johnny One Note” and “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Medley.” If there is a flaw, it’s that the singer has yielded to the current vogue of power singing­ in which the song steadily crescendos to the boffo finish. It was therefore a pleasure to hear lovely, subtler sounds which she embraced in an emotive “The Man That Got Away” as well as “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It)” and “There Is No Music.”

Ellison has long been immersed in the music and vocal styles of the 1920s through 1960s. She’s also a music director, and has transcribed over 200 piano and vocal arrangements note-for-note from recordings. This authenticity was applied to other Garland standards such as “I Love a Piano,” “Last Night When We Were Young,” “If You Feel Like Singing, Sing” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again.” The narrative, written by Ellison and Mark Flanders (who also  directed), proved informative, bright, intelligent and wittily editorialized – Ellison loves her subject, yet isn’t above the gentle gibe either. Some personal recollections in the text also gave depth, and engendered endearment to the singer, who is very personable and utterly likeable.

In this, her New York solo debut, Ellison was called back for a second encore (the first was “A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow”).
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Inevitably, she yielded to a pleasingly rendered “Over the Rainbow.” Although working with a solo piano suited her, it would be intriguing to hear her perform with a musical director/pianist with more pizzazz than the curiously detached Jason Aquila. During the two instances when Ellison sat down at the piano to play a snippet of a duet, the instrument truly came alive. New York deserves to see and hear more of Joan Ellison. And what a thrill it might be to hear her sparkling voice beyond Garland, as well as to explore much more of her repertoire.

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Marilyn Lester

Marilyn Lester left journalism and commercial writing behind nearly two decades ago to write plays. That branch in the road led to screenwriting, script-doctoring, dramaturgy and producing for the stage. Marilyn has also co-authored, as well as edited, books. It seemed the only world of words she hadn’t conquered was criticism, an opportunity that presented itself via Theater Pizzazz. Marilyn has since sought to widen her scope in this form of writing she especially relishes. Marilyn is a member of the Authors Guild, Dramatists Guild, Women in the Arts and Media and The League of Professional Theater Women.