Bob Ader
One Degree of Judy Garland
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, January 18, 2026
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
A cabaret program devoted to a famous singer is always a hazardous venture. When that singer is someone as iconic a singer as Judy Garland, it can be dangerous indeed. Bob Ader took on this challenge in his show One Degree of Judy Garland and was surprisingly mostly successful. Under the direction of Marilyn Spanier, who also happens to be Mrs. Ader, and with the music direction of Elliot Finkel, the afternoon was a smooth, polished hour that had a nice variety of material and presentation.
Ader was a show-biz kid—singing, dancing, and acting throughout his youth. He obviously learned well, as he displayed all those talents, which included some dandy tap dancing to “When That Midnight Choo Choo Leavs for Alabam’” (Irving Berlin) in this program. He built “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” (James F. Hanley) from a quiet, emotional beginning to a showstopping up-tempo climax. This is the type of climb that was, appropriately, Judy’s specialty. One of the highlights of the early part of the show was a special version of “You Made Me Love You” (James V. Monaco/James McCarthy). It was first adapted by Roger Edens as “Dear Mr. Gable” and became one of Garland’s earliest successes. Here it was revised once again as “Dear Miss Garland” to express Ader’s very personal feelings for the diva.
There were also his charming tales about his personal relationship with the film The Wizard of Oz, which were far more centered on Margaret Hamilton, whom he eventually met, than on Garland. The show was also peppered with Ader’s amusing and often on-target imitations of show-biz figures from Humphrey Bogart to Boris Karloff. Along with his own natural vocal resemblance to Ray Bolger, they added to the variety on display. He also took over the piano for one number and added a Gershwinesque lushness to “Embraceable You” (George & Ira Gershwin). Finkel got to show off his own dexterity at the keyboard on “Smile” (Charlie Chaplin/John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons).
There were also moments in the show that just didn’t work. “The Man That Got Away” (Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin) was just a reach too far and had too many echoes of Garland’s definitive version. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (Julia Ward Howe/Willaim Steffe) was just miscalculated. Surprisingly, “Old Man River” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II), in a revised rendition used by another of Ader’s heroes, Paul Robeson, was a highlight of the show. These missteps didn’t scuttle the show,; they just stalled it. Overall, it was a fine tribute to a remarkable performer.
