Carole J. Bufford
Happy Birthday, Judy!
Birdland Theater, NYC, June 10, 2022
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
The much anticipated Happy Birthday, Judy!, a benefit concert for The Mabel Mercer Foundation at Birdland Theater featured mutually admiring performers Carole J. Bufford and Stephanie Blythe; it morphed into a solo show when Blythe’s husband was hospitalized and she regretfully withdrew. With only days to rewrite and reformat, Bufford, MD John Boswell, Tom Hubbard (bass), Howie Gordon (drums), and guest artist T. Oliver Reid managed to pull a rather large rabbit out of the waiting hat.
This is an evening celebrating the icon and her work, we’re told, not a story of tragedy. With just enough personal reference and historical nod, aided and abetted by her capable MD, Bufford made an astonishing tapestry of material cohesive. The wowza evening ran seamlessly.
Judy Garland sang 1919’s “After You’ve Gone” (Turner Layton/Henry Creamer) at age 13 and in the film For Me and My Gal (1942). This evening’s arrangement bridged the two. Bufford’s Hirschfeld-like splayed fingers and sharp strut exemplified oomph. She defined her territory, but her big, high-beam eyes reach beyond the stage. Her focus is consummate and energized rather than dissipated by zeroing in on individual faces.
A brassy rendition of “Maybe I’ll Come Back” (Charles L. Cooke/Howard C. Jeffrey) closed all of Garland’s General Electric Theater shows. You may not think you know it, but you probably do. With her hands grasping the microphone stand, Bufford’s interpretation of “Last Night When We Were Young” (Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg) floated in backed by the lush piano; it created a black-and-white pre-code film image of empty glasses, a billowing curtain, and the proverbial beach.
“Gird your loins, in the spirit of big medleys” prefaced a group of selections from 1913 to the honoree’s last on-screen vocals in 1962’s I Could Go On Singing. The entire club seemed to lean in to “You Made Me Love You” (James V. Monaco/Joseph McCarthy) and perked up at “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” (James F. Hanley), performed with hip slapping, bent-knee-kick-back glee. Next came an animated “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm-(After They’ve Seen Paree)?” (Walter Donadson/Joe Young/Sam M. Lewis).
By the time Bufford got to “The Trolley Song” (Hugh Martin), with an exuberant rendition met by audible sighs, the momentum had everyone but the vocalist breathless. “I Could Go On Singing” (Harold Arlen/ Yip Harburg) closed the show jubilantly rather than desperately as performed in the film.
MD/pianist John Boswell stayed in sure sync. His vocal duet with Bufford on Irving Berlin’s “Snooky Ookums” bubbled up and was deftly wry. He stepped in for then 16-year-old Liza Minnelli on Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim’s “Together” and for Barbra Streisand on the iconic 1963 counterpoint rendition of “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy.” Tom Hubbard was showcased with a cool, bass-centric interpretation of Fred Fisher’s “Chicago.”
Guest T. Oliver Reid joined Bufford on Irving Berlin’s “A Couple of Swells.” Mentioned was the radically changed film cast, including the switch of Fred Astaire for Gene Kelly. He also joined her on Cole Porter’s “Friendship,” prefaced by reference to Garland’s “torrid” affair with Johnny Mercer that started when she was 18 and he was 30. (It was an odd choice of material to reflect this.) Both were jauntily directed, infectiously cheery duets.
A lovely foxtrot version of “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby” (Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields) was dedicated to Bufford’s front-and-center parents. It was their wedding song. From behind, I saw Bill Bufford dab his eyes with a napkin, then take his wife’s hand.
The evening closed with “Over the Rainbow,” of course. Bufford gave a protean performance.
The storied venue itself deserves a call out here. As part of this sold-out show, the audience was served a three-course dinner and drinks in a timely, unobtrusive fashion. Brava.
Photo credits: Opening: Left photo Judy Garland 1957 (Public Domain); Right photo by Julian Macker; All performance photos by Helane Blumfield
Save the Date: The 33rd Annual New York Cabaret Convention is October 26-28 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.
